Many large consumer businesses are no longer debating whether they need Revenue Growth Management (RGM); they’re questioning how they can scale RGM from a central expert group into the way the entire business actually runs.
In our webinar, Colin McQuay, Head of Strategic Revenue Management (SRM) at Nestlé USA, shared lessons from 10 years in the RGM space and 5 years of practical experience building and scaling a modern RGM function within one of the world’s most complex consumer organizations.
Colin’s message centered on two points:
This article distills those principles for leaders aiming to move RGM from a center-led capability to a business-wide discipline.
Every RGM leader eventually faces the same foundational question: how to structure the team in a way that supports both capability building and business impact. Most organizations progress through a similar journey, and three operating models tend to emerge as they develop.
A distinct RGM team serves the business from outside the business units. Below are some key strengths and weaknesses of this approach:
Strengths:
Drawbacks:
Webinar: How to Scale Effective RGM Organizations with Nestlé
In a hybrid model, a central RGM team remains in place, but dedicated RGM or SRM leads are assigned to specific business units, working closely with each. This model can maintain central alignment while providing business units with a more embedded partner. The strengths and drawbacks of this model are as follows:
Strengths:
Drawbacks:
Webinar: How to Scale Effective RGM Organizations with Nestlé
In the fully decentralized model, RGM capabilities, tools, and processes are embedded directly into the business units. A central RGM team still exists, but its role shifts toward governance, capability evolution, and maintaining a unified methodology rather than supporting individual BUs one by one.
Strengths:
Drawbacks:
As Colin described, the intended destination for many organizations is:
Webinar: How to Scale Effective RGM Organizations with Nestlé
Many organizations define a centralized, hybrid, or local structure, yet without shifts in how work flows, how performance is evaluated, and how teams access and use analytics, structure remains theory.
Sustained RGM comes from changing the system around the work. Nestlé’s experience highlights five big hurdles when scaling RGM, and deciding whether it moves beyond a central team and becomes a business discipline:
RGM begins as a project, but to scale it must become embedded in business rhythms. If teams aren't using the tools and the single source of truth when reviewing their commercial plans, the process hasn't been fully embedded.
Most RGM functions start with tracking value in dollars, which can unintentionally reinforce the idea that RGM is a side project. According to Colin, the evolution of KPIs should follow this progression:
This shift matters because dollar-based targets perpetuate the notion that RGM is separate from the business. The goal is shared ownership: RGM should not be measured in isolation but rather as part of the overall business performance.
To embed RGM successfully, all decision-makers need access to speak the same language, not just RGM experts. This requires alignment on KPIs, reporting, and dashboards to ensure everyone is speaking the same language. While it's unrealistic for a global RGM director to run detailed scenarios in the tool, they should be able to easily check dashboards with key insights. Tools should be designed to provide actionable, high-level insights for senior decision-makers, while offering more granular functionality for the teams directly involved in execution.
Tools only create value when people know how to use them. Nestlé maps the capabilities required for different roles and personas (field sales, key accounts, finance, marketing, and others) and builds tailored learning paths for each.
Education is a core lever of change management. To scale it and make it stick, it should be embedded in the Learning & Development (L&D) function and developed in partnership with the RGM department. This ensures the materials build the required competencies and are embedded into onboarding, career progression, and ongoing functional development.
Change management is often the largest hurdle in scaling RGM. Colin McQuay framed it simply: RGM is one-third tools and analytics, and two-thirds behavior change. These three techniques help accelerate trust in RGM adoption:
Expose accuracy scores: Backtesting for accuracy and sharing the results increases confidence and brings you closer to achieving the desired 90% or higher accuracy, as well as boosting confidence.
Show real examples: Supporting teams across the organization and collecting case studies to create a repository of wins convinces teams that RGM delivers tangible benefits and can inspire new ideas.
Admit uncertainty: Being open about what the model does and doesn’t know builds credibility and sets the expectations.
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Take the Next Steps in Scaling RGM
Embedding and maturing your RGM department is a multi-year journey, but with the right models, tools, KPIs, education, and change management, it becomes the foundation for faster, more profitable, and confident commercial decision-making across the organization.
To stay ahead, action is essential now. As Colin McQuay, Head of SRM at Nestlé USA, puts it:
“Great SRM (RGM) is an imperative. Not for 2030, for 2025. Every business unit, every decision maker needs a baseline competence in RGM if you want to win.”
Start by completing our survey to receive a personalized RGM maturity assessment and see how your current RGM maturity measures up. You'll get a detailed report with best practices and actionable next steps.
Or, learn how Buynomics can help you unlock the full potential of your RGM levers by booking a demo today.