RevOps is Everywhere
For anyone immersed in the world of sales and marketing, “RevOps” is probably a word they hear in their sleep. It’s become borderline impossible to attend a meeting, scroll through your LinkedIn feed, read a company newsletter, or watch a funny (shameless plug coming…) Rob Jones video without being repeatedly slapped in the face with it.
And yet, there is still a fair amount of confusion and disagreement regarding what RevOps actually is and when/if it should be implemented. We’re going to take a crack at answering both of those questions, and hopefully, in the process, steer some wayward companies into the world of RevOps!
What is RevOps?
Writing a blog with a section attempting to define RevOps is like posting a “top 10 people you should be following right now” list on LinkedIn…you know everyone will immediately disagree with you.
To solve part of the problem, let’s agree that RevOps can really be defined in two different ways:
- By its end state
- By what it seeks to accomplish
End State
The ultimate goal of RevOps is to break down silos and create cross-functional collaboration by aligning sales, marketing, and customer success teams. When this is done right, all of a company’s revenue generating functions and processes are driving towards a common revenue goal and its operational efficiency is on steroids.
What it Can Accomplish
Supered Co-Founder and CEO Matt Bolian isn’t a big fan of the end state definition, and proposes this one instead….
RevOps is the science of sustainable revenue growth. It seeks to accomplish the following:
- Replicate and repeat revenue growth
- Uncover the process of how revenue teams can teach, measure, repeat, improve, explain, and apply growth strategies to the full revenue cycle
- Identify tools and behaviors that show how you’re collecting, synthesizing, and disseminating revenue data
Ten years from now, maybe we will have finally settled on a definition we can all agree on. But for now, you can use one of the above definitions, both of them, mix them, or just do what you've probably already done…ask ChatGPT.
What are some Key Indicators/Triggers You Need RevOps?
Now that we have (sort of) decided what RevOps is, we need to ask ourselves if we need it. The short answer is “Yes”. But a longer answer might be, “If ‘X’ is happening (or has already happened), then you definitely need to employ RevOps.”
Here are some of those “X’s”....
Revenue Stagnation
Revenue stagnation should be of particular concern when it’s occurring year over year or if revenue extrapolations are falling short (run rate).
Ok, So How Can RevOps Help?
Silo Buster
Revenue stagnation can be a symptom of sales, marketing and CS misalignment. At its core, RevOps is about breaking down these silos and facilitating cross-functional collaboration to reduce missed opportunities and create a more unified revenue-focused approach.
Strategy Solver
When growth slows, or just flat out comes to a halt, it indicates the current sales and marketing strategies aren’t working optimally, or, at the very least, aren’t resonating with customers as well as hoped. The best remedy is RevOps, as it can be used to analyze data, metrics, and customer feedback to identify gaps and optimize strategies.
Data Machine
When a company lacks a data-driven approach, revenue stagnation is often the result. The fix? RevOps can help bridge this gap by leveraging data and technology to provide insights and enable data-driven decision making.
Master of Efficiency
Fact: Inefficient and redundant processes slow down revenue generation.
Also Fact: RevOps can streamline processes, automate repetitive tasks, and optimize workflows to improve operational efficiency and accelerate revenue growth.
Market Monitor
Sometimes, revenue stagnation can occur as a result of things that are outside of a company’s direct control (e.g. shifts in customer preferences, competitive landscape, industry trends). RevOps can help organizations adapt to these changes by continuously monitoring the market, gathering customer insights, and iterating on revenue strategies.
Churn
The word no one ever wants to hear. Obviously, an (extended) increase in churn is a signal that something is wrong, but stagnant retention can also be a sign that something in the process needs to be improved.
Ok, So How Can RevOps Help?
The Big Picture
Sometimes churn is the result of larger patterns or trends, as opposed to an isolated issue; identifying these trends enables companies to be more proactive with solutions. Through the leveraging of data and analytics, RevOps can be helpful here by providing a holistic view of the entire customer journey, from prospecting to post-sales activities.
Teamwork
Customer pain points = churn. RevOps can help identify and address these pain points by fostering collaboration and communication across departments and aligning processes, data, and tools to ensure a seamless customer experience.
Drop in Conversion Rate
When you’re investing in the top of the funnel, but aren't seeing any movement in the needle, it’s a sign there are holes in your funnel.
The solution? You already know….
Ok, So How Can RevOps Help?
Fill in the Gap
Gaps and misalignments, such as inconsistent messaging, lack of targeting, and/or inadequate lead handoff processes can contribute to a drop in conversion rates. RevOps can help create a smoother customer journey from initial engagement to conversion by optimizing lead qualification and nurturing, improving sales processes, and enhancing customer onboarding and success strategies.
Fix Tools
Drops in conversion rates may indicate issues with the tools or technologies being used, or that data is not being utilized effectively. RevOps can help assess, optimize, and integrate the right tools and data to support conversion rate optimization efforts.
Deals are Taking too Long to Close
Deal velocity directly impacts revenue generation. When a company’s deal desk lacks efficiency, deals get stuck and the windows to close deals are missed.
Ok, So How Can RevOps Help?
Better Visibility
Deals taking too long to close may indicate a lack of visibility into the sales pipeline and accountability for meeting sales targets. RevOps can help establish clear sales stages, implement sales performance metrics, and ensure accountability across teams, driving efficient deal closures.
Improved Scalability and Growth
When deals take too long to close, it can hinder the ability of a company to scale and expand. RevOps practices can streamline the sales process, identify areas for improvement, and drive revenue growth.
Taking Too Long to Onboard
Ok, So How Can RevOps Help?
Revenue Leakage
Prolonged onboardings often result in revenue leakage, which in turn delays when customers start generating revenue.
RevOps can help optimize the onboarding process, streamline customer onboarding workflows, and ensure a better time to value for customers.
Customer Success
Don't forget about the right side of the funnel! Delays in onboarding can impact customer success. RevOps can ensure that customer success teams are involved early in the onboarding process and have the necessary information and tools to support customers effectively, leading to improved customer satisfaction and retention.
Deal Length Has Increased
When deal cycle steps suddenly increase or the average deal size dramatically shifts, it’s time to reassess.
Ok, So How Can RevOps Help?
Resource Allocation
Resource allocation is difficult, but it’s a nearly impossible task if deals are consistently taking longer to close than planned. Lengthening deal cycles can strain sales and operational resources, resulting in increased costs and decreased productivity. RevOps can assess resource allocation, optimize sales and operational workflows, and ensure that resources are allocated effectively to minimize deal cycle times and improve resource efficiency.
Deal Risk
Time has a way of changing minds. Case in point: Longer deal cycles can increase the risk of deals falling through, as customer priorities may change, or competitors may gain an advantage. RevOps can implement risk mitigation strategies, such as improved deal qualification, effective deal tracking, and proactive deal management, to minimize the risk of deals dragging on and failing to close.
Let’s Review…with GIFs
If you’re having trouble:
aligning processes….
optimizing data….
fostering collaboration….
leveraging technology….
improving customer satisfaction…
RevOps is literally over in the corner screaming…
Please don’t say….
