RevOps as a Service: Data Integration

Do I Really Need RevOps as a Service?

When Cleaning a House is Like RevOps

Everyone loves a clean house, but not everyone loves to clean the house.  It can be especially difficult to keep things tidy when there are children and/or pets in the mix.  To counter this, one strategy that many parents use is to have their kids do chores which involve cleaning.

As a father of three young boys, I can tell you that there are some problems/limitations that arise when attempting this.  Oftentimes, the cleaning skills of children can leave a lot to be desired.  This, in turn, results in parents having not only to clean, but often re-clean, the entire house.  

So why is it so hard to keep a house consistently clean?  A few easy answers are:

• Time constraints…life just gets in the way
• Lack of efficiency
• Lack of know-how, especially if you’re talking about hard to reach places and appliances

There’s a reason why professional cleaning services exist.  When you lack the time (due to other obligations or lack of efficiency) and the proper know-how, it becomes necessary to outsource this task to professionals on an ongoing basis.

Doing RevOps well can be a lot like trying to keep a house clean.  Because most businesses lack an in-house team of trained RevOps pros, it can be difficult to maximize revenue potential on a consistent basis.

Why?  A few easy answers are:

• Time constraints (company bandwidth)
• Lack of efficiency
• Lack of know-how, especially if you’re talking about overtly technical processes

There’s a reason why Revops as a service exists.  When your business lacks the time, efficiency and/or the proper know-how when it comes to properly handling revenue operations, it becomes necessary to outsource this task on an ongoing basis to professionals.  

If you really want a clean house, it might be time to contact a local cleaning service; if you really want a supercharged revenue engine, it might be (definitely is) time to contact a company which specializes in RevOps as a service.

Areas/Topics Assessed

When you turn over your revenue processes to a team of RevOps experts, here are some examples of areas they may look at while mapping out your strategies:

• Data integration
• Sales stages
• Lead scoring
• Net revenue retention
• Forecasting and goals
• Lead status
• Customer lifecycle stages

Let’s take a look at the first one on the list and see what data integration approaches a team of RevOps pros might take.

Data Integration

What is it?

Data integration is a technical process that involves moving data/information from one platform to another on an ongoing basis.  The complexity and precise nature of this process highlights the need for RevOps as a service, especially when your in-house team is not fully capable of carrying out a task of this magnitude, lacks data integration tools, is dealing with data from disparate sources, and is not aware of the various types of data integration.

How Does Data Integration Differ From Data Migration?

Sometimes people use the terms “data integration” and “data migration” interchangeably.  They shouldn’t.

While both terms center around the transfer of data, they do it for different purposes.  Here are some key differences between the two:

• Data integration is a continuous/on-going process; data migration occurs once
• Data integration is used to consolidate applications in an organization (or combine them from multiple organizations); data migration is used when an organization wants to upgrade or replace their current system
• Data integration transfers data in real-time; data migration does not

Why is it Important?

A reliable data integration will maintain consistency, connect disparate systems, and allow cross-function reporting.

Unlike other processes, data integrations can occur at any stage of the data model.

Guidelines

To ensure clear planning before implementation, a team of RevOps experts will typically have a set of guidelines which will inform their decision-making.  Here are some examples with descriptions:

• Accesses are paramount:  without full visibility and access into both platforms it’s impossible to get it right
• Map it out clearly:  understanding the hierarchies of both platforms and how they correspond to each other is vital
• Translate it:  Don't just outline business needs, but specify exactly where that information is held in both platforms
• Select your source of truth:  if both platforms hold source of truth information, a bi-directional sync will be needed.  If not, identify which platform will be the source of truth and stick to it

Roadmap

A team of RevOps experts will often work in phases to correctly implement their data integration strategy. 

Phase 1 will often include:

• Revenue mapping
• Identifying triggers:  what will cause the integration to fire?
• Create integration documentation:  object mapping>integration mapping>property mapping

Phase 2 gets into the actual processes:

• Align on method and hosting, including sign off from partner
• Build V1
• QA (quality assurance) and test
• Iterate

Phase 3 wraps up with:

• Handover to the partner
• Training and debrief from RevOps as a service provider to partner
• Testing and QA by partner

What Will Success Look Like?

When your RevOps as service team has put all data integration services in place, you can expect that all required data mappings are implemented, mono-directional and bi-directional syncs are identified and implemented, all existing data in both systems has been reconciled, and triggers are working, creating a dynamically-updating integration.

Data integration can be time consuming, super technical, and full of many ways to make mistakes…and that’s if you know what you’re doing.  If you lack the in-house team to properly execute data integrations, as well as other RevOps related processes, then consider partnering with RevPartners for all your RevOps as a service needs!

Here’s a great example of the “RP Difference” in action…

Recent Problem Encountered by Partner

Revenue was not recognized until service had been completed.  Total revenue was entered in Excel and split by schedule, amounts, and dates.  Essentially, there was no revenue reporting upon close won.

Our Solution

One of our strategists created “flights” with specific criteria including product, market, and sales rep.  They then used Make.com to split line items into schedules and built a custom property in HubSpot to associate deal and allow reporting.

The client now has real time reporting on revenue thanks to “flights” that show data separate from the bulk of the deal.

What’s the Bottom Line?

We win when you win…and we ain't in the mood to lose.