If you work in B2B, SaaS or startups, we can almost guarantee you’ve heard the term “Revenue Operations” or “RevOps” with fervent frequency in recent years. 

Revops have become an essential position in many companies, helping to ensure that your marketing and sales teams are on track and that you are on a clear path to revenue growth. 

If you’re wondering what exactly RevOps is, why it’s important or how to get started, read on! We’ll talk about all this and much more. 

What are Revenue Operations (RevOps)?

Revenue Operations, also known as “RevOps,” is the practice of integrating and aligning sales, marketing and customer success teams with the goal of increasing revenue growth. 

RevOps aims to accelerate revenue (and ideally business growth) with sales enablement strategies, increased collaboration efforts, and a better customer experience. It’s a multi-faceted approach that involves examining each department’s efforts, getting everyone on the same page and working toward common goals, and ensuring teams have what they need to succeed. 

Why is RevOps important for companies? 

RevOps is important to companies because revenue growth is important to companies, simple as that.

Even if you’re hiring a new team member (or potentially team members) and adding some new tools to an already limited budget, the data clearly shows that the right investments can pay off big, with significant revenue and profit growth. 

How RevOps can help revenue growth

In many cases, this comes down to the fact that you have a single team that is responsible for looking at three crucial departments – marketing, sales and customer success – and getting them all aligned for a common goal. 

Without RevOps, you run the risk of departments thinking they are working towards the same goals, but end up in their own silos. 

For example:

• Marketing realizes that certain campaigns attract many interested users for a low cost. They prioritize campaigns that get a lot of leads because they are hitting all their KPIs in a big way.
• The sales department is frustrated because that particular audience segment, while likely to become a lead, is not likely to convert. Or, perhaps, they convert at a lower value than other segments or take longer to convert. 
• Customer success teams, in turn, become aware of the pain points or motivations that customers have, and realize that the sales department is not properly promoting certain features that the target audience really loves, and if they are not incorporated correctly, there is a high risk of customer churn.

While it would seem that common sense would allow everyone to realize this over time, this is not always the case. It can take a long time to come to these conclusions and, in some cases, internal debates and power struggles occur if there is no single person at the helm who prioritizes a single end goal. 

That’s why you need RevOps. 

The benefits of having a revenue operations manager on your team

Efforts dedicated to revenue operations offer the following advantages:

• Increased revenue. We’ve already talked about this, but it’s always at the top of the list.
• Streamlined and enhanced customer experience. There is a seamless experience focused on improving customer success, which means happier customers.
• Increased efficiency. Your team works together, and someone is in charge of eliminating anything that might distract from the ultimate goal. 
• Fewer data silos. RevOps employees don’t just look at marketing data and sales data. They look at all metrics to get the big picture of what’s happening, which translates into more accurate and actionable insights.
• Better alignment between teams. Instead of having teams working against each other (accidentally or not), you can achieve alignment between marketing and sales. This will increase the success of both teams. 
• Greater potential for agility. If you have a single person who monitors changes in the market and listens to all the concerns and objectives of each team, it will be easier for them to determine when to shift focus and pivot. 

What is the difference between RevOps and Sales and Marketing Operations? 

A RevOps professional will typically work above sales, marketing and customer success leaders, so it’s important to understand the different roles they play.

Sales operations are usually focused on the following

• Optimize sales processes
• Training and recruitment of sales team members
• Sales portfolio management 
• Increasing the number of deals closed and the value of the deals
• Direct prospecting and outreach 

Marketing operations (MarOps) support the marketing team, and are responsible for prioritization: 

• Data management
• Campaign analysis
• Audience research and segmentation
• Campaign creation 
• Marketing automation 
• Lead generation 

These two operations are typically led by sales or marketing managers, or other senior managers. They focus on what their team does and how it impacts the business. 

RevOps, on the other hand, are holistic and take into account sales, marketing and customer success. They are usually responsible for:

• Technology stack management
• Analyze data from both teams to create data-driven processes
• Coordinate the efforts of the three departments 
• Spreading the budget among the three departments 
• Develop strategies and focus multiple teams 

RevOps metrics to watch out for

Revenue Operations is a data-centric position, which means they will be keeping a close eye on metrics that affect multiple teams.

These are the RevOps metrics that are typically tracked closely: 

• Sales cycle time: the time it takes to move leads through the pipeline until conversion
• Success rate: number of sales opportunities that are closed
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC): total cost of acquiring new customers.
• Pipe velocity: speed at which conductors move through the pipe
• LTV: average value of customers over the course of their relationship with you
• Churn rates: the number of customers leaving your company
• Retention rates: how many customers stay with your company
• Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) and annual recurring revenue (ARR): how much recurring revenue can you expect on a regular basis? 
• Number of active subscribers: how many customers have active subscriptions (which is incredibly important for subscription business models).
• Customer satisfaction ratings: tell you how happy customers are; some companies assess satisfaction after key points in the journey, such as during onboarding. 
• Number of new leads generated: how many new prospects and leads entered the pipeline in a given period of time

Having the right tools in your technology stack can make this part of the job easier. 

Next Scenario, for example, offers subscription analytics created specifically with startups and SaaS companies in mind. Access more than 26 critical subscription-centric metrics.

 MRR MOvements Cohorts

Common RevOps Implementation Challenges (and how to overcome them)

If you’re wondering if RevOps implementation can pose challenges, the answer, unfortunately, is yes. While the end result is worth it, here are some common challenges to watch out for:

• Resistance to change. No one likes change, and sometimes that means a RevOps leader will come in and tell Team 1 that they have to bend to Team 2’s requests, which may upset Team 1. Changes to processes and technology can have some resistance, but if all teams feel valued, everything should be fine.
• Merge siloed data. Silos are often a major problem in sales enablement. Marketing has its data, sales has its data, and customer success has its data. Organizing all the necessary data can be a headache, but the right tools and high-quality CRMs (and the analytics that integrate with those CRMs) can help. 
• Lack of process alignment. Different teams often operate completely independently of each other, and that means their processes will be very different. Getting everyone in sync can be a challenge, but regular meetings with sales, marketing and customer success leaders to discuss shared goals can help.
• Insufficient resources. Hiring a new RevOps specialist means extra salary and probably some changes to the technology stack. That money has to come from somewhere, and the changes they want to make also come with costs. Start by finding the right hire, and then work on incremental changes as you can. When RevOps is able to optimize a single budget across sales, marketing and customer success, that will help. 

How to get started when hiring RevOps 

Ready to add a revenue operations specialist to your team (or at least revenue operations efforts)? These five steps will help you get started. 

Hire the right people 

When hiring a RevOps team member, you really want to choose the right candidate. Previous RevOps experience is great, but someone with experience in both senior sales and marketing roles can be a great choice with the right qualities.

Be sure to look for specific skills and traits such as the following:

• Data-driven, with strong analytical capabilities
• Creative problem solving
• Excellent communication, as they will have to persuade internal stakeholders and team leaders
• Strong marketing, sales and customer success skills; the last thing you need is someone who only cares about one department and not the others
• Technologically savvy, as management of the technology stack is critical.
• Customer-centric, with a strong ability to understand the buying process and customer needs.

2. Choose the right tools 

Every RevOps team needs big data, and that means choosing powerful tools.

When assembling your technology stack, write a list of the features you need and the specific information and functionality you are looking for. 

Sometimes, for example, CRMs can have pipeline management or marketing analytics features in a higher-priced plan. And tools like Next Scenario focus on subscription analytics, but also have audience insights, forecasting functions and more. 

Some tools can perform multiple functions, so you can use your budget wisely if you manage your technology stack strategically. 

3. Involve department heads 

Once you have the right tools and people in place, it’s time to get department heads on board. Hold meetings with sales, marketing and customer success teams to discuss new processes, proposed goals and potential pain points.

Be sure to listen to the concerns of the team leaders: they will have a lot of information about the processes they use and potential hurdles to overcome during the transition process. They are also likely to have great ideas on how to facilitate collaboration or how certain processes can be improved. 

4. Create interdepartmental objectives 

Once you have a solid understanding of how the equipment works and your current revenue performance situation, it’s time to start setting goals. 

You might want marketing to attract more leads of a certain type, for example, and sales to do a better job of selling specific roles that customers end up wanting during onboarding, and then customer success to improve their training on those roles during onboarding.

Create specific, measurable objectives and a time frame in which you plan to complete them. Some examples might be

• Marketing must generate 500 new leads that align with buyer persona A within six months, keeping the CAC below $15.
• Sales team members must close 15 deals each for a minimum value of $300 per month per year.
• Reducing the closing period from two months to six weeks
• Customer success increased customer retention rate from 46% to 62% in six months 

5. Review and modify departmental processes 

Once you have your goals, examine your current processes in the sales, marketing and customer success teams. Then you can see what changes need to be made to help achieve those goals.

For example:

• Sales should hand new customers over to a customer account manager for onboarding and custom setup, rather than waiting for the customer to contact them.
• Marketing should take steps to qualify leads by requesting additional information on lead forms so they are “more ready” to be prioritized by the sales department 
• Sales and customer service departments should be able to request content directly from marketing, such as help resources or how-to videos.

Final thoughts: RevOps quality depends on the data used.

RevOps is a powerful feature, and it can have a huge impact on businesses and their revenue. If you want to scale aggressively and maximize your profits, investing in RevOps is something you should consider.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that since RevOps is data-driven, it will only be as effective as the data you are using. Therefore, it is imperative to choose analytics tools that are accurate and reliable.

Next Scenario, for example, is unlike many of our competitors. When calculating MRR and ARR, we look exclusively at active customers whose accounts are in good standing, not those with paused or delinquent subscriptions. This gives you an accurate picture of the actual revenue you get.

Choose your tools carefully, and be sure to read lots of customer reviews on the Internet. 

Frequently asked questions about Revops

• How do Revenue Operations differ from Sales Operations?
• How do Revenue Operations differ from Business Operations?
   Business Operations encompasses a broad spectrum, including various functions such as HR, finance and logistics.
   Revenue Operations, on the other hand, focuses specifically on maximizing revenue through sales, marketing and customer success.
• What key metrics and KPIs are crucial to evaluate the success of Revenue Operations?
   Metrics such as Customer Life Cycle Value (CLTV), Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), Churn Rate and Net Promoter Score (NPS) are essential KPIs to evaluate the success of Revenue Operations.
• How can Revenue Operations impact revenue growth for SaaS companies?
   By integrating departments, optimizing processes and leveraging data-driven insights, Revenue Operations improves efficiency, increases customer satisfaction and ultimately drives revenue growth through increased sales and customer retention in SaaS companies.
• What is the transition process for companies that want to adopt Revenue Operations (RevOps)?
   The transition involves aligning sales, marketing and customer success teams, implementing shared goals and metrics, deploying appropriate technology and analytics, and fostering a culture of cross-departmental collaboration.
• How do Revenue Operations experts help optimize revenue stack management?
   Revenue Operations experts streamline the management of revenue-related tools, systems and processes by assessing current technologies, identifying gaps, recommending integrations and ensuring a cohesive revenue stack that improves operational efficiency.