Have you ever heard the phrase, “One hand isn’t talking to the other”?
Stories of its origin differ, but the important bit here is what it means in the context of business. Why? Because it’s the perfect description of the way B2B companies operated before revenue operations, or RevOps.
Revenue operations as a concept is built around the fact that every part of a business which generates revenue should be managed centrally, rather than being independent (or as it’s used in the business world, siloed). With the combined front provided by the revenue operations model, B2B businesses can refocus their operations so that everybody’s singing from the same hymn sheet.
Here’s what you need to know about revenue operations, and why it matters.
What is Revenue Operations?
Before revenue operations, the silo was king. Every revenue-generating team in a business—Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success—would have different operations managers doing different things a different way.
From the top down, this meant that each team reported their core metrics independently and used systems which operated independently from any other team. Put simply, this meant that nobody really knew what anyone else was doing—and they certainly weren’t pooling their resources and data in the pursuit of more revenue.
Revenue operations came into being from the need to make the business thrive without silo’s chaos. Revenue operations unify the three revenue-generating departments of a business: Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success, so that their operations (i.e. the technology they use and reporting they do) are all aligned and closely tied together.
What does a Revenue Operations Manager do?
The goal of the RevOps Manager role is simple: to boost the revenue of the business by leveraging tools and processes across the revenue-generating teams in a company.
The Revenue Operations Manager will assess the complete operations of a business with a view to optimising them for growth and revenue generation. This individual will also work to remove friction between teams; for example, if Sales aren’t talking to Marketing and missing out on collateral, a revenue operations Manager can implement processes to solve this.
The RevOps Manager is also responsible for reporting on the progress made towards key revenue milestones through the use of analytics platforms. They can also be charged with the implementation of technical solutions in pursuit of revenue goals. For example, they may choose to implement a digital collaboration platform (like Asana, Google Workspace, Monday, etc.,) across the business so that everyone can keep in touch at all times, rather than using disparate systems.
Why do we need Revenue Operations?
Before actually implementing it in a business, the benefits of the revenue operations model may not be entirely clear. This is likely because revenue operations isn’t a simple one-and-done process to be implemented: it’s almost an entire mindset shift for the company.
Rather than operating in siloed teams with individual goals and individual systems, revenue operations focus on unity, bringing everyone together so that they’re all pulling in the same direction: towards those revenue goals.
Why does your business need revenue operations? Well, if you’ve had difficulty scaling your business past a certain revenue ceiling, or you’ve had issues with teams not communicating properly, or you’re simply not growing as fast as you’d like to – Revenue Operations can be a gamechanger.
Of course, adapting to the revenue operations model takes adjustment, but when you see those revenue charts start to tick upwards, you’ll be glad you made the switch.
Is your business ready for revenue operations?
Revenue Operations is a big change for a B2B business, but it’s also one of the most important—and rewarding—you’ll ever make.
If you feel like your business is ready to make a move, Sales for Startups is here to help. We help design unified operations strategies focused on revenue to help your business grow, scale, and thrive. Want to learn more about how we do it? Then we’d love a quick, no-obligation chat to learn more about you.