Overview
Revenue operations and the RevOps framework are crucial to aligning the processes and functions that support your revenue initiatives and strategies.
While many areas constitute revenue operations, this post focuses on the main aspects of what revenue operations really is, how it links to your revenue strategies and the critical components of a revenue operations framework.
What is Revenue Operations?
Revenue Operations (RevOps) is the team, process, and structure responsible for aligning a company’s marketing, sales, customer service, executive functions, and other revenue-generating operations.
When properly implemented, RevOps can break down the silos of a company’s varying departments, teams, and processes through a set of strategies and tools geared towards driving revenue growth.
Essentially, Revenue Operations help salespeople, marketers, customer support teams, and executives improve accountability and work together to optimize a company’s efforts to efficiently drive revenue growth.
Todays operating model vs. the RevOps model
How does the RevOps model differ from a modern operating model? Let’s look at each framework, how they work, and what sets them apart from each other.
Operating model
An operating model is an abstract and visual representation of how your company delivers value to your internal (employees, teams, managers, etc.) and external customers, such as your customers and suppliers.
It’s also referred to as a value-chain map designed to help your staff understand the role each part of your company plays in addressing the other components’ needs.
Operating models can also help managers learn how changes in one aspect of your company impact the value that other parts should deliver.
Depending on your company’s size, you might need to create a set of operating models to accurately plot the steps every department must go through to meet the needs of other parts of your business and ensure each one delivers the intended value.
The operating model can vary depending on the complexity and scope of a company’s goals, strategies, processes, and other factors.
One of the easiest ways to develop this framework is by using the operating model canvas. It focuses on the chain of work steps required to deliver your value proposition to the target customer.
The operating model canvas gives attention to the six critical elements for delivering value:
- The necessary work steps that your business needs to deliver your value proposition (the value-chain map).
- The people who will do the work, the structure of your units and support functions, decision rights, and other related components.
- Location of your operations.
- The databases and software applications required to perform and support the work.
- Essential suppliers that are critical to supporting the work those that need special relationships with your business.
- The management system for your planning, performance management, people management, and budgeting processes to run your business.
An operating model helps your business focus on your operations’ critical aspects at the highest level, allowing your managers and teams to see how the different parts of your company fit together to implement strategy and deliver value.
“What is Revenue Operations? It’s not just a process optimization framework or strategy blueprint for aligning your GTM teams. It is a paradigm shift in the company’s mindset on how it generates revenue. We at RevBrains understand RevOps in these 7 layers that are highly interconnected to each other: Aligned GTM leadership, End-to-End revenue strategy, Mutual GTM operations, Cross-Department GTM metrics, Interconnected GTM systems, Integrated Revenue Enablement principles, and Centralized GTM data and Insights. Each layer is instrumental, weaving together a fabric of operational excellence that drives sustainable revenue growth.”
– George Stoyanov, Co-Founder, RevBrains
RevOps operating model
The Revenue Operating model is a series of repeatable activities that companies can do across marketing, sales, customer success, and other revenue-generating functions. It’s a framework designed to align internal operations better to drive revenue growth.
A Revenue Operations framework can vary depending on the company’s revenue goals, business model, operating plan, and other essential factors.
A basic RevOps structure is to simplify each department’s tools and data by integrating the responsibilities under your operations and enablement responsibilities.
Placing all your key elements under one RevOps umbrella and making one entity responsible for aligning all your departments’ processes and tools allows your different units and teams to work together. This helps the multiple parts of your company treat each other as a unified entity with aligned goals.
Consider the key attributes that generally make up a RevOps model, such as:
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- An end-to-end process design that supports your entire customer lifecycle.
- Interconnected seamless workflows throughout integrated functions, data, and systems.
- Visibility into your revenue process execution and outcomes.
While a framework is only a strategic starting point to align, diagnose, and take action, there are other crucial elements of a RevOps model, including:
- Strategy. This is the plan that aligns with your revenue objectives to structure and mobilize your revenue organization.
- Data. This refers to the RevOps data required to manage and optimize your revenue cycle.Â
- Workflows. These are the manual and automated processes necessary for creating an interconnected revenue process.
- Process. This includes your management, design, and end-to-end revenue process tracking.
- Technology. This includes the apps, software, tools, and programs crucial to implementing Revenue Operations.
- Analysis. These are your set activities to track and measure metrics and performance across your revenue cycle.
In a nutshell, the operating model shows how your company can generate value, while a RevOps model describes how your business generates revenue from the value generated from customers.
The operating model focuses on aligning all the aspects of your company operations to deliver value based on set strategies.
On the other hand, the RevOps model takes a more granular approach, focusing on aligning all the customer-facing and revenue-driving aspects of your business.
Why the revenue operations framework works
One of the biggest challenges that many companies face is having teams, departments, and processes siloed off, functioning as different entities from each other with separate priorities and incentives.
This leads to misalignments and inefficiencies across workflows and processes that cause leaks in the revenue cycle, hindering companies from maximizing revenue.
A revenue operating framework aligns your fractured processes, tools, and teams across your company for greater accountability and efficiency to drive revenue.
The RevOps framework gives you a more holistic view of your revenue growth.
This makes it easier to identify which people and departments drive revenue, determine and consolidate the necessary solutions and tools that work throughout multiple teams, and give analytical and operation duty to your RevOps units to help them perform their roles effectively.
Next Steps
Revenue operations and the RevOps framework is crucial to helping your business operate more efficiently and uncover the right strategies to boost your revenue.
While adopting and developing a RevOps framework can take a huge amount of time and effort, all that hard work will pay off when you have a revenue-generating machine that works like clockwork.
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