LEADERSHIP GUIDE

How RevOps Leaders Are Building

Revenue Organizations of the Future

How RevOps Leaders Are Building Revenue Organizations of the Future | 1

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

RevOps: The Path to Revenue Intelligence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Partnerships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Execution at Scale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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Introduction What is Revenue
Revenue Operations (aka RevOps) is transforming the sales industry
Intelligence?
as we know it — moving from old school sales operations to a new,
innovative space of revenue intelligence. Different organizations are
An AI-driven, data-centered
at different stages of the journey. The idea of RevOps may still be process for gathering,
under construction, but we know that in practice it aligns teams to
better meet strategic and execution needs.
syncing, and managing
What does this transformation look like — and how can you begin to
data across revenue-
implement it? Let’s find out. generating teams.

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RevOps: The Path to Revenue
Intelligence
Many companies are in a state of flux as they determine how to This is where the growing field of RevOps comes in. RevOps breaks the
respond to market changes. Those succeeding have embraced silos, so everyone takes a cohesive approach to revenue growth by:
revenue intelligence, an AI-driven, data-centered process for
• Aligning teams and operating under a single set of
gathering, syncing, and managing data across revenue-generating
revenue metrics
teams.
• Streamlining tools and tech to leverage clean, insightful data
Revenue intelligence means business leaders operate with a
• Optimizing those insights across all revenue-generating teams
complete 360-degree view of activities throughout the sales cycle.
Sales managers gain deep insights to accurately forecast pipeline
and hit quota. And operations practitioners track progress and scale
processes across the entire team. It’s a game-changer for customer-
facing teams — but a successful revenue intelligence strategy
doesn’t happen by accident.

All too often, companies find themselves with siloed structures,

leading to competing interests and demands across sales,
marketing, and customer success. Knowledge stays within the
confines of each individual team, and disparate tools create
challenges in finding the right insights.

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Structure
RevOps is a transformative process for companies, many of which
must reevaluate the structure of their entire org chart. As teams
move from the traditional model to a revenue operations model, they
begin to see alignment, operation at scale, and cohesive insights.

What It Looks Like

In a traditional organization chart, sales and marketing operate
under separate chains of command. Customer service is an entirely
separate business unit with different leadership and operations.

Within the revenue operations model, the operational components

of each department report into the same executive operations
leader. Other analytical roles such as deal desk, business insights,
and systems roll up to RevOps as well.

Organizational silos often result in varying perspectives throughout

the sales cycle. RevOps helps break down those silos by delivering
visibility and efficiency across the revenue team. By unifying all
teams with a cohesive set of revenue metrics, RevOps becomes the
neutral arbiter, keeping everyone tracking toward the same goals.

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 What It Looks Like
Here are the key characteristics of moving from traditional sales operations to an innovative RevOps model:

Traditional vs. Innovative

Central service under one umbrella

Siloed structure
operations organization

All customer-facing teams (sales,

Sales-only focus
marketing, customer success)

Functionally focused technology and Analytically driven, seamless tech

tools for each team’s processes stack for all activities

Separate metrics often not fully shared Unified set of revenue metrics
outside of each department that all teams track

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How to Implement
Organizations pursuing a revenue operations model must look at
form and function (i.e., roles and responsibilities). Forming a RevOps
team starts by flattening leadership and integrating the chains of
command. For the greatest chance at alignment, the team needs the
right leader — ideally, a VP of RevOps who has the same seniority
level as execs across sales, marketing, and customer success.

Under a true RevOps division, team members report to the RevOps

leader with dotted lines to their respective partner departments. You
can see an example of what this may look like on the next page.

In a larger organization, a centralized RevOps model means existing

staff need to make a lateral shift, and in some cases they may need
to identify new roles altogether. Smaller organizations may not have
the resources to create an entirely new department — but they
can take advantage of the RevOps philosophy by empowering team
members to take on strategic planning and coordination with sales,
marketing, and success.

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 What It Looks Like
The RevOps model helps break down the silos found in traditional organizations, delivering visibility and efficiency across the revenue team.

Legacy Org Chart

VP Marketing VP Sales VP Customer Success

Marketing Ops Sales Ops Customer Ops

Demand Gen Sales Management Cust. Success Mgrs.
Marketing Tools Sales Tools Customer Tools
Product AEs/BDRs
Marketing Customer Support
Business Analyst Sales Enablement Customer
Solution Engineers Marketing
Corporate Comm. Professional Services
Data Manager Business Analyst
Field Marketing

Org Chart with RevOps

VP Marketing VP Sales VP Customer Success VP RevOps

Demand Gen Sales Management Customer Success Managers Operations

Product Marketing AEs/BDRs Enablement

Customer Support

Corporate Comm. Solution Engineers Insight

Professional Services

Field Marketing Tools

Core Role Ops Role Cross-Department Relationship How RevOps Leaders Are Building Revenue Organizations of the Future | 8
Spotlight on Structure: What Alignment comes
RevOps Looks Like at LeanData
At LeanData, the RevOps team is structured as a central service
naturally with
with marketing operations, sales operations, data analytics, and
customer success serving on the same team. Don Otvos, VP of RevOps as a
central service.
Revenue Operations at LeanData, notes that “alignment just kind
of comes naturally” with this structure. For them, centralization
means each team member is a direct participant in projects and can
communicate goals, insights, and messages outwardly with ease.

Since team members roll up to the VP of RevOps, they’re up to speed

on current initiatives, nuances of the tech stack, and any dotted lines
to partner departments. For example, the marketing ops manager
works very closely with marketing to make sure that everything
demand gen is doing flows through the operations processes. “It’s all
about making sure we’re all reading from the same book,” Don says.

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 Partnerships
The revenue operations model opens the door for stronger
partnerships across teams, including go-to-market, product
marketing, sales, and customer success. At the same time,
partnership takes effort and commitment, underscored by
foundational elements.
What It Looks Like
A revenue team is like an orchestra. Different members contribute
different talents that add up to more than the individual
contributions. RevOps brings everyone together, so they’re playing
from the same music book at the same time. Of course, like anything
where multiple individuals are involved, they need collaboration.
The RevOps model may bring stronger alignment, but buy-in and
commitment to the partnership are necessary to keep rhythm.
When teams are in tune, handoffs are seamless in a way that’s ideal
for buyers. Teams stick to established SLAs. And RevOps measures,
understands, and shares what metrics mean for everyone involved.
“Revenue operations is a team sport.”
— Harish Mohan, SVP, Revenue Excellence & Operations, Outreach
How to Implement
A few elements are foundational to a solid RevOps partnership.
Communication helps individuals align around one message —
and this comes naturally when everyone is on the same team, both
figuratively and literally. For example, when operations managers
communicate with marketing peers, they aren’t put in an outsider’s
position. They are part of the inside discussion and know what’s
going on, so they can clearly and cohesively articulate the message.
A clear, shared vision of accountability is also necessary, so create
a forum for sales, marketing, customer success, and RevOps teams
to look at challenges together and foster an open discussion.
Data is critical for go-to-market execution. And in a digital sales
world, it’s vital for RevOps to package that data to be clear, concise,
and actionable, so all external teams can effectively move the
strategy forward.
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Spotlight on Partnerships: The team prioritizes
How Product Marketing &
RevOps Win at Highspot sound data to
At Highspot, product marketing and RevOps work hand in hand.
The team at Highspot knows the market is never stagnant, so it
collaborate more
operates with an “always launching” mindset. To do so, the team
prioritizes sound data and insights so everyone can have informed
effectively.
conversations that sharpen their value proposition and help them to
collaborate more effectively.

“It’s our opportunity to now think about the way we launch at scale,
think about the way we compete more aggressively, think about the
ways in which we’ll design sales plays to attack specific verticals
or industries or expand into new geographies,” says Jarod Greene,
Highspot’s VP of Product Marketing. “We can’t do any of that without
the data that the RevOps team provides us with. And we look at the
partnership as a critical capability for go-to-market execution.”

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Execution at Scale
Executives, brands, and buyers all demand more from the buying
and selling experience. But it goes beyond adopting new technology.
Revenue leaders must shift their mindsets to focus on the right
mix of tech investments, enablement, and programs to boost
productivity and execute at scale.
Revenue Innovators understand that this trifecta is necessary.
Underscored by integrated, next-generation technology solutions,
innovative revenue teams can drive top-line growth.
What It Looks Like
RevOps allows for launching at scale, competing more aggressively,
and designing sales plays to attack specific verticals, industries,
or geographies. Backed by good data, every stakeholder gets the
level of fidelity needed to see where customers get value, as well
as insight into packaging, pricing, monetization, and competitive
posture.
How to Implement
Many tools that sales and marketing use are likely redundant, or
simply do not communicate well with each other. It’s important to
audit an organization’s tech stack so revenue teams can streamline
systems, garner insights, elevate team effectiveness, and provide a
seamless experience for buyers.
One of the simplest ways to align your tech stack under RevOps
is to use a sales engagement platform. Many consumer activities
now take place through digital channels, which means sellers need a
platform to better understand buyer sentiment, while managing and
orchestrating their omnichannel interactions.
As we know very well, the market isn’t stagnant. The tools and
technology teams use shouldn’t be, either.

Leaders ask questions like, “How is that strategy working? Is that

strategy producing the desired intended results?” And when teams
want to know those answers, RevOps gives the strategic insights
to act quickly. For example, product marketing and sales may
make hypotheses early in the product launch stage or around a
vertical strategy. RevOps can provide the validation needed to make
decisions and execute them at scale.

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Spotlight on Execution: How An innovative
Pendo Runs with Continuous
Improvement in Mind tech stack means
As your organization grows, your platform needs to grow with you.
That’s why it was important for Pendo to create a role dedicated
revenue teams now
to building operational systems. The company wanted to evaluate
organizational changes alongside business analysts and system experts
execute at scale
to determine the right processes for all revenue-generating teams.

“In RevOps historically, I don’t think there’s been a person who’s

solely devoted to the system side to make sure the systems are
always running with automation in mind, continuous improvement
in mind, efficiency in mind,” says Laura Harris, Director of Sales
Systems at Pendo. By setting aside historical precedent, Pendo is
now reaping the rewards of an innovative tech stack that
allows its team to execute at scale.

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Companies must reevaluate their structure and double down on partnerships. What’s
more, they must take an integrated approach to their tech stack.

Investing in revenue intelligence tools enables teams to gain visibility into the overall
sales cycle and buyer journey — and ultimately, increase overall revenue for the
organization. The new cohort of revenue leaders (aka Revenue Innovators) who are
willing to make the shift will see success.

Want to understand more about how to bring RevOps to the forefront of your
organization? Listen and subscribe to Outreach’s newest podcast, Revenue Innovators,
a show dedicated to RevOps leaders innovating and disrupting revenue in every industry.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

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About Outreach
Outreach is the largest and fastest-growing sales engagement and intelligence platform provider that helps companies dramatically increase
productivity and drive smarter, more insightful engagement with their customers. Outreach is the only solution provider to integrate sales
engagement, conversation intelligence and revenue intelligence into one platform. The only sales engagement and intelligence platform to make the
Forbes Cloud 100, Outreach was also the fastest-growing vendor in the category on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500. More than 4,800 companies
such as Adobe, Tableau, Okta, Splunk, DocuSign, and SAP depend on Outreach’s enterprise-scale, unparalleled customer adoption, and robust AI-
powered innovation. Outreach is a privately held company based in Seattle, Washington. To learn more, please visit www.outreach.io.

Source
Outreach, “Ask the Experts: From Technology to Process and Data - How RevOps Leaders are Building Revenue Organizations of the Future,” Unleash 2021

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