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Revenue operations (RevOps) exist to improve efficiency and alignment among sales teams across the customer lifecycle while driving growth. Relying heavily on data and technology, revenue operations breaks down silos while integrating functions across the customer-facing teams of sales, marketing, and customer success.
This all sounds great in theory, but how do you move forward with revenue operations? Who keeps the ship on course thus avoiding the storms, rocky shores and sand bars? You don’t want to wait until someone yells “iceberg dead ahead” to start trying to find your ship’s revenue captain, so to speak.
If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably trying to find information on revenue operations management or leadership, what they do and how they can help their existing employees rise to the occasion of their role on a RevOps team.
Bridges can help. We offer revenue operations expertise. Reach out to us for a free consultation and we can make some great recommendations on your revenue operations structures and positions. We may even be able to guide you toward finding your ship’s perfect RevOps captain.
Hiring a Great RevOps Manager
Revenue operations is a relatively new business model that is growing. Those factors make the search for an experienced revenue operations manager, who is available, a bit challenging.
Instead of narrowing your search to only applicants with revenue operations titles, you may expand the search to include up-and-comers or leaders of sales operations or marketing teams.
Be prepared to offer a competitive salary and benefits package to make your position more attractive to job seekers. According to the talent website, the average annual revenue operations manager salary in the United States is $103,571. Average entry-level positions start at $87,583 per year while most experienced workers make up to $140,150 per year.
What does a RevOps Manager do?
Your revenue operations team structure and leadership will most likely vary depending on the size of your company. As we discuss in our Structuring a Revenue Operations Org Chart blog, a small company may utilize a committee structure, giving revenue operations duties to committee members from the go-to-market (GTM) teams.
Another option small businesses may utilize is having one full-time staff member, such as a RevOps manager, who performs revenue operations duties across the teams. Both structures allow the company to start aligning the sales process and driving revenue.
Mid-size companies may place employees who only perform RevOps functions on each GTM team while larger companies are the most likely to have individual revenue operations units with RevOps managers. Additionally, they may have a designated Chief Revenue Officer who oversees all the GTM teams.
Regardless of size and structure, revenue operations are best when they can align all of the sales cycles and improve business processes, operations and efficiencies for your sales teams across the customer journey.
RevOps Manager Skills and Abilities
In most companies, a revenue operations manager must possess strong analytical and problem-solving skills. Their duties will often include these types of tasks:
- Lead the revenue operations team
- Work to break down siloed sales ops departments to get everyone on the same page with the same goals
- Share actionable insights and business processes to drive revenue growth
- Provide oversight of tech stacks and recommend tools and integrations to improve the quality of data and reports
- Integrate data and provide data insights
- Find and correct operational problems
- Promote growth and forecast revenue in order to set goals
- Employ soft skills such as problem-solving and communicating across teams
- Analyze business performance and operations
Job titles for this position range widely. A quick search of open revenue operations manager positions on LinkedIn pulled up the titles: Revenue Strategy & Operations Lead, Revenue Operations and Enablement Manager, Fleet Account Manager, Senior Revenue Operations Analyst and more. We provide an extensive look at the types of titles in our blog, Tips for Hiring a RevOps Team.
What are some ways a good RevOps manager can support employees?
Good revenue operations managers display these positive traits. They:
- Communicate clearly to make sure all goals and expectations are known across all of the GTM teams
- Listen to employee feedback
- Make sure each employee knows their responsibilities and how to meet them
- Set a positive example for team members
- Provide motivation
- Know their employees and provide them with support or any needed training/coaching/development
- Work as hard as their employees
What does a RevOps leadership team do?
Large companies usually hire an executive-level staff member responsible for revenue operations, often called the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). This position is instrumental in strategic planning to grow revenue. They focus on product development, marketing, branding, and partnerships and usually report to the CEO or board of directors.
According to LinkedIn, the main objectives of the CRO are:
- Develop and execute the strategic plan and create additional plans in conjunction with executive leadership
- Ensure performance, strategy, and alignment of the company’s revenue-generating departments
- Manage the sales team to drive business growth across all customer segments, and share responsibility with the marketing department for improving strategy and customer experience
- Add new, scalable partners in a strategic way to maximize reach and efficiency
- Build and foster creative teams that are committed to innovation
- Monitor the revenue pipeline and leads, adjusting as necessary for sustainable growth
This position may also be called the Chief Sales Officer, Senior Vice President, or Chief Customer Officer.
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding RevOps Managers
Let’s examine some commonly asked questions about revenue operations leadership structures.
I just got a title change to be in charge of a RevOps team, what should I do first?
Get clarity from supervisors or leadership on expectations for you and your new team. Meet your new team and learn the cadence of how your RevOps team will support others.
Should I try to hire a person with revenue operations management experience or internally promote someone to the task?
There are pros and cons to each.
- Hiring externally - The pros are they may have more on-paper RevOps experience. The cons are they might come with a higher price tag. As RevOps is a young field, their title comes with no true guarantee they know RevOps best practices enough to be able to transform your organization.
- Hiring internally - The pros are they know your team and your processes. They will likely know the areas that need to improve. Cons include that they will probably need to receive training or instruction on implementing RevOps in your organization. Also, they may bring any existing bias or issues to the position.
How can I encourage teams to get out of siloed thinking and comfort zones?
Begin at the top. Management has to start the process by collaborating and ensuring their teams work together and communicate.
Set common goals and utilize an effective platform such as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM), our preference is HubSpot. CRMs can help you increase efficiencies while staying connected with your customers.
Increase your company’s interactions across departments. Provide training, professional development and specific job tasks across departments to get employees used to working together.
Ensure compensation is comparable and fair across your GTM team positions.
Learn more about RevOps with other blogs in the series.
Thanks for reading. We can help you set up a RevOps structure. For your free consultation, contact us. We also have a lot more information available in our revenue operations series of blogs.
