There comes a time in the growth of your business when you will have to begin prioritizing efficiency. The challenge is the best way to be efficient is not the same in every business.
As a business owner, you might have heard about Revenue Operations and Sales Operations. But do you completely know the difference between the two? Which among them is the key to your company's growth?
In this article, we will be discussing revenue operations and sales operations and how they differ from each other.
How Revenue Operations and Sales Operations Differ From Each Other
In sales, there has been a massive increase in Revenue Operations and Sales Operations roles in the past few years. A quick search on LinkedIn revealed that there are over 6.5 million people are working in the area of sales operations一and that’s in the U.S. alone.
Researching about people who are currently in Revenue Operations turned out the same results. And we’re sure that you have probably noticed that these two areas have some overlapping responsibilities.
So here’s the question: are they really different or are they the same, only donning different coats and titles?
What Is Revenue Operations?
Revenue Operations is a relatively new term in the field. It unifies the teams for sales, marketing, customer success, and customer support to ensure every team has the same objective and database, as well as an integrated tech stack.
Revenue Operations aims to break down silos between departments and manage performance across every business unit with the big picture in mind to maximize revenue growth.
Revenue Operations is a holistic approach to boosting revenue growth across the entire organization. In addition, it is tailored to give a comprehensive view of the company's revenue stream from prospect marketing to renewals.
Responsibilities of Revenue Operations
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Operation management
Those in Revenue Operations work across macro and micro levels in the organization to deliver strategic business goals and tactical program design. They can also manage specific operation units, such as sales operations, customer services operations, and more.
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Insights
They provide daily insights and long-term strategic analysis based on complete data across all functions.
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Enablement
They seek to eliminate friction within departments, more specifically between marketing, sales team, and customer support teams.
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Tools
Lastly, they are also in charge of all tools and devices used in marketing, sales, and customer success.
Revenue Operations exists to manage marketing, sales, and customer success to do their specific jobs and improve customer retention rates.
Revenue Operations Strategy Focus
Revenue Operations has to use technology without relying on IT for heavy lifting to enhance its go-to-market performance effectively. Their common areas of focus include:
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Utilizing automation to enhance a range of processes, such as qualifying an opportunity quicker or finishing humdrum tasks with just a click of a button.
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Auditing your current technology stack to look for gaps and redundancies.
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Determining new cross-sell and upsell opportunities for existing customers.
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Engaging with various departments to drive existing and new sales.
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Creating streamlined data to one single source of truth
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Determining ways to optimize the usage of technology across all teams
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Being responsible for the tech stack that is used across customer-facing departments.
What is Sales Operations
While sales operations support and allow sales representatives to do their job effectively. This team provides transparent sales processes that automate time-consuming tasks and employ and sustain a sales methodology, which brings a system to sell to the sales floor.
Sales operation leaders manage high-level strategy and ensure the sales team's tech stack is maximized.
Sales operations exist to back up your sales team and minimize friction. This could be creating new pipeline processes, updating lead data, or streamlining software.
Furthermore, it also takes on tasks needing more of a bird's eye view than any sales team member. For instance, no one in your sales representatives can predict future sales growth.
The goal of two teams is to secure revenue; however, some see revenue operations as a natural progression from sales operations.
Responsibilities of Sales Operations
Sales Operations exists to eliminate the friction in the sales process, which helps salespeople be more successful and productive.
They are a natural partner to the sales team and are responsible for various areas. These include:
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Sales team organization
Sales Operations is responsible for organizing the sales team to improve their sales and achieve their goals.
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Technology management
As there are various tools used in the organization, Sales Operations are in charge of managing all the tools for streamlined software.
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Sales forecasting
Depending on the results of the data analysis, the sales operations have to present a monthly sales forecast and strategies to achieve them. This helps detect issues before they occur and help mitigate risk for sales reps.
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Sales data management and analysis
While the particular metrics and key performance indicators tracked by Sales Operations vary, the process of uncovering data and looking for actionable insights to increase sales is crucial to any sales operation role.
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Training and performance management
It is the responsibility of Sales Operations to monitor and promote the career growth of the sales representatives. They can also identify the areas of weakness for every rep as they can access all the data and help them overcome through training.
This needs continuous monitoring and documentation of the rep's efficiency and constant management of performance.
Sales Operations can either make or break your sales process and team success. It is a role that demands hands-on experience and strategic expertise, but also someone that is technically proficient and isn't scared of monotonous and repetitive tasks.
Sales Operations Strategy Focus
Sales Operations aims to increase the productivity and performance of their team. They are usually focused on these areas:
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Combining sales tools and software
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Enhancing processes related to sales, including lifecycle stages, sales pipeline, sales recruitment, and team communication
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Automating dashboards and reports
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Applying sales enablement assets
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Organizing sales collateral, market intelligence, and contracts
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Managing customer relationship management data hygiene
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Employing and training sales reps
Which One Is Right for Your Business?
If you want your business to grow, it is crucial to choose between Sales Operations and Revenue Operations. To help you determine if you need to bring in a Sales Operations team, here are some signs to look for:
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Your team spend more time on admin tasks than selling
If no one is responsible for daily operations, streamlining, and workflows, the sales reps would end up doing all the tasks. If sales are inefficient because sales reps manage workflows and data, it is best to bring in Sales Operations.
Sales Operations utilize a time tracking system to understand how the time is spent and can be optimized.
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Your CRM system is not organized
When your people are not familiar with cleaning and managing your customer data, it is time to hire Sales Operations to do the tasks. They will not only organize your sales databases but also manage your project scheduling.
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No one is responsible for processes
If you notice that processes are not as effective as they should be, you should consider hiring Sales Operations. They will take care of the processes and ensure they are effective and efficient. This also allows sales teams to focus on selling.
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You are just starting with a low budget
If you are just starting your business on a tight budget, Sales Operations is usually an easier and more affordable addition to your team. There may be a little need to reorganize your structure when hiring Sales Operations.
On the other hand, if you think you need to hire Revenue Operations, here are some indications you can look for:
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Silos are depleting your productivity
When every business department is struggling due to what is not getting shared. Revenue Operations can help every department share information, which is essential in making your organization efficient.
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An overwhelming number of tools
Nowadays, heaps of marketing, sales, finance, and customer services tools are available in the market. When you feel like managing these tools becomes more daunting, it is best to consider hiring Revenue Operations.
Revenue Operations can streamline the tools through software asset management and vendor evaluation.
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Leaky revenue workflow
Inefficiencies may lead to losing a chunk of your revenue. Then, you need to work on solutions whenever a workflow breaks. Still, you end up discovering that the workaround produced another leak.
Fixing this will take most of your time and mind space. Revenue Operations can help you untangle this issue by increasing the efficiency of your organization.
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Uninformed about what is working
The data is unclear, and everyone in your organization has a different chart. Therefore, it is hard to tell what is working and what is not.
Revenue Operations can function as your single source of truth and determine what is the most effective.
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Still inefficient even you have great Sales Operations
If your revenue has improved with Sales Operations, RevsOp is your next step. At some point, a lot of companies suffer from departmental inefficiency. If you are at that point, it is best to consider hiring a team to focus on the entire revenue engine.
The Difference Between Revenue Operations and Sales Operations
To summarize everything, Revenue Operations is responsible for breaking down the silos between departments and managing the performance of every unit to maximize revenue growth. At the same time, Sales Operations backs up the sales team and minimizes fiction.
It is vital that the Revenue Operations and Sales Operations work in tandem and are aligned on the same goals, process, KPIs, and so forth to succeed with these teams.
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