Hi Joe,
I’m a marketing ops professional and I’ve just been told that my company is moving towards adopting a RevOps model.
I actually think it’s a great idea. I’ve read about the approach and think there are a lot of benefits to bringing typically siloed teams together under a combined goal.
However, I’m not quite sure how to help make it happen. Do you have any advice?
Thanks,
Helpful Harriet
Hi, Harriet.
Let me just say: it’s so great that you’re asking this question.
As things keep changing in the marketing ops world, we need people that are willing to put their hands up and be enablers. Thank you.
You’re right that, while still a relatively new concept, RevOps has a lot to offer.
It’s the notion that marketing, sales, and customer success teams can operate better when they’re working towards a collective goal—helping their clients and prospects succeed—rather than as disparate silos.
Plus, it relies on an integrated tech stack that easily shares customer data and lets prospects flow through the customer lifecycle with a personalized experience.
Sounds great, doesn’t it?
While it might sound easy, getting to this integrated place is a long-term project.
First off, you need to do a lot of work to ensure alignment between these three teams.
That means a lot of conversations around goals, metrics, and performance to get rid of any discrepancies.
There’s also a technology and data aspect here. To build a RevOps tech stack, you need to look into where there are gaps or redundancies, and make decisions accordingly.
All that said, there are also things you (as a MOPs team member) can do at an individual level that will make a big difference, and help things move faster.
If you want your sales, marketing, and customer success teams to be fully aligned, it can’t just happen at the executive level.
You need alignment on the ground as well.
Start this off by learning more about how things are done in those teams, including:
Talk to a colleague and ask if you can shadow them for a couple of days; you can observe them as they go through their daily tasks and join them in team meetings.
You know it, we know it: Marketing and Sales aren’t always best friends.
In fact, they often find themselves in a rather antagonistic relationship. So, once you’ve taken the time to learn more about what your sales team does, and why they do it, share that knowledge within your team.
These insights should help build comradery and make it easier to collaborate better down the line.
You’ve already done the work to learn about the benefits of the RevOps model, so make sure you share that as well.
People tend to be wary of change, but a lot of the time that comes down to a lack of understanding.
Empower your team with the knowledge they need and it might make for an easier transition when the time comes.
As I mentioned before, rolling out RevOps is going to be a long process—and your leaders are going to need help.
Talk to your manager about how you can actively contribute to the project.
You never know, they might need someone to bring the MOPs perspective to the decision-making table, or they may be looking for someone to champion the project and help communicate it’s value.
Good thing you’re likely already doing that last one!
You can read more about this topic in our Tough Talks Made Easy post “How to Explain RevOps to Your Marketing Ops Team.”
You’ve got this,
Joe Pulse