July replans and how Revenue Operations can help

I’ve been through several re-plans in my career. With June nearing completion, companies often conduct a July re-plan (also known as a mid-year reforecast or replan) for a few strategic and operational reasons. The ones I’ve been a part of were because of sagging performance. Perhaps we were only 40% attainment relative to our YTD (year-to-date) targets AND pipeline coverage for the backhalf of the year looked anemic. No way in hell were we going to make target. I can cast aspersions on why that happened but that’s water under the bridge. But I will say this. There are typically two fountainheads of why these targets fall apart: internal and external.

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Internal failure begins with a top down plan not based on facts or reality. Investors want to hit targets so they push their portfolio companies to achieve unrealistic targets. Short term gains and perhaps long term loss? Or perhaps the executives have desires to reach certain milestones at certain pacing so they push their orgs. Nothing unreasonable about setting ambitious goals. But with all ambition, there comes a point beyond that is difficult, if not, impossible implausible to achieve.

External failure comes from a severe softening of demand. Perhaps there are no buyers to clear at the price you’re selling. You’re a vitamin and not a cure, let alone a painkiller. You’re shouting ‘take a look, step right up’ on an empty boardwalk.

Mid Year Checkpoint

July marks the beginning of H2 (second half of the fiscal year) for calendar-based fiscal years. You now have 6 months of actual performance data to compare against their original annual plan. And you’ve reassessed what’s realistic for the remainder of the year based on YTD (year-to-date) performance.

Having CLEAN pipeline and a realistic view of:

• Pipeline generation pacing

• Deal velocity (win rate, pipeline #/$, sales cycle)

This data will help you develop insights on recommendations to make.

• If teams missed H1 targets, leadership may lower expectations, reallocate resources, or restructure quotas/goals.

• If teams outperformed, they might raise targets, invest in growth areas, or accelerate hiring and spending.

You definitely want to be a part of the outperforming crowd. Being part of the miss crowd is not fun at all. The psychology of the team changes and people start to wonder, should I be looking for a new job?

Tea Leaves and Adjustments

Economic indicators, customer demand, or competitive shifts can render the original plan obsolete. July is a good time to react to macroeconomic or industry-specific changes (e.g., interest rates, buyer behavior, AI disruptions, etc.). Teams may have over- or under-spent in the first half. And this is when finance uses this checkpoint to reallocate budgets, especially if some departments need more fuel to meet year-end goals.

Strategy

Product delays, new market entries, acquisitions, or shifts in GTM strategy may prompt a replan. Let’s break each one of these down a bit.

Product

Imagine a SaaS company expected to launch a key integration in May that enables upsell into enterprise accounts. It’s now delayed until September, so the CRO and CFO push a July replan to lower Q3 targets and beef up Q4 pipeline strategy.

The Plan (with a capital P) is impacted. Many annual revenue and marketing plans are tied to product launch timelines (e.g. a new feature in Q2 that drives expansion revenue in Q3+Q4). If delayed, the associated pipeline, campaign strategy, and enablement content may need to be pushed.

In response, the team develops a replan. Revenue targets are revised down or shift into later quarters. Marketing spend is reallocated from product-launch campaigns to more evergreen demand generation. And sales has to adjust sales playbooks and enablement so reps aren't selling features that aren’t GA (generally available).

New Market Entrants

The CEO announces in June that the company will enter the APAC market. The July replan allocates budget for local marketing, adds headcount, and adjusts Q4 pipeline expectations.

The Plan is impacted because we’re now entering a new segment (e.g., SMB → mid-market) or geography (e.g., US → EMEA) changes everything from buyer personas to sales cycles.

If this change was made mid-year, the Plan may not account for the necessary ramp time, demand gen costs, or enablement needs.

And of course we now have to replan the following:

• Adjust headcount planning to staff new regions or segments.

• Create new territories, quotas, and comp plans.

• Revise forecast models to include realistic ramp periods for new markets.

Acquisitions

Your companies executes a mid-year acquisition of a competitor. This now means the company now has 2 overlapping SDR teams. The July replan reduces CAC assumptions, merges ICP definitions, and reprioritizes enablement. There is not room for everybody aboard the new ship.

Acquiring a company can impact both revenue (positive or negative) and operational complexity. Plus not everyone is in the know. These deals are highly secretive until they’re announced. Senior leadership may be brought in but perhaps they’re extremely limited as to what they can share or they invoke confidentiality agreements with key staff. If unplanned, the acquired company might bring additional revenue, but also adds integration costs, GTM overlap, or cultural complexity.

The replan response is to update the revenue forecast to include acquired bookings. Bonus points if you’re doing so with realistic ramp or integration timelines. Sales Operations will have to align sales territories to prevent channel conflict. And Business Systems teams will have to map out and execute how to merge or realign tech stacks, CRM, reporting, and operational workflows.

Shifts in GTM Strategy

Example: Leadership decides in June to shift from high-volume outbound to a focused ABM strategy for 100 target accounts. The July replan rebuilds pipeline assumptions, reallocates SDR and marketing efforts, and aligns RevOps reporting around account-level metrics.

A GTM change can come in the form of an additional GTM motion. For example, shifting from PLG to sales-led or supporting outbound with ABM. Perhaps you’re building up a partner-led motion, etc.). All of this requires retraining, tech changes, and a strategic pivot.

If the shift happens in Q2/Q3: The current plan is likely misaligned with how the company intends to generate and close revenue. Once again you’re in a position to create a replan response. Likely you’ll need to update revenue attribution assumptions. Or perhaps refocus marketing campaigns or SDR outreach strategies. And lastly you’re asked to revise the sales funnel math (conversion rates, sales cycles) to reflect new buyer journeys.

So how do you sell a Replan to your investors and how can RevOps support?

July replans align the company around new initiatives or revised strategic priorities. Before communicating these changes internally to the team, you’ll need to sell the whole thing to the board and investors. Companies often prepare H1 business reviews or board updates in July. If the original plan is no longer credible, a replan ensures that leadership is setting realistic expectations for stakeholders.

Here’s a page from my experience supporting the replan.

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