Technology administration does not a RevOps Make
Lately I’ve been thinking about sharing real world experiences. You know, getting in the trenches. Digging deep. Reminiscing over battlescars. Hard fought experience kind of thing.
So I’m going to lay out a laundry list of technologies I’ve supported over the years. Many of you reading might shake your head and say a-ha! He does like to talk about technology every once in awhile.
Here’s a dirty little secret. I really do like talking about tech.
Partly because it’s all about functionality, not features for me. If I could unlock the trifecta of…
Recapturing selling time
Capability expansion
Amazing customer experience
Then hal-le-lu-jah, I’m going to bring that capability in. With one caveat of course: the Total Cost of Ownership does not outweigh the medium term marginal benefits.
So here goes a tongue twister of 51 applications I’ve implemented, managed or administered directly over the years. Okay here goes.
Hubspot
Marketo
Salesforce
Gainsight
Totango
ZoomInfo
Zoom
DiscoverOrg
Xactly
CaptivateIQ
SalesLoft
Outreach
Groove
8x8
ZipWhip
DialPad
Google BigQuery
Census
Zuora
Fivetran
Stitch
Pardot
Quip
Tableau
Klipfolio
Looker
PFL
Chili Piper
Scratchpad
LiveStorm
Sertifi
GetGuru
Goldcast
LevelJump
Jira
Asana
SEMRush
Orum
Trello
Monday.com
Stripe
Netsuite
Atrium
Qualtrics
Troops
RingLead
Bizible
Ambition
Spinify
Sendoso
Postal
Alright I’m going to catch my breath for a bit.
So the big question for any business is… do you need all of that?
The answer is NO.
But it doesn’t mean you forsake technology just because you want to run lean. It also doesn’t mean spendthrifts hang the cost consciousness guilt trip over the heads of what’s supposed to be a growth business. Cutting corners at the core early on can do just as much damage as spending like drunk sailors.
Find. The. Right. Balance.
As some would say: Scale the core. Innovate at the edges.
But that’s easier said than done. Start with a few temperature check questions.
Question 1: What are the necessary capabilities? Non-negotiables. I can think of a few. Generating leads. Sending those leads to the right people or resources to meet them where they are in their buying journey. Avoid stiff arming someone downloading a whitepaper with a demo request. In dating parlance… that’s coming off just a tad bit too strong. Segmenting accounts or leads into territories or a round robin model. Capturing opportunities at all phases of the journey. Forecasting across the business. These are table stakes.
Question 2: So with that said, there are some core systems in my opinion. Define what those systems are? For sales led businesses, CRM is non-negotiable. For marketing driven businesses, a Marketing Automation Platform (MAP) is non-negotiable. Pick the right system from the get go. Fill into the shoes so to speak. Migrating is always so painful in my opinion. But I firmly understand the pressures of operating on lean capital or trialing before you commit whole hog.
Question 3: Who is going to keep the lights on AND build the inevitable custom features? Keep it in house or move it to a consulting operating as Operations-as-a-Service. I’d venture to say many businesses have found success in a hybrid model. These tools are getting to a place where they all connect to each other point to point, but until those network effects truly kick in… businesses are piling ever more responsibilities onto their systems admins. Think of it as system inflation. That’s an unrealistic trend from a management capability perspective. These systems will have to consolidate because it simply doesn’t make sense that your SDR manager is also a part time SalesLoft or Outreach admin.
Question 4: Do you get what you pay for? Meaning, if you zealously pursue a bargain-basement approach to resources are you more likely to miss out many good candidates? I’d definitely say yes here. Even if you think I’m somewhat of an inflationary resource to my fellow Operations peers, I can tell you that lowballing consistently will lead you to enormous, cumulative technical debt in the long run.
If you’ve been in RevOps for awhile then you’ve probably experienced this. Often it comes in the form of a LinkedIn message starting with the words… “I’m impressed with your background”. “Your background looks interesting”. Something of that variety. They’re looking for a Jack, a Jill Of All Trades. You get a Manager or a Director title but no team to work with. Instead you’re promised that your team will grow when the company does. That’s often true, but these “Teams of One” find themselves in very difficult positions. Scope creep is real. If you’re asked to own the technology, and the operating cadence, and the comp plans… that’s a promising path to asking for more resources.
One common mistake that continues to persist is the belief that RevOps is a role solely focused on technology and automation.
Being a Salesforce Admin does not a RevOps make in my opinion. That’s a systems role. Instead, RevOps is meant to be a discipline focused on the entire customer journey. From cradle to grave. At smaller organizations you’ll find that it’s possible to layer on heaps of responsibilities on a superhero. Then at larger companies you have overlaid and matrixed organizations to do the heavy lifting. Roles within these companies at the leadership level get to see the whole enchilada. Early and mid-level roles build their business acumen piece by piece; seeing a bit of the world through a key hole.
So why do recruiters and sales leaders continue to think RevOps equals systems admins?
If that's all it took to have a RevOps capability then I ask why doesn't IT just take over?
Here are a few reasons why RevOps is a whole lot more than the systems monkey. We’ll end on this here.
- Process optimization
- Business modeling
- Forecasting
- Business reviews
- Compensation/incentive design
- Capacity planning
- Handoff design and governance
- Onboarding and continuous training
- Driving improved unit economics
- Churn mitigation strategies
So if IT takes over the systems piece, then is still plenty of meaty pieces that will have to be taken on by finance, sales, marketing, CS, L&D, etc...
When constructed correctly, this function called RevOps is a trusted advisor who can work cross functionally; unleashing business impact felt at all levels of the company
If you’re a founder or a head of sales listening to this I believe it’s perfectly appropriate and acceptable to hire an executor early on. The plumbing and the electrical need to work seamlessly.
So if you’re in the position where you do need to manage the technology. Here are some helpful tips that have guided me my entire career.
Sync business systems to achieve business objectives. Nothing worse than building or buying science experiments when the name of the game is practical application.
Prioritize. Prioritize. Prioritize. There are fundamental tradeoffs because of finite time, skill, and money. Pick and choose your battles.
Set up Sprints. Communicate loudly what features you’re rolling out or what bugs you’re addressing. Sprints are also a fantastic way of showing continuous process while staying true to your roadmap.
Separate the tactical from strategic. If it’s tactical, it needs an SLA. If it’s strategic, it’s a project. Both are very different. Tactical can be handled with a ticketing system. I’ve used Salesforce Cases and Jira in my lifetime. Both work well. For strategic projects you’re going to want to set up Project Plans and RACIs. If you’re unfamiliar with RACI it stands for Responsible, Accountable, Contributor and Informed. It gives everyone a place and space to either voice or vote.
Technology is paramount in any business. I’ve espoused that it’s not the end all be all. I continue to think that. Businesses persist to want a partner at the table who can see the GTM vision and set the change in motion
In my view, that’s what continues to make RevOps such a fantastic career choice. Go forth and build. Be a change agent.
A word on the Patreon Group
Thanks for reading all the way to this point. If you’re interested in diving deeper and want to get your hands on some real life templates then consider joining the RevOps Rehab Patron group. It’s a small, short term investment for a long term return on your career. www.patreon.com/revopsrehab