In the dynamic landscape of modern business, embracing data-driven practices has become paramount for companies aiming to thrive in their revenue operations.

The significance of such practices derives from their ability to offer invaluable insights into customer behavior, market trends, and other crucial factors that foster business growth and success.

However, an important question arises:

What exactly is revenue operations, and how can data-driven practices be used to improve it?

To help us with this topic today, we have Jeremey Donovan, Executive Vice President of Revenue Operations and Strategy at Insight Partners.

What Processes Fall Under Revenue Operations?

At a high level, we can categorize revenue operations into sales, marketing, and customer service operations. However, it’s important to note that these components don’t always interact in the same way. They are often virtually combined, meaning that they work closely together despite being separate entities. More recently, individuals working in sales operations have started referring to themselves as revenue operations professionals.

Within revenue operations, there are several key functions. Compensation and quota management typically fall under RevOps, as well as segmentation and deal desk operations, analytics, and forecasting. Other aspects that may be part of revenue operations include CS operations and certain marketing operations components.

“The best-performing companies are setting those separate targets for new and expansion, and then they’re monitoring and reporting on the pipeline every week and often down to the individual seller level, not just at the segment level but at the seller level, and truly holding people accountable”.

Jeremey Donovan, Executive Vice President of Revenue Operations and Strategy at Insight Partners

Embracing data-driven processes

In revenue operations, it is essential to prioritize data-driven processes. When recommending such processes, common debates arise regarding best practices. However, relying solely on opinions without access to relevant data is unreliable. For optimal results, it is crucial to set separate targets for new business and expansion, as many companies overlook this distinction.

To excel, top-performing companies establish separate targets for new and expansion segments, closely monitor and report on the pipeline weekly, and hold individuals accountable, even at the seller level. Implementing this disciplined pipeline approach not only ensures meeting targets but also mitigates the issue of uneven sales distribution throughout the year.

“If you think about it, that pipeline discipline solves so much in terms of not only hitting your number but also the classic sales linearity problem that all the business comes on the last day of the last week of the last month or the last quarter of the year”.

Jeremey Donovan, Executive Vice President of Revenue Operations and Strategy at Insight Partners

The key to successful sales

In top-performing companies, sellers can consistently pitch their solutions, effectively distinguishing their value proposition from the competition. However, when approaching different companies, if you were to ask ten different salespeople about product positioning, you would receive ten different answers. Achieving consistency in such cases becomes crucial. Therefore, it is important to pitch your solution consistently, highlighting its unique value proposition compared to competitors.

Remember, it’s not just what you sell, but how you sell it. The initial phase of the sales process focuses on establishing value, while the latter part revolves around mitigating perceived risks for the buyer. The most successful salespeople ensure your comfort, assist in risk reduction, and foster trust.

“It’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell… The best sellers that I’ve encountered make you comfortable, help you reduce the risk, and build trust”.

Jeremey Donovan, Executive Vice President of Revenue Operations and Strategy at Insight Partners

Now that you learned some groundbreaking data-driven revenue operations strategies…learn how to apply other tactics and tools for a disruptive B2B marketing and sales strategy. Check out the full list of episodes here: The B2B Revenue Executive Experience, and instructions on how to rate and review the show are here.