The Hyperscayle RevOps Framework

Revenue Operations is a relatively new term that is appearing with growing frequency. This is evidenced by LinkedIn identifying Chief Revenue Officer/Head of Revenue Operations as the fastest growing job category, and analyst firms like Forrester launching RevOps advisory services offerings.

However, the term is still so new that if you ask five different people how to define RevOps, you’ll probably get five different answers. For this reason, we at Hyperscayle wanted to take a step back and explain how we define Revenue Operations, and our framework for thinking about it.

Hyperscayle defines revenue operations as the design and execution of Go-To-Market (GTM) processes and systems across the lead-to-cash lifecycle.

This includes marketing operations, sales operations, customer success operations, channel operations, and finance operations. Ours is a holistic view, not thinking in terms of silos bolted together, but rather as steps of a unified process. We created the Hyperscayle RevOps framework to further structure our approach.

Hyperscayle’s RevOps Framework

Leadership Alignment:

This is all about making sure your RevOps team is equipped to be a force multiplier for your leadership team’s strategy. This starts by ensuring GTM efforts are guided by a well-formulated operating plan that is revisited throughout the year.

We also include accurate reporting structured in a way that’s actionable for making decisions about the business. When done correctly, RevOps quickly becomes viewed as an indispensable part of how your company takes a theoretical plan and makes it a reality. Firms should assign business partners from each GTM function to collaborate with RevOps and ensure their teams can adapt systems and process quickly to changing conditions.

Process Definition:

We believe in “Process First.” This is one of the most important principles for Revenue Operations and (unfortunately) one of the most forgotten. Companies often try to solve problems by buying new technology or adding team members without first ensuring their business process is set up correctly. It’s one of the most common mistakes we see people make.

Process definition is crucial before starting any revenue operations project, regardless of whether you implement a new core system or just make some improvements to an existing one. If you do this well, you’ll have a laser focus on what your GTM teams need to do their jobs as efficiently as possible. Systems are a means to manifest a process, and the process is only as good as the execution.

Team Structure:

Another critical and often neglected area is how to structure Revenue Operations teams. This starts by deciding how large a team you need and whether they report to the CMO, CRO, or IT leader.

Will you build out a complete RevOps team and keep all work in-house, outsource your RevOps function entirely, or something in between? The correct answers will change as your company grows, so it’s important to revisit this topic regularly. Companies should consider what core skills they need in their in-house team, and then outsource projects that require more specialized skills.

Systems & Tools:

A crucial part of RevOps functions is the systems your GTM teams use every day to do their jobs. The technology stack you’re using today likely consists of multiple categories of tools. Marketing automation and CRM are of course some of the most important, but today there are other crucial categories as well such as Data Enrichment, Data Orchestration, Sales Enablement, and Middleware/Integration software.

It’s important to make the right technology choices for your stage and type of company. It’s also important to make sure you have the right mix of tools without paying for redundant technologies. Systems work and architecture are at the core of most projects we do, and so we have a well-developed point of view about what a given stage company needs. Who owns each system is another important decision, and often overlaps with the Team Structure category.

Data Foundation:

Last but certainly not least is Data Foundation. The state of your data, and whether you have an agreed-upon single source of truth is one of the most fundamental requirements for any company. The adage, “garbage in, garbage out” certainly applies to RevOps, and all too often, people know they have a data problem, but delay addressing it for multiple quarters or even years.

This means your operations team spends hours crafting and correcting basic reports every week, and it gets progressively harder to add new functionality and update your systems as you grow. Quite often one of our early pieces of advice with a new client is to improve their data foundation before launching into other projects.

So, What Do You Think?

These five categories cover all facets of a holistic RevOps program, and Hyperscayle uses this framework to organize our efforts and prioritize the right things for our clients. Each of these categories is a weighty topic, so over the coming weeks, we’ll be publishing articles going deeper into each one. Subscribe here so you don’t miss out.

More to come soon. In the meantime, we’re eager for any feedback and thoughts that our extended Hyperscayle community has on this framework, so please reach out if you’d like to talk!