What If... RevOps didn't exist?
Hey everyone!
Here’s a scary thought: what if there wasn’t a function called RevOps? 😱
As someone who started their career in RevOps, that gave me the chills. Quite literally.
It’s true that RevOps handles certain things that no other function does.
But could some of its responsibilities be handed off to other functions? In other words: what if… RevOps didn’t exist?
Find out all the answers in today’s In Depth section 💫
Happy reading!
In Depth 🔍
What If… RevOps didn’t exist?
Here are 4 critical areas that could struggle with the absence of RevOps:
Area 1: Revenue data management & analytics
Data is the backbone of every business. The quintessential. The new “gold”.
However, data needs to enable businesses to tear down the silos and establish one single source of truth for all teams that impact the revenue.
And only RevOps is capable of this by:
Breaking down data silos through cross-system integration (CRM, ERP, marketing automation, and much more)
Enforcing data governance policies through data standards, regular audits, and automating data validation
Delivering actionable insights via real-time dashboards that serve all revenue-impacting teams
Now: what if… RevOps didn’t exist?
The responsibility falls into the hands of one of these 3 teams:
Let’s explore each scenario and what happens if each of these teams takes over.
If marketing takes over:
They lack access to sales & CS data, preventing a full-funnel understanding of revenue impact
There’s a risk of attribution disputes, for instance, sales might claim that leads generated by marketing were already in the pipeline.
Marketing reports on lead conversions could look different than sales, creating chaos and confusion.
If finance takes over:
They primarily look at historical data, while sales and marketing need real-time insights
Since they have zero visibility into deal pipeline or customer lifecycle, they might not understand why deals are stalling or churn is rising
Decision-making might slow down as they prioritize accuracy over agility
If sales takes over:
Marketing & sales have conflicts over funnel metrics, leading to disputes over lead quality & attribution
Sales focuses on pipeline metrics, neglecting early-funnel and post-sales data
Poor CRM hygiene results in inaccurate forecasting and long-term operational inefficiencies
What’s the business impact?
Each team defines and tracks metrics differently, leading to misaligned targets
Teams operate on conflicting datasets, leading to poor strategy execution
Without accurate pipeline insights, the business cannot optimize GTM efforts
Teams waste a lot of time reconciling numbers instead of focusing on strategy
Area 2: Marketing reporting
Marketing is the fuel for growth, but without a clear connection between marketing activities and revenue outcomes, it’s difficult to justify spending, optimize campaigns, or align with sales.
Only RevOps can bridge this gap by:
Managing marketing automation platforms and ensuring seamless data flow into sales systems
Defining lead management processes to ensure leads sourced by marketing are properly qualified and handed to sales
Implementing and optimizing multi-touch attribution models to measure marketing’s real contribution to revenue
Now: what if… RevOps didn’t exist?
The responsibility falls in the hands of… marketing.
When marketing owns the reporting process without oversight from RevOps, there’s a huge risk of biased storytelling. This paints a rosy picture of favorable metrics over hard realities.
Here’s what can go wrong:
Marketing highlights top-of-funnel successes (e.g., leads generated, MQLs, engagement rates, etc.) without linking them to actual revenue impact. This creates an inflated perception of success.
They focus on their own KPIs, avoiding to address whether leads actually turn into deals. And if deals fail to close, the blame shifts to sales — citing poor follow-up rather than assessing lead quality.
The 3 key long-term success metrics: customer retention, expansion, and revenue growth; might be ignored in favor of immediate lead gen wins.
Without a proper SSOT, teams work with conflicting data, making it harder to make strategic decisions. They may separate reporting tools that don’t sync with CRM, creating data silos.
Area 3: Revenue tech stack?
The revenue tech stack—from the fundamental CRM to sales engagement to data enrichment tools—forms the foundation of smooth revenue operations; the revving engine behind growth.
Without proper management, this can quickly become fragmented, inefficient, and costly. Only RevOps can prevent this by:
Managing, integrating, and optimizing tools to eliminate inefficiencies
Ensuring seamless data flow across sales, marketing, and CS
Creating an SSOT to improve cross-functional visibility
Now: what if… RevOps didn’t exist?
Well… let’s be honest: no other team can handle the heat.
Here’s what happens:
Each team purchases its own tools without considering existing solutions. This ends up in an overlap or usage of competitive software, increasing subscription costs. Budgets are wasted, ROI goes down.
Teams select tools based on their individual needs rather than considering cross-functional integration with sales, marketing, or finance. Data silos creep up and internal friction rises as teams struggle with disconnected systems.
Each function creates its own processes in isolation, leading to inconsistent workflows. Personal tool preferences are prioritized over company-wide solutions. As a result, productivity declines.
Tools aren’t fully adopted. Licenses remain unused. And there’s no one to train users, set up proper workflows, or ensure data consistency across tools.
Area 4: Compensation and incentives
Incentives power the engine behind revenue growth. They’re the prime motivators.
Without a well-structured, data-driven approach, comp plans can lead to missed targets, low morale, and high attrition rates.
RevOps can ensure compensation plans are:
Aligned with company objectives, balancing new logos, renewals, and cross-sells proportionately.
Strategically structured to encourage the right behaviors.
Continuously optimized through data to refine quotas and adjust accelerators.
Now: what if… RevOps didn’t exist?
The responsibility falls into the hands of one of these 3 teams:
If sales takes over:
Sales leaders may push for high short-term payouts, ignoring the long-term incentive strategy.
Without proper analytics, comp plans become based on gut feel rather than historical performance.
Quota setting becomes inconsistent, with some teams getting unrealistic targets.
If finance takes over:
Finance may prioritize cost savings over motivation, capping commissions or reducing accelerators to limit expenses.
They may create a complicated or rigid payout structure that doesn’t align with sales workflows.
Quota setting is detached from real pipeline data, becoming too aggressive or failing to account for seasonality.
If HR takes over:
HR may create simplified, one-size-fits-all comp plans, that might not drive the right selling behaviors.
Due to lack of market trends, rep productivity, or pipeline data, they might design unrealistic quotas.
They may struggle to handle commission disputes, leading to trust issues.
What’s the business impact?
If payouts are unclear or inaccurate, reps lose trust in the comp plan.
Quota setting becomes inconsistent, leading to missed revenue opportunities.
Sales and finance leaders spend hours resolving payout disputes, distracting them from growth initiatives.
Unethical selling behaviors emerge, like sandbagging or cherry-picking deals.
The world without RevOps wouldn’t be the same.
Sure, another function might eventually come along to bring every team together. But that would take a ton of time and effort. Right now, RevOps is essential.
Here’s a question for you: What do you think would happen if RevOps didn’t exist? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
That’s it for today’s Closing Thoughts. See you next time!
Everstage’s Corner ✨
Throwback: GTM Spring Social - Austin, Atlanta, & Chicago 🤝
GTM Social, Austin, TX
GTM Social, Atlanta, GA
GTM Social, Chicago, IL
Our Events team had a series of eventful evenings with the incredible GTM leaders from Austin, Atlanta, and Chicago.
A huge thanks to Ragin Edwards (Autodesk) and Jason Moore (Riskified) for hosting an engaging session for RevOps leaders to execute their GTM strategy in a seamless way 💡
But the party is far from over!
Up next, we’re heading to the West Coast in April, to these cities:
📍Denver, CO: Wednesday, Apr 2
📍Salt Lake City, UT: Thursday, Apr 3
📍Los Angeles, CA: Tuesday, Apr 8
📍Mountain View & SF City, CA: Wednesday, Apr 9 & Thursday, Apr 10
Pro Perspectives 💬
The $250M to $2.5B Growth Journey: Terry Lee’s Playbook on GTM Strategies & Scalable Systems
Having played a pivotal role in scaling ARR from $250M to $2.5B at Harness, Terry Lee shares his exact playbook for achieving 10x revenue growth. In this episode of the Go To Masters Show, he breaks down the three pillars of a strong GTM strategy and how to build a scalable GTM system.
Listen now:
Finance Fireside: Shalini Agarwal on Balancing Compliance and Innovation in Finance
Shalini Agarwal shares her journey to leadership as the Director of Accounting at Starburst. She explores how to leverage technology and data in finance, balance compliance with operational efficiency, and the transformative role of AI in the industry.
Listen now:
Finance Fireside: Nikhil Agarwal on Navigating the Future of Finance
With 25 years of experience spanning multiple industries, Nikhil Agarwal, Senior Director of Global Finance at BrowserStack, shares his insights on the evolving finance landscape. He discusses the impact of AI on finance, and the importance of commercial consciousness.
Listen now:
RevOpportunities 💼
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