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What is B2B SaaS RevOps?

by 

Lauren O'Bryan

Last updated: May 27th, 2024

Revenue operations, or RevOps, is a business process or strategy for maximizing business revenue potential. But what is B2B SaaS RevOps, specifically?

In this article, we’ll cover everything you want to know about RevOps – how it’s used, why it’s used, and how it can be implemented. Let’s get right into it.

What is B2B SaaS RevOps?

B2B SaaS, in particular enterprise solutions, are well-known for having long sales cycles, and connecting marketing efforts to sales outcomes can be a complex process. Then there is the added problem of departmental silos brewing and hampering business growth.

RevOps helps align these departments around common goals, ensuring all teams have a unified vision of the customer journey. This is particularly important in the enterprise B2B SaaS niche because customers will connect with multiple departments, and a smooth experience is beneficial for all involved.

Sustainable scaling for a SaaS business involves data from all departments. RevOps creates a centralized point for all data so it can be analyzed and utilized more efficiently. All of these efficiencies and improvements to the customer experience mean that RevOps gives SaaS businesses a head start on the competition.

Is RevOps the Same as SalesOps?

Although sometimes used interchangeably, RevOps and SalesOps are different. RevOps considers the organization as a whole when identifying ways to boost revenue, whereas SalesOps is more restricted to the sales department and its actions.

Why is RevOps Essential to B2B SaaS?

RevOps is well placed within B2B SaaS for a couple of reasons. As mentioned earlier, enterprise B2B SaaS can be notorious for departmental silos, which end up slowing business growth. Once you break down these silos and streamline processes and communication – business can thrive.

Aligns Departments

RevOps brings together your sales, marketing, and customer success departments under one roof, working toward the same revenue goal. With each department working collaboratively and not competing against each other, business operations can run more efficiently. Teams can communicate more easily and share information promptly.

Happy Customers; Happy Business

Ultimately, happy customers equal a thriving business. When departments align, communication improves and the customer experience becomes more streamlined and personalized. Customer data is shared between teams, which helps each team better understand customer needs and preferences. This makes RevOps a win-win for everyone – the employees, customers, and the overall company.

Centralizes Metrics

Departmental collaboration also requires common agreement on the tech stack all teams will work from. Using the same tech stack centralizes data and enables easier information sharing. Customers will have a smoother experience as they move through the marketing funnel to the sales team with all relevant data carried over.

Centralizing data and sharing a tech stack also means performance can be measured from the same metrics, enabling a more cohesive team effort and focus.

Facilitates Predictable Growth

All of these elements combined allow teams to work more efficiently and result in predictable and sustainable business growth. Some SaaS businesses report between 100% to 200% marketing ROI and almost 20% higher customer satisfaction after implementing a RevOps program. In fact, RevOps has become so popular it’s predicted that by 2025, 75% of the highest-growth companies will use a RevOps strategy.

Metrics and KPIs for RevOps

Having measurable data is a must for growing businesses. Metrics and KPIs serve as the foundation of any RevOps program, so focus on the following ones:

• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR): Tracking recurring revenue is an obvious metric to prioritize when you have a revenue growth goal. Assessing your recurring revenue against the churn rate will tell you if growth is being achieved and if the business is sustainable.
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV): This metric provides a value figure illustrating how much a business can expect to receive from each customer for the duration of their relationship. It’s important to know this to make better decisions around customer retention and acquisition. As a general rule, the CLTV should amount to three times that of the CAC.
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The marketing department needs to understand what it costs to acquire each new customer to optimize their total marketing spend.
• Customer Retention Rate (CRR): The CRR shows the percentage of customers you’ve retained over a set period of time. The higher the retention rate, the more satisfied your customers are likely to be.
• Churn Rate: On the flip side, the churn rate shows you the percentage of customers that end their subscription commitment. Similarly to retention rate, this metric helps you to understand customer satisfaction.
• Lead Conversion Rate: The lead conversion rate is valuable for both the sales and marketing teams. It helps to understand how many leads are successfully converting to paying customers and can, therefore, tell you how effective your sales and marketing strategies are.

Even though RevOps is all about bringing previously siloed departments together, each team needs to follow its own KPIs. For example, the sales team can have a simple monthly sales target to aim for. The marketing team needs to closely monitor marketing ROI, and the customer success team should assess customer feedback scores.

Job Roles and Responsibilities within RevOps

As a strategic framework, successfully implementing RevOps requires dedicated roles and a structured approach. Typically, businesses will employ a RevOps Manager who will oversee the implementation of the agreed-upon plan, who then reports to the Chief Revenue Officer.

Another role that is commonly engaged is a RevOps Analyst. A RevOps Analyst monitors the performance of the program through data analysis. It’s their responsibility to keep all teams accountable and working towards their KPIs and overall revenue goal.

How to Implement a RevOps Strategy?

If you’ve decided RevOps is a good idea for your business, it’s time to think about how best to go about restructuring to make the transition as easy as possible for all teams involved.

1. Understand your current operational setup. Start by identifying your existing position, strengths, and weaknesses. What software and tools are you currently using and can they be used by all teams? You’ll have to get everyone on the same tech stack. To keep the process smooth, avoid introducing too many new programs. What are the existing roadblocks in inter-departmental communication and decision-making? Prioritize addressing existing communication and productivity roadblocks when they are identified. These are considered easy wins. Which teams will be hit the hardest by the transition and how can you make it easier for them? Some teams will be able to merge into the new processes more easily than others. It’ll save a lot of stress if you can identify the teams that will have difficulty early on and provide additional support before problems arise.
2. Get company-wide buy-in for the RevOps strategy. Once the strategy is developed, you need to focus on getting all executive leaders on board. The strategy will be a new concept for them and it’s important they understand what RevOps is and why it’s worth adopting. Upper management needs to be just as committed to the plan. This includes proposed milestones and expected timeframes, because the strategy has to run consistently for enough time to produce viable results.
3. Clarify new processes and responsibilities. To help the implementation process run as smoothly as possible, ensure all team members thoroughly understand any new processes and responsibilities. If necessary, create checklists to prevent mistakes and avoid frustration that can impact team morale. Highlight the collaborative nature of the new arrangement and the new culture of departmental cohesiveness.
4. Factor in ongoing support and training. Finally, factor in periodic check-ins, support, and training. Regular monitoring will help prevent the strategy from falling apart if unexpected challenges arise and reinforce the collaborative spirit across departments.

Using HubSpot?

HubSpot is a powerful platform used by companies with RevOps programs in place. It has a range of tools that can be combined to give all the RevOps functionality a SaaS business requires. HubSpot is a single platform all your departments can use – it functions as a knowledge hub for documents and SOPs, and you can automate workflows to boost efficiency.

However, despite its popularity and robust capabilities, many businesses don’t utilize it to its full potential. This leaves valuable data unanalyzed and customer journeys less streamlined than possible.

To address this issue, we offer a specialized HubSpot RevOps audit for clients using HubSpot that will help them get the most out of the platform. We’ve developed our own scorecard to identify areas for improvement and will work with your team to optimize processes and ensure you get the most out of the tool.

If you’re not using HubSpot but want to, we can also provide migration and setup assistance. So, get in touch today.

Using Salesforce?

Salesforce is another popular and powerful tool. However, for the power it packs, it still lacks supporting features and functionality. Luckily, there’s a simple solution. Integrate Salesforce with HubSpot and you can have the best of both – outstanding contact management with Salesforce and top-quality marketing functionality with HubSpot.

Wrapping Up

RevOps is the next big thing in SaaS business strategy, but implementing it effectively does require careful planning and oversight. When done right, it can solve the problems associated with departmental silos and drive significant growth.

To achieve your business growth goals, it’s essential to understand your current position and the competitive landscape. Use our SaaS scalability score self-assessment to gauge your business’s scalability and how it stacks up against the competition. It will provide valuable insights to help you strategize for future growth.