Understanding Revenue Operations

Sales & Marketing misalignment has been one of the biggest issues for GTM teams for more than a decade. They’ve tried to solve it with: -Changing marketing goals from MQLs to SQLs (didn’t work) -Putting a Chief Revenue Officer in charge of Marketing (didn’t work)  -Having a weekly pipeline meeting for Sales & Marketing (didn’t work) -Buying an ABM platform (didn’t work) B2B companies always try to fix GTM at tactical execution (e.g. let’s hire a new growth marketer to do SEO for us) or tech & tools (e.g. let’s buy an ABM platform and change from MQLs to MQAs). They do this because it’s easy but it doesn’t solve the real problem. It’s superficial & visible. It’s easy to report back to the board in a powerpoint slide about a new tool or new tactic or new hire. But the real root cause of these issues is so much more fundamental. It’s deeply rooted & invisible. The real root cause of these issues is the operating model & data model that companies consciously or subconsciously adopt that drives the mindset of executives, investors, and GTM teams, and influences every decision they make. Lead -> MQL/MQA -> SAL -> SQL -> SQO -> Closed Won And here are the core issues: 1. Operates in an assembly line of silo’d departments instead of an allbound integrated revenue team. 2. Most companies use a model that was created between 2012 and 2017, despite how much has changed in the world in the past 6 years. 3. Marketing is optimizing for MQLs/MQAs or a poor definition of “pipeline” that doesn’t align to close won revenue. The data is clear in every Salesforce instance that core Marketing KPIs don’t align to closed won revenue, sales velocity, and marketing ROI. 4. SDRs optimize for SQLs or meetings, not closed won revenue. 5. All of the technology, tools, and tactical “best practices” are built around getting leads, MQLs/MQAs, and SQLs, further entrenching companies getting stuck in the model. 6. GTM teams are stuck in the incremental. How do we improve our outbound connect rates by 1%? How do we reduce our cost per lead by $3? There are no breakthroughs in growth with incremental improvements. Optimizing a broken model is not the solution, it’s changing the model. 7. No standardized data model so every company reinvents the wheel in RevOps w/o clear, performance-based definitions. Everybody on the GTM team is looking at different metrics & decisions are based on experiences and opinion instead of science & data. When you are putting together your 2024 plan, use these ideas as a guide. Clearly identify the core issue(s) that are holding you back. Create a solution that actually solves the root cause, instead of treating the symptoms. #b2b #gtm #marketing #sales

The most misused title in SaaS: "Chief Revenue Officer" For every 100 CROs, at a guess: 69/100 are Senior AEs. 30/100 are VPs of Sales 1/100 is actually a Chief Revenue Officer, Think about it... ...how many CROs by title can effectively run: - All aspects of demand gen - Inbound & outbound motion - Net new sales - Onboarding & retention - Expansion & renewals - Revenue operations - Hiring of VPs - Board/Investor GTM plans - Capital raise support? I reckon it's about 1% of folk out there. Be honest with yourself, if you have the CRO title, can you do all of the above well? Most CROs I come across are really just solid at net new sales, making them glorified account execs. Some of the better ones, can run inbound and outbound motions in parallel, and *sometimes* collaborate with RevOps, making them decent VPs of Sales. Founders and VCs need to stop the conflation. Hire an account exec and give them a personal net new quota Hire a VP of Sales and given them a team net new quota (no personal quota) Hire a real CRO to oversee all aspects of revenue, including marketing There's nothing wrong the with VP of Sales title or role. But put a glorified VP of Sales or, Snr AE in charge of all revenue activity, and watch things crumble. Just a friendly warning folks 🤷🏼♂️ PS: I started out in Marketing, and transitioned to sales, but have always held a quota, and been passionate about top of funnel and post sale deal fidelity from day one. I'd love to see more 'marketers' run revenue, but you gotta hold quota for a sustained period to make that transition.

Data silos aren’t just a tech problem - they’re an operational bottleneck that slows decision - making, erodes trust, and wastes millions in duplicated efforts. But we’ve seen companies like Autodesk, Nasdaq, Porto, and North break free by shifting how they approach ownership, governance, and discovery. Here’s the 6-part framework that consistently works: 1️⃣ Empower domains with a Data Center of Excellence. Teams take ownership of their data, while a central group ensures governance and shared tooling. 2️⃣ Establish a clear governance structure. Data isn’t just dumped into a warehouse—it’s owned, documented, and accessible with clear accountability. 3️⃣ Build trust through standards. Consistent naming, documentation, and validation ensure teams don’t waste time second-guessing their reports. 4️⃣ Create a unified discovery layer. A single “Google for your data” makes it easy for teams to find, understand, and use the right datasets instantly. 5️⃣ Implement automated governance. Policies aren’t just slides in a deck—they’re enforced through automation, scaling governance without manual overhead. 6️⃣ Connect tools and processes. When governance, discovery, and workflows are seamlessly integrated, data flows instead of getting stuck in silos. We’ve seen this transform data cultures - reducing wasted effort, increasing trust, and unlocking real business value. So if your team is still struggling to find and trust data, what’s stopping you from fixing it?

Baseline Revenue: the secret EBITDA driver hiding in plain sight—and the one thing your 2025 plan *needs*.  If 2025 profitability AND growth feel impossible (looking at you, ballooning CAC), this post just might help change that. Here’s what you’ll get:   1) The 3 biggest lessons I learned about Baseline Revenue   2) Why it’s the *most critical* segment of your revenue   3) The 2 tactical ways to drive it in 2025  Let’s go. --- 1) What I learned about Baseline Revenue  a) Revenue isn’t one monolith   We broke it into 3 key segments, each reflecting unique purchase behaviors:   - Short-Term Paid: Ad click → Buy (short-term revenue).  - Triggered: Email/SMS click → Buy  - Baseline: Search your name / Enter your URL → Buy (brand-led revenue)  Baseline Revenue: where all the EBITDA is hiding—and the backbone of profitable growth. b) Baseline purchases = higher profit margins   These customers aren't as dependent on discounts, promos, or manufactured urgency to buy. They are actively CHOOSING your BRAND (I mean, they know your brand name, AND they search for it or enter your URL in their browser...that's next-level stuff). They’re *yours*. And they stick around, generally less dependent on discounts over their customer tenure.  c) Baseline grows when your Brand grows.   Of course you're spending money, but you’re not buying transactions—you’re earning a customer. They come to you without needing to beg for them.  Cool story, bro, but what if your social posts get 3 likes, and PR is non-existent?  --- 2) Why Baseline is The Real MVP in 2025 Growing Baseline Revenue is as systematic and measurable as running short-term ads—if you know how. The myth: Only organic posts or earned media drive Baseline growth. The truth (thank heavens we learned this): **Ads can drive Baseline growth, too.**  The key? Stop treating Baseline like “magic” traffic and start applying the same strategic focus you bring to short-term campaigns.  --- 3) The 2 ways to grow Baseline Revenue in 2025  a) Change the mindset on short-term revenue ROAS. Here’s the hard truth: chasing the ROAS hamster wheel leads to shrinking profits, steeper discounts, and wasting ad dollars on customers who would’ve bought anyway.   You didn't get into this business to do that. We were ready to take action once we changed our view and started spending just as much time, energy, and money on driving Baseline Revenue (or more) as we spent on our conversion ads. So what do we do? b) Invest strategically across 3 key vectors:   - **Audience:** Go wayyyyy broad. Reach 1000000x more people (exclude high-intent audiences). - **Objective:** Engagement—likes, follows, profile views. Boost posts 'til your blue in the face. - **Creative:** Make them laugh. Show your Brand. Proudly show your logo and brand tagline. Don’t beg for a purchase today. Inspire enough to earn a purchase when they're ready. Baseline is where the profit is. Act accordingly. ✌️❤️🤘  

The hardest job in SaaS? Being a CRO. Especially when you’re not actually acting like one. Here’s what I mean: A real CRO isn’t just a glorified sales leader. They drive cross-functional impact. They own or heavily influence ALL revenue-related motions. They think strategy over tactics. They’re in Board meetings and fundraising discussions. They understand the stage of the business and adapt accordingly. But here’s the reality. Early-stage CROs are often just Chief Account Executives in disguise. And that’s OK. Startups need closers. At some point, though, you need to level up. As the business grows, a true CRO shifts their focus. Pavilion CRO teaches time allocation as follows, with Strategy being most important: Strategy > People > Process > Systems > Metrics Notice what’s NOT there? Deals. When you are delivering results by spending more time on Strategy and People than Metrics and Deals. When your planning horizon extends beyond this month and this quarter. That’s when you’re a CRO, at least in my book. If you are already there. Welcome to the club. Now, enjoy the bullseye on your back—average tenure? 17 months! I’ll never forget the CRO who told me: "If you don’t like me, just outlast me. I probably have <18 months." What do you think? Why is CRO tenure so short? Is it because of the individual? The nature of the role? Unreasonable expectations?

Your marketing team thinks your sales team can't sell, Your sales team thinks your marketing team can't generate leads – but... What if they're both right? 🤔 Most tech companies lose millions because these teams fight instead of working together. - Your prospects research for weeks before they talk to anyone. - Your internal teams still point fingers when deals disappear. Here's what happens: Marketing spends thousands on campaigns that sales calls "trash leads." Sales works with prospects that marketing never nurtured properly. Meanwhile, competitors with integrated teams close the deals you should have won. Companies like Dell figured this out decades ago. They unified sales and marketing under shared leadership and aligned goals. The result? They dominate markets while others scramble to catch up. Your choice: Keep the internal warfare, or start winning deals. _________________ Chip Royce spent decades watching B2B companies lose deals because sales and marketing worked in silos. At Flywheel Advisors, he builds integrated revenue teams modeled on the structure that drove Dell Technologies’ success since the 1990s.

"You stay on your side of the fence, and I’ll stay on mine!” Ok sure that works for feuding neighbors but NOT when it’s departments in the same company! Data silos are when teams hoard their own systems, creating isolated data pools that nobody else can touch. This just screws up your ability to make smart decisions. So, how do you fix this mess? First, get a solid data governance framework going—set policies for quality and access. Then, roll out data integration tools to bring all that info together. Think data warehouses or good old ETL. But it’s not just about the tech. You gotta foster a culture that values data sharing. Get those cross-functional teams working together! And for crying out loud, train your people! They need to understand why sharing data matters and how to use the tools. So stop playing fence wars and start breaking down those data silos!

Your sales team is sprinting. Your marketing team is in a planning cycle. And customer success is in post-sale chaos mode. And somehow, you’re supposed to align all three with “Monday meetings”? GTM doesn’t fail because of bad execution. It fails because no one’s marching to the same beat. Here’s what most orgs get wrong: They treat sales, marketing, and CS like adjacent departments When they actually function like dependent systems. If your sales team learns something in the field and it doesn’t make it into your campaign logic, Your marketing is out of touch. If your CS team sees churn red flags, But your sales team keeps closing misfit accounts. Your pipeline is broken from the inside. You can’t “align” that with a slide deck. Here’s a tactical breakdown of what actually works: 1. Unify Goals > Mirror Metrics If your teams don’t share KPIs, they’ll compete instead of collaborate. - Marketing: MQL to Opportunity Ratio - Sales: Opportunity to Closed-Won - CS: Expansion/Churn tied back to original acquisition source Build a shared scorecard that forces accountability across the funnel. 2. Centralize GTM Ops Ownership Someone needs to be accountable for the operating rhythm itself. That’s where Marketing Ops and RevOps step in. Own the cadence Track system health Identify feedback loops Flag GTM friction before it hits revenue 3. Run GTM Like a Product Create a backlog of GTM experiments → Funnel friction → Content gaps → Win/loss insights → Tool bloat or confusion Sprint. Measure. Ship. Repeat. No one gets to "opt out" of the rhythm just because they're customer-facing or campaign-led. Stop aligning through meetings and start aligning through systems. The rhythm is the strategy. If you can't hear it— You're not really in market. #GTMStrategy #MarketingOps #RevOps #Leadership #CustomerExperience #OperationalExcellence

a CEO told me: “everyone’s working hard but pulling in different directions.” and this is exactly one of the worst GTM scenarios for companies: - teams are operating in silos. - marketing pushes campaigns no one aligns on. - leadership changes direction every quarter. everyone’s working hard, but pulling in different directions. the worst go-to-market isn’t broken execution. it’s broken alignment. because when everyone’s running their own GTM, here’s what actually happens: - no one knows what motion is working. - pipeline grows, but conversion doesn’t. - momentum stalls even when activity is high. from the customer’s point of view is even worse: - “what exactly do they solve?” - “they sound just like everyone else.” - “do they know what they’re doing?” misalignment doesn’t just slow you down. it creates confusion internally and externally. here’s how to fix your GTM: 1. get clarity as a team start with the hard questions: - where can we grow the most? - what’s our ROI in the customer’s mind? - what motions match our market? these questions anchor every strategic decision (and if your team answers them differently, that’s your first problem.) 2. align your rhythm you need a shared GTM system, not 3 disconnected scorecards. install a weekly GTM rhythm. run one strategy, not one per department. 3. operate from focus once the system is in place: - kill what’s not working. - double down on the motion that wins. - make the value clear, fast. that’s how great GTM teams scale. love, sangram p.s. if you want more on the GTM Operating System, check my profile for a access to the course that has over 3000+ downloads: Sangram Vajre.

Having a bottom-of-funnel problem? That's probably not your actual problem There's a deeper issue your team has It's communication. When I first started consulting I'd pitch companies on having a BOFU problem. It took me a year and a half to realize that the "BOFU gap" teams have is the result of siloed communication. Sales only talks to sales. Product only talks to product. Marketing only talks to marketing. When in actuality sales should be talking to marketing, who should be talking to product. Good BOFU content needs input from every team. Those insights should then be baked into each piece you publish. Not just on your blog, but across every piece of collateral your team produces. This venn diagram shows the overlap in questions across the different internal teams. Use it as a guide to see what questions you need from each team to ensure your bottom-of-funnel content is aligned.