What's your framework to prioritizing needs/deliverables when you're the first revenue operations manager at a company establishing the function?

I view projects and priorities as "Big Rocks" and "Small Projects." The big rocks are foundational work streams for the business and will help drive the business forward. The small projects are also important but will be more of a "one and done" type of work. Big rocks should have one driver, and one person should be driving at most two big rocks a quarter. Big rocks also should not be rushed. I have seen many mistakes where if a big rock is not done well, the members need to go back and rip/rep ...Read More

If you’re the first revenue operations manager, I recommend identifying key revenue operations initiatives the company needs, prioritizing them, and then organizing projects and measuring tasks against that. Here’s how I did it: Create a set of questions to ask the heads of all go-to-market teams focused on pain points, challenges, current goals, and which parts of the funnel they own Shadow employees across go-to-market functions to find inefficiencies and take notes Pattern match across your n ...Read More

My framework for prioritizing is pretty simple, I like to use a quadrant style prioritization framework and allocate requests into the following format and ensure that I have X% of time allocated to each quadrant: Top Left: Do Now High importance, High urgency (generally like to keep around 50% of time allocated to this category) Bottom Left: Delegate Low importance, High urgency (generally like to keep around 10% of time allocated to this category) - these are typically the distractions that co ...Read More

To set yourself up for success when establishing a Revenue Operations function, I recommend starting with an exercise to map out and benchmark the revenue process. You can use this to create a roadmap and then prioritize tasks using a framework such as the Value vs Effort Matrix. When RevOps is new at a company, a good way to determine the value of different tasks is to map out the revenue process and begin to benchmark conversion rates at different stages. This is a good way to familiarize your ...Read More

In my role at LinkedIn, we use a prioritization matrix with size of prize on one axis and likelihood of success on the other. Size of prize is meant to show the total value of spending time on this deliverable and the impact it will have on the business.  The likelihood of success considers the level of effort to make it happen and resourcing and time needed.  If something has a low value and a high level of effort, it is not worth spending time on and should come off your list, consider it “jun ...Read More

I usually go through the following flow... 1. Current State: Know the current state. Identify the gaps, pain points, and areas for improvement. Use the data where you can here. You need to gain both qualitative and quantitative feedback on the current systems/processes/tools/etc for a holistic picture. 2. Align with Business Goals: Understand the company's overall business goals and objectives. Collaborate with key stakeholders to align revenue operations with these goals, ensuring its relevance ...Read More

I think whether you're the first hire or joining a larger, existing team, there are two categories of work to think about. First comes the foundational needs of the business which have to be set up. This is important to get right and build for some expectation of scale in the business: CRM, incentive plans, quotas, territories, rules of engagement, a forecasting process, and some basic dashboards for reps and leaders to manage the business (I'm probably forgetting half a dozen other essentials h ...Read More

My framework for prioritizing is a bit qualitative in that it is something I have gotten a feel for over time. In general I will try to allocate: 25%-30% of my time on long-term strategic priorities (eg: Optimizing territories for improved rep performance, improving attach rates for future products, future org design for RevOps and Sales, tech stack consolidation etc). This includes meetings to understand current state, discuss potential ideas as well as time to simply sit and think. ~40% - 50% ...Read More

P0: it starts with how Performance Evaluation or Yearly Performance review is done at the org. I'd prioritize based on whatever goal I am going to be rated against in my annual review. P1: What my Line Manager expects from this role and team? "Making my boss successful" is everyone's primary job. If every person in the organization works towards making their boss/line manager successful, the entire organization thrives. It is a simple yet effective way to align for success.   P2: Northstar metri ...Read More

Any Rev Ops team's responsibilities include a mix of "run" work (e.g. quota audits to ensure Reps will be paid correctly) and "build" work aimed at accelerating growth or increasing productivity. "Run" work is table stakes. If not executed on a timely and effectively manner, things literally break with impact in revenue, customer experience and team morale. The most common pitfall in this category is, because "run" work is so critical, teams tend to spend the majority of their time here, and not ...Read More

Interestingly, the framework for prioritizing needs and deliverables as the inaugural Revenue Operations Manager revolves around the very essence of the job title. Your primary objective should be to identify and address the deliverables that empower your stakeholders in their mission to generate pipeline and revenue for the company. Start by immersing yourself in the company's sales methodology, marketing strategy, gain a deep understanding of the forecasting process, and dissecting the factors ...Read More

Start with business outcomes (revenue, pipeline, retention, CAC/LTV) and get explicit CEO/CFO alignment. Triage requests with an Impact-vs-Effort grid and the “so what” test - if it won’t move a core KPI, it waits. Land quick wins to earn trust, then fix foundations: CRM hygiene, data dictionary/definitions, routing, and SLAs. Publish a one-page 90-day roadmap and a weekly scorecard with progress, risks, and 2–3 decisions. You can also use a user steering committee for intake/validation; time-bo ...Read More