How do you determine the ROI of Revenue Operations?

Revenue Operations (RevOps) have become a critical function for organizations looking to optimize their revenue generation processes. The RevOps role involves streamlining and aligning sales, marketing, and customer success teams to improve revenue performance. However, with the added cost of hiring a freelancer, it is crucial to understand the return on investment (ROI) associated with bringing a RevOps freelancer on board. In this blog post, we’ll explore the key factors that impact the ROI of hiring a RevOps freelancer and the steps you can take to maximize that return.

I'll start with a horrible statement: It depends! The ROI or any operations specialist comes down to your current setup, your current team, the quality of your data, the condition of your tech stack and the timeframe you have to execute on your projects. Implementing a Marketing to Sales handover process in a brand new, clean CRM is easy enough. Undoing and rebuilding a ton of properties, fixing integration issues between systems, and solving for duplicate contacts, companies and deals will take significantly longer. 

The same goes for your team, do you have a team of experienced Sales Reps and Customer Service Reps who know the ins and outs of your product, how onboarding works, and what really matters to their customers? Maybe some tweaks in the process and enablement with the right tools do the trick. If you're starting fresh with an inexperienced team the rollout of the new process and training on the new tooling might take longer and require more hand-holding.

Freelancer or in-house?

When considering hiring a revenue operations specialist, organizations may also face the decision of whether to hire a freelancer or a team member. Both options have their pros and cons, and the decision will ultimately depend on the organization's specific needs and resources.

Hiring a freelancer can be a good option for organizations that need to complete a specific project or task within a defined timeframe. Freelancers can offer specialized expertise in a particular area, such as data analysis or sales process optimization, and can often work on a project-by-project basis. This can be a more cost-effective option for organizations that don't have the budget or need a full-time revenue operations specialist.

On the other hand, hiring a team member can be beneficial for organizations that have ongoing revenue operations needs and want to build a dedicated team. A team member can offer more consistent support and can work closely with other departments to ensure alignment across the organization. 

What is most important to keep in mind in 2023 is the pressure a lot of organizations are under to focus on profitability and flexibility. Hiring a RevOps specialist can take a significant amount of time and most organizations need time to onboard a new team member. A retainer with a freelance RevOps specialist might be the way to go for your organization. 

When deciding between hiring a freelancer or a team member, organizations should consider their specific needs, budget, and timeframe. If the organization needs specialized expertise for a specific project or has limited resources, a freelancer may be the better option. If the organization has ongoing revenue operations needs and wants to build a dedicated team, hiring a team member may be the better choice.

Regardless of whether an organization decides to hire a freelancer or a team member, the ROI of hiring a revenue operations specialist will depend on their ability to improve sales, marketing, and customer success processes. By measuring their baseline performance, defining their processes and strategies, and continuously refining them, organizations can maximize the value of their investment in revenue operations.

The ROI of Hiring a RevOps Freelancer

The ability to improve the performance of sales, marketing, and customer success teams is the key factor that impacts the ROI of hiring a RevOps freelancer. Here are some of the ways that a RevOps freelancer can help drive improvements

1. Sales’ ability to manage and close deals:

RevOps freelancers can provide a comprehensive view of the sales process, allowing teams to identify bottlenecks and streamline the process. With better visibility into the sales pipeline, sales teams can make informed decisions about where to focus their efforts and improve their ability to close deals.

2. Outbound ability to generate real pipeline:

RevOps freelancers can help marketing and sales teams generate more leads and create a pipeline that is more likely to convert. By understanding buyer personas, analyzing data, and developing targeted campaigns, RevOps freelancers can help ensure that outbound efforts are generating real pipeline.

3. Marketing’s ability to generate real pipeline:

RevOps freelancers can work with marketing teams to ensure that campaigns are generating real pipeline. They can help with lead qualification, lead nurturing, and attribution modeling, enabling marketing teams to optimize their efforts and generate more revenue.

4. CS team’s ability to retain and grow customers:

RevOps freelancers can help customer success teams identify opportunities for upselling and cross-selling, as well as develop a more comprehensive understanding of customer needs. This can help improve customer satisfaction and retention rates, ultimately leading to increased revenue.

5. The cost, repeatability, and scalability of all of these:

RevOps freelancers can help organizations optimize their revenue generation processes, making them more cost-effective, repeatable, and scalable. By streamlining processes and automating workflows, organizations can reduce costs, increase efficiency, and scale more effectively.

Steps to Maximize ROI

To maximize the ROI of hiring a RevOps freelancer, organizations should take the following steps:

1. Start Measuring:

Before hiring a RevOps freelancer, organizations need to have a baseline understanding of their revenue performance. This involves measuring key metrics such as conversion rates, lead-to-opportunity ratios, and customer lifetime value. Without this data, it is impossible to accurately measure the impact of a RevOps freelancer.

2. Define the Process:

To trust the metrics, organizations need to have a defined sales process. This includes understanding the steps involved in the sales cycle, as well as the criteria for moving leads from one stage to the next. With a defined process, organizations can identify where the pipeline is strong and where it needs improvement.

3. Define the Strategy:

To ensure that outbound efforts are generating real pipeline, organizations need to have a well-defined strategy. This includes identifying the ideal customer, developing buyer personas, and determining the channels that are most likely to reach them. With a clear strategy, organizations can ensure that their efforts are focused on the most promising prospects.

4. Refine All of the Above:

Once the process and strategy have been defined, organizations need to continuously refine them. This involves analyzing data to identify areas for improvement, testing new approaches, and iterating based on the results. By continuously refining these processes, organizations can ensure that they are maximizing their revenue generation efforts.