RevOps professionals don’t go to college to get a degree in revenue operations (yet). For most, you wind up in the role because you’re good at enablement, data, or systems. Perhaps you came from the finance side of the business. Maybe you were a product person. Or you might be an enablement pro like Melodie Schwartz, VP of Enablement and Operations at Spiff.
“Your goal is driving outcomes but you also need to understand what’s expected and what the goals are on the other side.” - Melodie Schwartz
She advises that, while understanding metrics and processes is important, don't forget about the soft skills that are required in the day to day role. An interpersonal component helps drive the entire organization forward, so it’s important to practice skills like:
Melodie spent her first 6 to 8 months at Spiff creating the RevOps role and department. First and foremost, she focused on listening to her users and stakeholders as a way to establish trust, transparency and build a partnership.
“It’s not the big that eats the small, it’s the fast that eats the slow: creativity will win.” - Melodie Schwartz
There are 3 objectives for ops people:
Any new tool, system, or process needs to be adopted by humans, so enablement is an important part of the role. You need to build incentives to change into your operational programs in order to reach your ultimate goals.
“The power of the right incentive will do great things for your team.” - Melodie
If you want your sales team to include your partners in deals, for example, incentivize them with the tools they need, like accurate account lists, outbounding software, and a way to communicate with partners.
“Prioritizing the end user is #1.” - Melodie Schwartz
Don’t forget who your end users are in the grand scheme. They can be your customers, partners, sellers, or even front line managers. At Spiff, managers wanted more early visibility into onboarding performance. Melodie leveraged their conversational intelligence tool’s metrics to help managers coach new hires more effectively.
There are certainly formal courses that you can take (check out the RevOps Co-op course catalog) to expand your RevOps skills. But learning on the job is just as important. Carve out time in your week to listen to and build relationships with your stakeholders. You can even stretch yourself a bit by volunteering to work on new projects. Go ahead, dive into the deep end!
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