Revenue Operations (RevOps) has become hailed as the missing link between sales, marketing, customer success and finance, but the truth is that the role is rarely about revenue at all. Even worse? It’s largely failing the organizations that rely on it. Here’s why, and how you can make sure your RevOps function serves its true purpose.
Revealing the Real Purpose of RevOps
It was circa 2018 when I first heard the term RevOps. At the time, it was positioned as the role that would take on all the operational elements that were missed by SalesOps and MarketingOps folks. All those pesky adding a seat to an existing customer or reporting out contracted MRR vs. best case MRR tasks that no one had purview over would be fixed by RevOps!
However, in practical terms, RevOps has morphed over time into a go-to-market (GTM) function. And guess what folks; there’s already a department for that: marketing. For RevOps to provide value it must fundamentally maintain a financial role in an organization. This department should track sales (both initial sales and renewals) and determine how these are captured and reported through every system, not just Salesforce.
RevOps should oversee all the elements that make up true revenue recognition, including how the organization classifies revenue. Is it booked revenue or realized revenue? How are customers invoiced? How are collections handled? Anything under this umbrella of financial concerns should be part of RevOps’ job.
Rethink Who RevOps Reports to
RevOps, being a financial operations entity, should report to an organization’s chief financial officer (CFO). And yet, the vast majority of RevOps leaders today report to a chief revenue officer (CRO), chief marketing officer (CMO), or chief sales officer (CSO). As you may imagine, reporting into a go-to-market leader will result in… go-to-market focus.
When RevOps reports to the CFO, they speak the same language. The RevOps leader can work with the CFO to get budgets for important initiatives that are traditionally not sexy. They can explain specific data challenges that departments are facing and seek funding to fix these on an operational level.
For example, consider marketing. If your company sells to marketers, there’s high turnover in the field. Your database will quickly become outdated if you’re not updating it every two years. With this in mind, the RevOps leader can make a case for investing in refreshing this data in a way that the CFO will connect with–and likely approve.
If your head of RevOps is reporting to a CRO, CMO, or CSO, they’re still going to ultimately need to communicate with the finance department to secure investments into operational areas holding the departments back. While a select few of these executives may be skilled in communicating such asks, most are not. As a result, far too many important data projects are left unfunded and operational problems that could be solved are not.
Revising RevOps Job Descriptions
Most companies create RevOps roles with positive intentions. They have a Marketing Operations (MOps) department and a Sales Operations department, and they see RevOps as the bridge between the two.
With this in mind, how do you create real change in your organization? It won’t happen overnight, but you have to start somewhere. Why not start with your RevOps job descriptions?
Here are some real examples of typical (and flawed) descriptions, which have been minimally revised for anonymity:
The Sales-Heavy RevOps Role: “We are seeking a Director or VP of RevOps, depending on experience, who will report to our CRO. This person will implement a revenue operations strategy that supports the company’s growth. They will additionally refine sales processes and workflows, as well as oversee sales training and coaching programs.”
The GTM-Leaning RevOps Role: “Our new RevOps leader will be part of our GTM Operations team, with the goal of efficiently scaling the business. You will work alongside our GTM Leadership, GTM Operations team, Marketing team, and Finance, ultimately reporting to our CMO.”
The “We’re Confused About What RevOps Should be” Position: “Our company is looking for a leader to build our RevOps function from scratch. This person will enhance operational efficiency and align Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success. Our new RevOps leader will report directly to our COO and Co-Founder.”
Ask For What You Need
Do you see the problems with these? What I see are job descriptions for SalesOps, MarketingOps and operations broadly.
Here’s an alternate, more accurate description as a starting point for what I think RevOps should truly do:
The RevOps Role That is Actually About Revenue: “We’re eager to find a Head of Revenue Operations to lead and streamline our company’s revenue processes, ensuring seamless integration between finance, sales, marketing, and customer success. This role will center on optimizing revenue recognition, managing financial reporting, and aligning operational functions with strategic revenue goals. Our RevOps leader will report directly to our Chief Financial Officer.”
Final Thoughts
For RevOps to truly fulfill its potential, it needs to be redefined and placed under the guidance of finance, not sales or marketing. By realigning the role to focus on financial operations and reporting directly to the CFO, companies can unlock greater operational efficiency, smarter investments, and more accurate revenue tracking, enabling RevOps to become the true engine of organizational growth.
