Last updated on Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Technology evolution has changed consumer buying behaviors, prompting companies to rethink customer and revenue lifecycles. This led to the rise of revenue operations (RevOps) and sales operations (SalesOps) roles. While both aim to eliminate departmental silos and increase revenue, there are a few key differences.
To better understand the difference between revenue operations vs. sales operations, and the role each plays in your business, let’s compare and contrast their focus and functions.
Sales operations equips sales departments with the systems, technology, and resources they need to reach their sales goals and contribute to precise revenue forecasts.
SalesOps leaders focus on enhancing sales practices and creating more cross-department visibility with software tools, engagement techniques, and strategic planning. Though previously overlooked, sales operations has gained popularity as companies have realized that precise, timely data from sales helps with accurate revenue and pipeline forecasting, financial planning, business growth, and revenue management.
SalesOps teams support sustainable growth through various functions, which may vary depending on company size. Key functions include:
SalesOps helps set achievable sales goals and make strategic adjustments to sales approaches.
By optimizing sales processes, SalesOps plays a critical role in a company’s success and revenue growth. Through >The Optimal Sales Operations Organizational Structure and Why RevOps Must Play a Role
The most notable difference between the two is that RevOps focuses on the functions of multiple departments to encourage business growth, while SalesOps focuses on the sales functions. In fact, it’s widely accepted that SalesOps is a subset of RevOps.
RevOps implements various functions that support cross-department visibility between sales operations, marketing, and customer success. When a company implements a RevOps team, SalesOps can better target its sales efforts while RevOps collects and analyzes data that can be used for forecasting and planning purposes.
This grid breaks down the major differences between Revenue Operations and Sales Operations:
When you should hire a SalesOps team will depend on your company’s needs, size, and capacity. If you are a startup without a marketing or customer success team, SalesOps may bring more focus, attention, and targeted tactics to revenue planning and team expansion.
Another sign you might need SalesOps is that your sales team is overwhelmed with organizing data and planning. A SalesOps team can improve data recording and planning efforts, free up your sales reps to focus on selling, and create a more structured and productive sales process.
Company growth and expansion are wonderful, but not in the absence of structure and business functions. If your company has expanded to hire various operational teams, including sales, marketing, and customer success, but is struggling to increase sales revenue, it may be time to hire a RevOps team.
A RevOps team will create cross-departmental visibility to enable faster company growth. More effective communication and sharing of data throughout the organization will reduce the risk of leaky revenue and improve the accuracy of your revenue forecasts.
Related article: How to Build a Revenue Operations Strategy That Will Grow Your Company
If your company is growing rapidly, you may realize you need more than SalesOps. RevOps helps companies empower all teams to contribute to revenue, not just the sales team.
Building a RevOps strategy from the ground up takes time and commitment, but it can set your business up for long-term sales and revenue success.
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