Back to Articles

03 Feb, 2023

Selecting the Right RevOps Solution for Your Organization

• RevOps

Written by McAlign

Introduction


A strong and successful sales organization is built on a foundation of data. The more information you have about your customers, the better able you will be to target them with the right products and services at the right time. That's where RevOps comes in: It's a platform that collects, stores, and analyzes customer data to give organizations real-time insights into how they're doing. In this guide, we'll discuss how RevOps works, why it's essential for your business today, and how to select the best solution for your needs.

Your business needs

The first step in selecting the right solution for your business is to define the problem. Don’t worry about what other people are saying or doing, just define your own goals.


Maybe you want to improve efficiency and reduce costs by streamlining processes from order entry through delivery, or maybe you want to grow sales by marketing directly to customers who previously bought from Amazon instead of buying products directly from your website. Whatever it is that's important for YOUR organization, start there!


Whatever goal(s) you set should be ambitious but realistic given how long it takes people within an organization—or even across different organizations—to change their ways. Three months seems like a good time frame for most organizations; anything larger than six months probably means it'll take longer than necessary (and possibly longer than some employees are willing).

Research available solutions

  • Research the available solutions.

  • Look at vendor websites and reviews, testimonials, and case studies.

  • Browse product comparisons on marketplaces such as Amazon and Google Shopping.

  • Read about upcoming products or features that are coming soon to your solution, so you can plan ahead for any changes in policy or process as well as other business requirements that might affect how you use RevOps software.

Integration with existing systems

  • Integration with existing systems

  • Integration with other systems

  • Integration with other solutions

  • Integration with other vendors


There are many different types of integrations you can choose from, depending on what your needs are. For example: Integration with existing systems means that the solution integrates into your existing infrastructure in order to improve how you operate. Integration with other systems means that the solution integrates into other applications or platforms that can help improve how you operate.


Integration with other solutions means that a secondary product is used alongside the primary product in order to streamline processes and make day-to-day operations more efficient. This is often used when there's a need for automation or workflow management between multiple pieces of software or devices (e.g., dataflow). Integration with vendors refers specifically to cloud-based technology platforms like Salesforce which allow third parties access into these systems via APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).

Determine which features are essential

Now that you’ve got a better understanding of what a RevOps solution can do for your organization, it’s time to determine which features are essential and which ones aren't so important. You want a solution with the right balance of must-haves and nice-to-have features so that you're not paying more than you need to. Consider this list of questions:


  • What kind of reporting do I need?

  • How important is it for me to be able to set up multiple workflows?

  • Do I want my processes automated or manually executed?

  • Is there anything else my new solution should have?

Ease of use

A good user experience is crucial to the success of your rev ops program. If the tool is too complex, employees won't use it and their tasks will go undone. The right solution should be simple, intuitive, and easy to learn—without requiring training. It should also allow you to customize key processes in order to meet your specific needs while providing guidance on how they can be achieved most efficiently.


In addition to its ease of use, consider how many clicks or steps are required for completing a task within an application or platform. You want something that allows workers to complete their assignments quickly without having to jump around from one module or page into another just because one process requires additional information before proceeding further along the workflow path (such as collecting data from other departments).

Scalability

You should also consider the scalability of the solution. How many users do you expect to have? How many transactions do you expect to process? How many reports do you expect to generate and how much data will be involved in analyzing them? There are no right or wrong answers here, but if your organization is growing, it's important that your solution can scale with it. Take note that some solutions are built on top of unstructured data storage systems, which may not be able to handle large volumes of structured data quickly enough as a company grows.

Flexibility

The flexibility of a solution is one of the most important factors to consider when selecting a RevOps solution. You may need to change your process in the future or add new features. For example, you could start off with a single stream of data and go from there. But if that’s not enough for you (or your organization), then it will be necessary to add another stream of data as well as other applications and processes that integrate with these new streams. The point here is that no matter what happens down the road, it’s critical that any solution can grow with your needs without being completely revamped or rebuilt from scratch.


In fact, flexibility should be considered during every stage of implementation: planning; building; testing; running after launch; and even adding additional features later on down the road!

Consider the total cost of ownership

When selecting a RevOps solution, you should consider not just the price tag but also how much it’ll cost to use and maintain in the long run. This includes everything from the initial purchase price, training and implementation costs, ongoing maintenance fees, and upgrades down the road. The total cost of ownership can be a significant factor in your decision process—particularly if your current solution lacks features that would make it easier for you to meet compliance requirements or improve productivity.

Customer support

Customer support is one of the most important aspects of a RevOps solution. It will determine how easily your users are able to use your product and, ultimately, how effective it will be for you. When selecting a rev ops solution, make sure you find one that has customer support that meets your needs. This could mean providing service over in-person training or live workshops; phone calls; email; chat rooms; etc. Some solutions even offer webinars where users can connect directly with a representative from the company on their computer screens via video call.


In order to get started finding out which services work best for you and your team members, consider what type of customer support they prefer: do they prefer speaking face-to-face with someone? Or would they rather talk over email? Asking them these questions before starting this stage of research will help ensure everyone involved knows exactly what kind of experience they should expect when using this platform moving forward (and help keep confusion down).

Data security

One of the most important considerations in selecting a RevOps solution is data security. Data security is one of the biggest concerns for businesses, and it’s essential that you choose a provider who can keep your sensitive business information safe.


When evaluating potential solutions, look at their policies and procedures regarding how they handle sensitive company data, as well as how they store and secure that information when it’s not being used by employees. You should also ask what steps they take to ensure that all vendors have appropriate security practices in place before hiring them to work with your organization.

User reviews and testimonials

When evaluating a solution, it's important to look at user reviews and testimonials. Review websites like G2 Crowd, Capterra, TrustRadius, and others can help you find out what people think about the product from an unbiased perspective. The vendor should also share its own reviews of its product on its website or presentations.


Check out the customer support team for any red flags before signing up for their services. If they are not responsive or helpful when it comes to answering questions or addressing concerns raised by customers on social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, then there might be a problem with how they handle customer issues in general.


Check out what other customers have said about the product itself because this will give you an idea of whether this is something that resonates with your users too—and if so, why?

Evaluate the vendor's reputation

  • Check the vendor's reputation. Look for a company with a good reputation in the industry and with customers. Check reviews of the companies on sites including Glassdoor, TrustRadius, and GetApp to see if they're well-regarded by their customers. If possible, also look at customer references that are available online or from your colleagues who have worked with them successfully in the past. A long track record of successful projects can be another indicator that this is a reputable organization you can trust—but keep in mind that just because someone has been around for 50 years doesn't mean they're not doing great work today!


  • Evaluate the financial health of the vendor. Check out how much money has been raised by each company over time (and what kind), how many employees they have on staff now versus five years ago (or when they first started up), whether they've raised any large rounds recently (maybe $20M+) or had any exits yet (an acquisition). These metrics will give you some indication about whether this business will still be around next year when your project goes live!

Test the solution

You should test the new solution in a sandbox environment to see how much effort it will take for your users. You should then gradually increase the number of users who try it out, starting with a small group and working up to larger groups. This way, you can prevent any major issues that might arise if you have an entire user base and try out the new solution immediately.


When testing with a small group of users, pay close attention to their reactions while they're using the product or service. If they seem confused at any point during their session, ask them questions about what they're doing and why they chose that option over others. If you notice any issues during this phase of testing (or throughout), make sure someone follows up on these problems right away so that other people won't have trouble using the product or service later on down the line when more people are using it at once

Get buy-in from key stakeholders

The next step in selecting the right RevOps solution is getting buy-in from key stakeholders. Before you begin to implement a new system, make sure that everyone understands what needs to be done and why. Only with this level of support can you ensure that they will participate in the project and use it once it's up and running.


It's also important to have a clear understanding of the business needs, goals, and objectives before starting any sort of RevOps initiative.

Conclusion

Only with a thorough review of your organization’s needs, research into the available solutions, and consideration of all the important factors can you make an informed decision about which solution is best for you. This process takes time, but it will help ensure that you find a solution that will meet your unique needs now and in the future.

© Copyright 2023 | McAlign | All Rights Reserved.