The shift from Growth-at-all-Costs (GaaC) to profitability has started some time ago but seems to continue into 2024. And even though there is now a lot more focus on efficiency and profitability, the waste from GaaC is still present at many companies. So, it’s still important for Revenue Operations (RevOps) teams to prioritize maximizing ROI in Go-To-Market (GTM) spend.And instead of just cutting cost across the board, we typically recommend the following four areas to start with to cut down the waste and get the most out of your GTM investment:

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1. Consolidation of Tools

One of the first steps in optimizing ROI is consolidating tools. When we evaluate organizations that have implemented a number of different tools to support their Go-to-Market teams we find that in many cases there’s overlapping functionalities between these tools that lead to wasted resources. These tools have been introduced by different teams, at different times to solve a particular need that team had without thinking about the overall revenue strategy or ROI on their GTM.

This is an opportunity for RevOps teams to reassess their technology stack, looking for ways to consolidate tools and eliminate redundancies. By conducting a thorough audit of the existing tech stack, RevOps teams can identify redundancies and streamline the tools and platforms they use and make sure that each tool serves a distinct and necessary purpose. In some cases, the RevOps team has to write workflows/automation or implement simple lower cost solutions to bridge potential gaps that removing tools from the overall infrastructure creates. We find with a lot of companies though, that the time it takes to do this is well worth the overall cost reduction in tech spend.

2. Full Funnel Analysis

What we see with a lot of companies as well is that many resources are being wasted on pushing the wrong leads through the revenue funnel. By wrong leads, we mean people who have no intention of buying your product or service (or at least not at this moment). Often this is the result of marketing teams having an arbitrary MQL target which causes them to cast a wide net just to hit that target. The problem with a large volume of low quality MQLs is that it causes SDRs/BDRs and the Sales team to engage with, spend time on, have meetings with, and build proposals for people who don’t want to buy. And when your sales reps take meetings with these leads, they convert them at much lower rates. This leads to companies having bloated SDR and Sales headcounts, and a lot of wasted marketing expenditure which makes the whole revenue engine really inefficient.

So, what you need to do is assess the entire revenue funnel to first find out where all the leads from the last 12-18 months come from, what their conversion rate into pipeline is, how many of them are closed as won, and what the estimated cost of acquisition is each of your lead sources. When you do this analysis, you’ll find that there is money being spent that does not lead to any real results and can therefore be eliminated from the budget without having a negative effect on pipeline generation or revenue production. Cut all the things that aren’t working and get an efficient process in place. Make sure that you get your margins right before you start scaling up.

3. Streamlining Internal Processes

Another area to potentially cut out waste is in internal processes. We find the companies that have established processes in place, typically don’t change these as the business grows and evolves. When your organization is doing something because “that’s the way it’s always been done”, then that’s an easy way to identify a process that could be more efficient. The other thing we always advice is to follow a customer through the sales process and everywhere there’s an internal process to get something approved, created or shared it’s an opportunity to evaluate what’s being done.

Ask why the process is the way it is and find ways to make it more efficient. Efficient processes are the foundation of a high-ROI GTM strategy. By automating repetitive tasks and optimizing workflows, RevOps can free up valuable time for the sales and marketing and leadership teams, allowing them to focus on high-impact activities.

4. Evaluate your Enablement

Another somewhat hidden cost in organizations that we see is the time that’s being wasted by revenue teams because of poor adoption of tools or processes, or ineffective access to resources. For example, when your average sales rep takes 4-5x longer to find content to send to potential customers, put together a proposal, or navigate internal systems/processes than your best performers you know you have an enablement problem. Sales reps that have a million-dollar quota effectively cost the company $500/h. Every hour that is wasted on navigating internal tools, systems and collateral ends up costing the organization lots of money.

This can typically be solved by either additional training and making sure you have systems or tools in place to help your teams with this. We suggest that you survey different roles in your revenue team to pinpoint where time is possibly being wasted and then put together a plan to systematically improve these areas through either systems/automation, process improvement or training/support.

TLDR:

Maximizing ROI in Go-To-Market spend is crucial for Revenue Operations teams, especially in the current shift towards profitability. By consolidating tools, streamlining internal processes, conducting a full funnel analysis, and evaluating enablement, RevOps teams can cut down on waste and make the most out of their GTM investment. These strategies not only lead to cost savings but also ensure that resources are allocated effectively to drive growth and efficiency. And this is key to achieving long-term success in RevOps.

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