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Inside RevOps: Strategies for Managing Change in RevOps

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This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Jamie Miller: Okay, so we talk about change a lot in RevOps – yes, change management. Executing good change management: what does that actually look like in practice?

Rosalyn Santa Elena: Oh yeah, change management is always top of mind. From a RevOps perspective, we deal with so many different departments – it’s very cross-functional. The business is constantly changing, and we have to be able to influence others. It’s like a selling cycle, really, because you’re identifying the problem and figuring out what resonates with your internal customers. Then, you deliver a message that proves value and ROI.

I think about one company I joined where I was brought in to bring together RevOps. They had separate marketing ops and sales ops teams – traditional siloed operations – and I was there to unify them. This was at a company around the $100 million mark, a pivot point where they realized that “Wild West” tactics wouldn’t take them to $200 million and beyond.

They had a great product, great people, and great customers, but the operations infrastructure was severely lacking. I knew it would be a big change management project. Even though people said, “Yes, we need to mature operations,” we got pushback: “We’ve always done it this way. We’re successful, we’re hitting our numbers, and we’re filling the funnel – why change?”

For me, driving change meant treating it like a selling cycle: going on a roadshow, doing a listening tour, talking to key stakeholders, and understanding the good, the bad, and the ugly. I asked them what was working and what wasn’t, while planting the seed for why we needed RevOps and why now. I also built rapport, explaining who I was and what I wanted to accomplish, while learning about their goals and pain points.

After about thirty days, I could do a read-back: “Here’s what I heard, here are my observations, and here are three or five focus areas.” That fosters alignment – people nod and agree. But change is constant. Even if you get someone on board initially, when it’s time for them to make real changes, you have to keep selling.

Jamie Miller: Yeah, you can’t just get a nod and a “Sure, I’ll do it.” They actually have to commit. I love seeing it as a sales process. In my experience, you often get an eleventh-hour veto from a cross-functional stakeholder you didn’t even know about. It’s exactly like a deal push at quarter-end – you think you have everything locked up, but something still pops up.

Rosalyn Santa Elena: Exactly. Our jobs revolve around constant change. For example, annual planning and comp planning are huge cross-functional processes. Wrangling every team is tough. I’d be curious how you handle annual planning. I have my own secrets, but I’d love to hear yours.

Jamie Miller: It’s true – teams you wouldn’t expect, like legal, have to be involved. For annual planning, we create a timeline that makes sense. We often put together a calendar at the end of summer. Our fiscal year starts in February, but after Q2, we have to start thinking about the next year. It’s an ongoing process.

We map out deliverables and deadlines so people know when to provide input. If they want to influence the comp plan, they have to speak up before December. That alignment is crucial.

Rosalyn Santa Elena: I love that. Even something like a Gantt chart can help. And having a defined feedback period, then locking decisions, is key – otherwise, you’ll never finish.

Jamie Miller: Right. Some processes allow for deadline extensions, but not the annual operating plan. Keeping everyone aligned and heard early on is vital.

Rosalyn Santa Elena: Exactly. It’s not about consensus, but buy-in – people need to feel heard, and you can let them know it’s iterative. “We’ll review in a few months and make small tweaks if necessary,” but no full redesign of the comp plan, please!

Jamie Miller: Yes, exactly. Explaining the “why” behind decisions is also crucial – if people understand the business rationale, they can get behind it and explain it to their teams.

Rosalyn Santa Elena: It’s a selling motion: help them see the value proposition, show them what’s in it for them. That buy-in is everything.

Jamie Miller: That’s great. Rosalyn, you’ve shared so many excellent tips. Thanks for spending the time with us today.
Rosalyn Santa Elena: Thank you, Jamie. It’s been a pleasure. I feel like we could talk about RevOps for hours. This has been fun and a bit therapeutic – let’s do it again sometime!