revops

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Core Principles

Single Source of Truth

One system of record for every lead and account. If data lives in multiple places, it will conflict. Pick a CRM as the canonical source and sync everything to it.

Define Before Automate

Get stage definitions, scoring criteria, and routing rules right on paper before building workflows. Automating a broken process just creates broken results faster.

Measure Every Handoff

Every handoff between teams is a potential leak. Marketing-to-sales, SDR-to-AE, AE-to-CS — each needs an SLA, a tracking mechanism, and someone accountable for follow-through.

Revenue Team Alignment

Marketing, sales, and customer success must agree on definitions. If marketing calls something an MQL but sales won't work it, the definition is wrong. Alignment meetings aren't optional.

Lead Lifecycle Framework

Stage Definitions

Stage

Entry Criteria

Exit Criteria

Owner

Subscriber

Opts in to content (blog, newsletter)

Provides company info or shows engagement

Marketing

Lead

Identified contact with basic info

Meets minimum fit criteria

Marketing

MQL

Passes fit + engagement threshold

Sales accepts or rejects within SLA

Marketing

SQL

Sales accepts and qualifies via conversation

Opportunity created or recycled

Sales (SDR/AE)

Opportunity

Budget, authority, need, timeline confirmed

Closed-won or closed-lost

Sales (AE)

Customer

Closed-won deal

Expands, renews, or churns

CS / Account Mgmt

Evangelist

High NPS, referral activity, case study

Ongoing program participation

CS / Marketing

MQL Definition

An MQL requires both fit and engagement:

• Fit score — Does this person match your ICP? (company size, industry, role, tech stack)

• Engagement score — Have they shown buying intent? (pricing page, demo request, multiple visits)

Neither alone is sufficient. A perfect-fit company that never engages isn't an MQL. A student downloading every ebook isn't an MQL.

MQL-to-SQL Handoff SLA

Define response times and document them:

• MQL alert sent to assigned rep

• Rep contacts within 4 hours (business hours)

• Rep qualifies or rejects within 48 hours

• Rejected MQLs go to recycling nurture with reason code

For complete lifecycle stage templates and SLA examples: See references/lifecycle-definitions.md

Lead Scoring

Scoring Dimensions

Explicit scoring (fit) — Who they are:

• Company size, industry, revenue

• Job title, seniority, department

• Tech stack, geography

Implicit scoring (engagement) — What they do:

• Page visits (especially pricing, demo, case studies)

• Content downloads, webinar attendance

• Email engagement (opens, clicks)

• Product usage (for PLG)

Negative scoring — Disqualifying signals:

• Competitor email domains

• Student/personal email

• Unsubscribes, spam complaints

• Job title mismatches (intern, student)

Building a Scoring Model

• Define your ICP attributes and weight them

• Identify high-intent behavioral signals from closed-won data

• Set point values for each attribute and behavior

• Set MQL threshold (typically 50-80 points on a 100-point scale)

• Test against historical data — does the model correctly identify past wins?

• Launch, measure, and recalibrate quarterly

Common Scoring Mistakes

• Weighting content downloads too heavily (research ≠ buying intent)

• Not including negative scoring (lets bad leads through)

• Setting and forgetting (buyer behavior changes; recalibrate quarterly)

• Scoring all page visits equally (pricing page ≠ blog post)

For detailed scoring templates and example models: See references/scoring-models.md

Lead Routing

Routing Methods

Method

How It Works

Best For

Round-robin

Distribute evenly across reps

Equal territories, similar deal sizes

Territory-based

Assign by geography, vertical, or segment

Regional teams, industry specialists

Account-based

Named accounts go to named reps

ABM motions, strategic accounts

Skill-based

Route by deal complexity, product line, or language

Diverse product lines, global teams

Routing Rules Essentials

• Route to the most specific match first, then fall back to general

• Include a fallback owner — unassigned leads go cold fast and waste pipeline

• Round-robin should account for rep capacity and availability (PTO, quota attainment)

• Log every routing decision for audit and optimization

Speed-to-Lead

Response time is the single biggest factor in lead conversion:

• Contact within 5 minutes = 21x more likely to qualify (Lead Connect)

• After 30 minutes, conversion drops by 10x

• After 24 hours, the lead is effectively cold

Build routing rules that prioritize speed. Alert reps immediately. Escalate if SLA is missed.

For routing decision trees and platform-specific setup: See references/routing-rules.md

Pipeline Stage Management

Pipeline Stages

Stage

Required Fields

Exit Criteria

Qualified

Contact info, company, source, fit score

Discovery call scheduled

Discovery

Pain points, current solution, timeline

Needs confirmed, demo scheduled

Demo/Evaluation

Technical requirements, decision makers

Positive evaluation, proposal requested

Proposal

Pricing, terms, stakeholder map

Proposal delivered and reviewed

Negotiation

Redlines, approval chain, close date

Terms agreed, contract sent

Closed Won

Signed contract, payment terms

Handoff to CS complete

Closed Lost

Loss reason, competitor (if any)

Post-mortem logged

Stage Hygiene

• Required fields per stage — Don't let reps advance a deal without filling in required data

• Stale deal alerts — Flag deals that sit in a stage beyond the average time (e.g., 2x average days)

• Stage skip detection — Alert when deals jump stages (Qualified → Proposal skipping Discovery)

• Close date discipline — Push dates must include a reason; no silent pushes

Pipeline Metrics

Metric

What It Tells You

Stage conversion rates

Where deals die

Average time in stage

Where deals stall

Pipeline velocity

Revenue per day through the funnel

Coverage ratio

Pipeline value vs. quota (target 3-4x)

Win rate by source

Which channels produce real revenue

CRM Automation Workflows

Essential Automations

• Lifecycle stage updates — Auto-advance stages when criteria are met

• Task creation on handoff — Create follow-up task when MQL assigned to rep

• SLA alerts — Notify manager if rep misses response time SLA

• Deal stage triggers — Auto-send proposals, update forecasts, notify CS on close

Marketing-to-Sales Automations

• MQL alert — Instant notification to assigned rep with lead context

• Meeting booked — Notify AE when prospect books via scheduling tool

• Lead activity digest — Daily summary of high-intent actions by active leads

• Re-engagement trigger — Alert sales when a dormant lead returns to site

Calendar Scheduling Integration

• Round-robin scheduling — Distribute meetings evenly across team

• Routing by criteria — Send enterprise leads to senior AEs, SMB to junior reps

• Pre-meeting enrichment — Auto-populate CRM record before the call

• No-show workflows — Auto-follow-up if prospect misses meeting

For platform-specific workflow recipes: See references/automation-playbooks.md

Deal Desk Processes

When You Need a Deal Desk

• ACV above $25K (or your threshold for non-standard deals)

• Non-standard payment terms (net-90, quarterly billing)

• Multi-year contracts with custom pricing

• Volume discounts beyond published tiers

• Custom legal terms or SLAs

Approval Workflow Tiers

Deal Size

Approval Required

Standard pricing

Auto-approved

10-20% discount

Sales manager

20-40% discount

VP Sales

40%+ discount or custom terms

Deal desk review

Multi-year / enterprise

Finance + Legal

Non-Standard Terms Handling

Document every exception. Track which non-standard terms get requested most — if everyone asks for the same exception, it should become standard. Review quarterly.

Data Hygiene & Enrichment

Dedup Strategy

• Matching rules — Email domain + company name + phone as primary match keys

• Merge priority — CRM record wins over marketing automation; most recent activity wins for fields

• Scheduled dedup — Run weekly automated dedup with manual review for edge cases

Required Fields Enforcement

• Enforce required fields at each lifecycle stage

• Block stage advancement if fields are empty

• Use progressive profiling — don't require everything upfront

Enrichment Tools

Tool

Strength

Clearbit

Real-time enrichment, good for tech companies

Apollo

Contact data + sequences, strong for prospecting

ZoomInfo

Enterprise-grade, largest B2B database

Quarterly Audit Checklist

• Review and merge duplicates

• Validate email deliverability on stale contacts

• Archive contacts with no activity in 12+ months

• Audit lifecycle stage distribution (look for bottlenecks)

• Verify enrichment data accuracy on a sample set

RevOps Metrics Dashboard

Key Metrics

Metric

Formula / Definition

Benchmark

Lead-to-MQL rate

MQLs / Total leads

5-15%

MQL-to-SQL rate

SQLs / MQLs

30-50%

SQL-to-Opportunity

Opportunities / SQLs

50-70%

Pipeline velocity

(# deals x avg deal size x win rate) / avg sales cycle

Varies by ACV

CAC

Total sales + marketing spend / new customers

LTV:CAC > 3:1

LTV:CAC ratio

Customer lifetime value / CAC

3:1 to 5:1 healthy

Speed-to-lead

Time from form fill to first rep contact

< 5 minutes ideal

Win rate

Closed-won / total opportunities

20-30% (varies)

Dashboard Structure

Build three views:

• Marketing view — Lead volume, MQL rate, source attribution, cost per MQL

• Sales view — Pipeline value, stage conversion, velocity, forecast accuracy

• Executive view — CAC, LTV:CAC, revenue vs. target, pipeline coverage

Output Format

When delivering RevOps recommendations, provide:

• Lifecycle stage document — Stage definitions with entry/exit criteria, owners, and SLAs

• Scoring specification — Fit and engagement attributes with point values and MQL threshold

• Routing rules document — Decision tree with assignment logic and fallbacks

• Pipeline configuration — Stage definitions, required fields, and automation triggers

• Metrics dashboard spec — Key metrics, data sources, and target benchmarks

Format each as a standalone document the user can implement directly. Include platform-specific guidance when the CRM is known.

Task-Specific Questions

• What CRM platform are you using (or planning to use)?

• How many leads per month do you generate?

• What's your current MQL definition?

• Where do leads get stuck in your funnel?

• Do you have SLAs between marketing and sales today?

Tool Integrations

For implementation, see the tools registry. Key RevOps tools:

Tool

What It Does

Guide

HubSpot

CRM, marketing automation, lead scoring, workflows

hubspot.md

Salesforce

Enterprise CRM, pipeline management, reporting

salesforce.md

Calendly

Meeting scheduling, round-robin routing

calendly.md

SavvyCal

Scheduling with priority-based availability

savvycal.md

Clearbit

Real-time lead enrichment and scoring

clearbit.md

Apollo

Contact data, enrichment, and outbound sequences

apollo.md

ActiveCampaign

Marketing automation for SMBs, lead scoring

activecampaign.md

Zapier

Cross-tool automation and workflow glue

zapier.md

Introw

Partner-sourced pipeline, commissions, deal registration, QBRs

introw.md

Crossbeam

Partner account overlaps and co-sell identification

crossbeam.md

Related Skills

• cold-email: For outbound prospecting emails

• emails: For lifecycle and nurture email flows

• pricing: For pricing decisions and packaging

• analytics: For tracking pipeline metrics and attribution

• launch: For go-to-market launch planning

• sales-enablement: For sales collateral, decks, and objection handling