When Should a Company Establish a Revenue Operations Function?
Use clear triggers and a phased playbook to stand up RevOps when it will unlock scale—not just add overhead.
By Pedowitz Group RevOps Practice • 200+ GTM transformations
Executive Summary
Direct answer: You should establish RevOps once growth is limited by cross-team misalignment—commonly Late A to Series B—or earlier if forecasts miss, handoffs slow, and systems disagree. Stand up RevOps when growth depends on cross-functional truth and repeatability. Common signals: stalled pipeline despite more spend, inconsistent forecasts, finger-pointing on attribution, tool sprawl, slow handoffs, and compliance or data hygiene risk. Launch a small, empowered function that owns revenue data, processes, and governance across marketing, sales, and customer success—then scale scope as maturity grows.
Clear Triggers It’s Time for RevOps
Decision Matrix: When to Formalize RevOps
| Company stage | Symptoms | Recommendation | Scope to start | TPG POV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed–Early Series A | Founder-led sales, basic MAP/CRM | RevOps “lite” (part-time lead) | CRM hygiene, routing, reporting | Avoid over-structuring; build foundations |
| Late A–Series B | Specialized roles, channel expansion | Form a core RevOps team | Process design, SLAs, attribution | This is the sweet spot to formalize |
| Series C–Scaleup/PE | Multi-region/BU, complex stack | Central RevOps with spokes | Tool registry, governance, planning | Standardize; align incentives to revenue |
| Enterprise | M&A history, data silos | Global RevOps COE | Data strategy, compliance, telemetry | Operate as a portfolio with SLAs |
RevOps Readiness Checklist
| Do | Don’t | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Name a RevOps leader with P&L visibility | Hide RevOps under a single silo | Authority to align GTM teams |
| Define one shared revenue scorecard | Run separate KPIs per team | Ends misaligned incentives |
| Create a tool registry and data dictionary | Add tools without owners | Controls sprawl and cost |
| Set SLAs for routing, follow-up, and stages | Rely on tribal knowledge | Predictable handoffs |
| Stand up governance & change control | Ship changes without audit | Compliance and trust |
Core RevOps Metrics
| Metric | Formula | Target/Range | Stage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead-to-Opportunity SLA | Median mins from handoff → first touch | Hours, not days | Execute | By segment/region |
| Stage Conversion Consistency | Std dev across teams/regions | Low variance | Stabilize | Signals process health |
| Forecast Accuracy | |Forecast−Actual| ÷ Actual | Improving trend | Scale | Requires common definitions |
| Attribution Clarity | Attributed pipeline ÷ Total pipeline | Upward trend | Scale | Shared rules of credit |
| Data Health | % records meeting standards | ≥ 95% | All | Fields, consent, dedupe |
Rollout Playbook (Stand Up RevOps in 90 Days)
| Step | What to do | Output | Owner | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — Align | Define mission, scope, and shared scorecard | RevOps charter | CRO/CMO/CXO | Week 1 |
| 2 — Map | Document processes, systems, owners, SLAs | GTM blueprint | RevOps Lead | Weeks 2–3 |
| 3 — Stabilize | Fix routing, data standards, definitions | Operational baseline | RevOps + MOPs | Weeks 4–6 |
| 4 — Measure | Stand up dashboards and forecast cadence | Unified scorecard | Analytics | Weeks 7–8 |
| 5 — Optimize | Run tests on stages, messaging, and channels | Incremental KPI lift | Channel Owners | Weeks 9–12 |
Deeper Detail
What RevOps owns on day one: common definitions (lead, MQL, SQO), stage progression rules, routing/SLAs, a single reporting layer, and change control for GTM systems. Over time, extend to planning, territory and quota, pricing/packaging inputs, and AI/automation governance. Keep it small, senior, and outcome-focused—RevOps succeeds when it shortens time to revenue and increases forecast confidence, not when it adds process for its own sake.
TPG POV: We build and mature RevOps for organizations on HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, and Adobe—aligning scorecards, processes, and systems so growth is repeatable and accountable.
Adjacent resources: Marketing Operations • Revenue Operations • Revenue Marketing Index.
Additional Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Ideally the CRO (or COO in some orgs) with authority across marketing, sales, and CS to align goals, budgets, and processes.
Start lean: a RevOps lead plus 2–4 specialists (systems, analytics, process). Scale scope and headcount with impact.
Yes—Marketing Ops optimizes marketing; RevOps spans marketing, sales, and CS with shared definitions, systems, and KPIs.
Cleaner data and routing, a unified scorecard, defined SLAs, and a short list of process fixes that improve conversion or speed.
Forecast accuracy, cycle time, stage conversion, data health, SLA adherence—and ultimately pipeline and revenue growth.