You know that fancy software you use to track your leads? Or that annual company-wide meeting that details how each department will contribute to the company’s revenue goal for the year? Well, someone had to put it together, and more often than not, there are entire departments dedicated to making operations run smoothly.

The operations side of sales organizations hasn’t always existed. Although facets of operations teams have existed for a long time, the teams that are in place today are relatively new. 

At a high level, operations teams seek to facilitate the achievement of their organization’s long-term goals. Sales organizations often have two separate ops teams:

  • Revenue Operations (RevOps) brings the goals of marketing, sales, and customer success under one roof.
  • Sales Operations (SalesOps) makes sales teams more efficient by deploying more tech and relevant processes.

The more facilitation these departments receive, the better off your team will be. Let’s dive in to learn more about both functions and how they help your organization excel. 

RevOps and SalesOps: What Are the Differences?

Before jumping into the differences, it’s crucial to note that both ops teams work in conjunction with each other. You might think of the two with a mountaineering analogy:

  • A RevOps team would put the training plan in place, get the plane tickets ordered, and establish the ultimate goal of getting to the top of the mountain. 
  • A SalesOps team would gather all the smaller pieces—such as the proper gear and food—to ensure that everyday steps are in place so the mountaineers can reach the top.

In the sales environment:

RevOps Unifies

RevOps is like the chief of staff to the CEO. The team looks for efficiency and stability from a financial and profitability perspective. 

RevOps ensures that each department works toward a common solution by unifying marketing, sales, customer success, and customer support. Each team has the same targets, database, and integrated tech stack. Additionally, RevOps has a complete view of a company’s revenue stream, from prospecting to renewals. 

According to Gartner, RevOps is no small segment of an organization. In fact, Gartner predicts that 75 percent of the highest growth companies in the world will deploy a RevOps model by 2025.

SalesOps Enables 

The main goal of SalesOps is to make sales reps and managers more effective by providing the right tools, helping them navigate approvals to close deals, monitoring the adoption of new sales methodologies, and so on. 

To support sales reps, SalesOps provides a system that details sales processes, automates time-consuming tasks, and deploys a sales methodology. SalesOps drives high-level strategies and ensures tech stacks are optimized. 

According to a report from McKinsey & Company, outperforming B2Bs are 62 percent more effective in using digital tools. This means that the SalesOps team not only needs to provide the right technology, but also train reps on the tools. 

Resolving Bottlenecks in SalesOps and RevOps

Sales teams often run into bottlenecks that can be resolved bby adjusting their mindset about ops teams. Here are two common issues:

  • Teams have low numbers 
  • Ops team members are seen as “report jockeys”

If RevOps or SalesOps become a bottleneck, it means you need more team members or more automation. In other words, by hiring more team members or putting more money into tech, these issues can be automated or bolstered by additional hands.

Related to this issue is the idea that SalesOps is there to pull reports for data-driven sales management. Instead, sales teams need to see SalesOps as a strategic partner. Taking the example of pulling reports, how can the ops team help the sales team self-serve on metrics and reporting? 

Simple answer: By using the right platform. 


Enable Your Team with Atrium

Atrium is a data-driven sales management platform that enables both SalesOps and RevOps teams.

  • SalesOps can use the data-driven sales management platform to enable sales teams to self-serve on reporting, metrics, and more.
  • RevOps can use the platform to gather data and insights and utilize automation to create leverage and drive outsized impact. 


Interested in learning more about all things sales-nerdy? Check out this Modern Sales Pros conversation with Atrium’s co-founder, Pete Kazanjy.