This three-part series chronicles Sara Bush’s first 90 days as Head of Revenue Operations here at Sonar. Get a glimpse into her first month to uncover what got prioritized, what got bumped, and what made a great first impression. Be on the lookout for parts 2 and 3 as she reaches the 60 and 90 day mark! 

Starting a new job can bring a mixed bag of emotions. There’s excitement for taking on a new role, nervousness for what may come, and a general feeling of happiness as you move into your role and start having your first ‘wins.’

As I get onboarded at Sonar, I’d love to bring you along! If you’re new to RevOps, or a long time veteran but starting at a new gig, my hope is that this series will be helpful for you to identify #quickwins as you’re building or optimizing out this function at your company.

What RevOps Means to Me

With RevOps being a somewhat new concept, it’s always good to level set and compare definitions. To me, RevOps is the operational function that supports the customer journey, all the way from the beginning of the buying cycle through post-sales support. 

Coming to work as the Head of RevOps, at a RevOps platform, has definitely been interesting! No stress, right? As I’ve gotten started I’ve taken the approach of looking at things in order of the funnel – from top of the funnel all the way down. I’ve made sure to dissect each department and look at opportunities for improvement and efficiency.

Expectations Meet Reality

When I first started my role, I was surprised to see how much time I actually had to get things ready. In RevOps, you often find yourself coming in and the expectation is to hit the ground running from the very beginning. At Sonar however, I’ve been allowed the time to dig deep into  discovery and understand what is happening at each level of the organization. In past roles I’d come in and basically see what kind of messes needed immediate attention, but this time that wasn’t the case. 

Insider Tip: As you’re getting started, work with your manager to outline expectations of timelines and immediate needs. This will help you work at a healthy pace of expectation.

Conveniently for me as I was starting Sonar had just published their 30/60/90 Day Plan for RevOps which was a blueprint I leveraged in getting started. If the co-founders have outlined what they think is important in the first 90 days….that might be something for me to look at! 🙂 The plan outlines all kinds of awesome things: ways to build a strong foundation with your team, tackling easy wins, and how to focus on effective initiatives to lead your go-to-market team.

As with many businesses there is always a long list of “to-do’s” across different departments. At the end of my third week we realized there were some inflection points across the sales and marketing teams that needed to be prioritized. I paused my discovery and jumped in to help solve the following opportunities: 

• Speed to Lead:
  • Optimized the webinar lead process – webinar completion to sdr notification had some room for improvement
  • Removed blockers that slowed the team down – there were some legacy permissions that prevented them from acting quickly on a newly surfaced lead
• Cleansed SFDC – we had a duplicate account issue that impacted clarity into ROE

Tackling big wins like these early really motivates you to keep on moving. 

Diving Into My RevOps Role

The first 90 days in RevOps is a critical time to start setting up the building blocks we need for future success. During my first month here I’ve been trying to set the foundation for people to be able to self-service and remove administrative burdens. 

Insider Tip: As you jump into work, meet with internal stakeholders in the first 2 weeks to learn more about what the top 2-3 burdens they have and how you can help solve them.

As our handy guide will tell you, going the extra mile will go a long way during your first month.

• Ask questions about your team, and really get to know how they operate and you’ll be able to see the pain points they have and ways to fix them.
• If you don’t already have one, make a request process for your team to stay on top of things easier. Trust me, they’ll thank you for it. It builds rapport and trust you’ll want to have early on.

Most of my first few weeks here have revolved around setting up infrastructure. I’ve spent time taking a look at the framework needed to get us where we need to be, and any changes it might need. 

Hindsight is 20/20

We all probably wish we could go back in time at various points and do things differently. Sadly I’m not a magician, but I do think reflecting on what I might have changed about my first 30 days will help guide my next 60. 

For me there wasn’t a whole lot I’d do differently, except I would have physically come down to the office more now that I’ve had a chance to look back. Being able to build face-to-face relationships with internal stakeholders and team members helped accelerate my understanding of the product, our customers and the internal processes we use to service them. 

As someone who will be remote full-time in Raleigh I’m very much looking forward to visiting our team in Atlanta frequently to keep that momentum going! 

Insider Tip: If you’re working remote, inquire with your manager what options are available for getting in-person with internal stakeholders within your first 30 days. Lean on them to make sure you’re meeting with the appropriate people

The Future is Bright

Now that my first 30 days are complete, I’m looking toward my next month here and what I hope to accomplish. I definitely want to be able to measure marketing ROI in the coming weeks. I’ve also been working on a project involving product feedback and getting that into Salesforce so that’s more actionable, so that’s been exciting.

I am pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish together. But, as you all know, there’s always more to be done! For the next month I’m working on accomplishing: 

• Deeper understanding of our tech stack 
• Designing some marketing & sales plays

If you’re like me and just starting your new role, my biggest advice would be to take your time. You don’t have to jump in and fix everything right away. Work with your team to get to know who the players are and what the real problems might be. Talking to as many people as you can will help you better learn about the business and where you fit in. It might seem daunting, but you’re going to do amazing things. 

Keep following my journey here at Sonar as I complete my first 90 days. And, if you haven’t already, I definitely recommend downloading and following our 30/60/90 Day Plan for RevOps guide.