Companies like to document  because it ensures a consistent process which, in turn, creates consistent results. Even borderline minutiae like  “How to submit an expense report” has some sort of standard operating procedure.

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Yet, the revenue & sales process is often NOT documented. Think about that for a moment. The process that ultimately keeps everyone’s job secure is left open to interpretation. While experimentation is good, it should be looked as experimentation to iterate upon a tested process. Not experimentation to create something totally new. Unfortunately, it is often left to each rep to figure out.

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There is an easier way.

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As part of our larger revenue system, we have a Revenue SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). See template here. We’ve seen a Revenue SOP help our customers with:

• quicker response times
• higher conversion rates
• larger deal sizes
• better team culture (as Reps now understand expectations)

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Sales does not happen in a vacuum, and neither does the Revenue SOP.  It touches upon Marketing and Customer success, too, but only at a high-level. The three important, simple concepts are: Technology Stack, Revenue Diagram, and Sales Diagram.

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Technology Stack

Every company has a “Tech Stack.” It may be extremely simple with just a couple of software vendors. It may be incredibly complex with > 100 of software vendors. For the purposes of the Revenue SOP, we are only focused on the software that touches marketing, sales, and customer success. We usually throw the primary finance ERP/accounting software in as well.

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Think of each software as helping to produce or optimize one of the following:

• Brand/Product Awareness
• Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)
• Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)
• Customers & Data

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Below is an example of a Technology Stack visualized.

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Revenue Diagram

The Revenue Diagram takes these disparate pieces of software and highlights the ones that impact the customer journey.  The cycle is:

• Marketing Qualified Lead
• Sales Qualified Lead
• Customer

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An individual may move in and out of these classifications.  The Revenue Diagram visualizes this customer journey and highlights the key software utilized. This does not need to be overly-detailed!  In fact, it should be really simple.  Each department will have their own documentation that helps them do what they do.  This is a high-level overview.

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A key value to the Revenue Diagram is aligning everyone on what happens when a deal is lost and where it happens. This will look different at every company. In the example above, this business is making sure that individuals associated with a Lost Opportunity get put back into the newsletter (if not already there).

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SQL Process

In the Revenue Diagram, you’ll notice a green oval called “SQL Process.” These are the prospects who have taken some action to show that they are in-market and deserving of a sales reps’ attention. This could be downloading a white paper, setting up a call, visiting a tradeshow booth, etc.

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The SQL Process is probably the part we see documented the least. It’s probably because it tends to be more fluid and be highly specific to the type of prospect. But this is a crutch. There can be permutations and variations. The real reason is that most sales teams have not adequately tracked the messaging or frequency that works, and they have not been consistent with either.  Below is a simplified example showing a 20 days sales cycle.  In this business, if they haven’t reached the prospect within 20 days, they ensure that they remain on the newsletter and automatically set a Salesforce task for 90 days later to follow-up.

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You’ll noticed that the Emails in blue underline link to email text. You can do this, but often, it makes more sense to keep the various email templates in the platform sending (i.e. Outreach, Apollo, SalesLoft).

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Why It Matters

Hopefully, you don’t need convincing on why this simple yet essential documentation matters.  But just in case….consistent processes produce consistent results. Processes that are not written down, rarely (if ever) remain consistent.

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If you want consistent results, write it down. Enjoy the results!

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