The scope and impact of Revenue Operations has expanded significantly over the past five years—especially as Sales and Customer Success teams have shifted to remote and hybrid work models.

Think about it: we used to go to work. Now, we sign in to work.

When we physically went to work, that included the building, the energy, and spontaneous interactions. In that environment, our digital tools were just one part of the broader experience.

Today, for remote-first or hybrid teams, the digital workspace is the entire experience. And for customer-facing teams, RevOps owns the majority of that experience.

As Revenue Operations leaders and practitioners, we must recognize that we’re not just tool builders or process designers. We own what it means to “go to work” for Sales and CS teams.

This is why empathy and deep understanding are critical. We must put ourselves directly into our stakeholders’ digital environments to learn first-hand what it's like to operate in the world that we created.

Empathy Requires More than Seeking Feedback

Interviews and surveys are helpful when well-designed. Watching customer calls in Gong can also be insightful. But these approaches don’t reveal the complete digital experience that our teams navigate every day.

To truly understand, we need to observe how our GTM teams work in real-time:

• Accessing and switching between sales tools

• Navigating data across platforms

• Preparing for meetings and calls

• Updating the CRM

• Creating proposals and configuring deals

• Prioritizing accounts and next steps

• Preparing for forecast and pipeline reviews

These are the moments where RevOps design choices either empower or frustrate users. And the only way to uncover friction is to sit in their environment—likely over video—and watch with curiosity.

Not to coach. Not to optimize. Just to learn.

Keep a Pulse on Your User Experience

To maintain a pulse on the direction and progress of your digital experiences, conducting observations every now and then when you find the time simply won't cut it. You need to establish a "discipline of empathy", to give you a consistent feedback rhythm. Then you'll know how things are progressing, and at what pace. Here are some practical ways to do this:

• Set aside a half-day every month to meet with 2-3 reps in each role. You can focus on one role each month, and alternate roles throughout the year.

• Prepare a list of categories beforehand to organize your note-taking.

• It's ok to ask questions, but don't lose sight of your primary objective: to watch them operate in their normal environment, not to have a conversation. One think I like to do is ask them to think out loud as they are working.

It's Worth the Time

This may seem like a major investment in time, but it's worth it. It will improve the pace and quality of your team's output in the following ways:

• It will help you focus on the areas of highest impact.

• You will regularly identify low-hanging fruit, where you can deliver value with little effort.

• You will identify blind spots and assumptions you may not have been aware of.

• Your users will inspire ideas and approaches you may not have thought of yourself.

• You will be see first-hand the impact of your good work on your Sales and CS partners' lives.

Don't Do It Alone

For those leading Revenue Operations in fast-moving tech companies, this is your opportunity to drive meaningful impact. This requires leaning on the expertise of our business partners:

• Ask your HR Business Partner to review your draft communication or announcement.

• Get your Marketing team to design visually compelling templates.

• Seek input from your Product team on your RevOps roadmap.

• Request feedback from your UX team on your CRM page layouts and processes.

These are all experts in different areas of delivering a human experience where your internal and external customers can thrive. Why not tap into their brilliance?

Learning from Other RevOps Professionals

Another great source of inspiration is hearing from and sharing with Revenue Operations experts from other companies. Consider joining the RevOps Together Member community for free, giving you access to our monthly "RevOps Real Talk" live stream, and our private real-time discussion forum.

This will keep you on the cutting edge of RevOps' evolution, finding new ways to improve your company's revenue generation.