Decoding Revenue Operations and GTM Strategies: Insights from 30 Mid-Market SaaS Companies

In the dynamic world of business, the process of scaling Revenue Operations (Rev Ops) can be a perplexing journey for many companies. While some organizations have a clear roadmap, others are left to navigate through the landscape, often relying on educated guesswork. To shed light on this critical aspect of business growth, we undertook an in-depth analysis of team structures in 30 mid-market companies, focusing on RevOps. Though the teams varied significantly, we found valuable insights and trends.

Understanding the Landscape

Our analysis revealed intriguing statistics from these mid-market SaaS companies:

• The median number of Sales Reps per company stood at an impressive 415.
• Sales personnel constituted a median of 25% of the total headcount.

While different Go-to-Market strategies dictate specific resourcing needs, a common thread is the focus on adopting a data-centered approach to sales.

Diverse Rev Ops Strategies

Even within the realm of Rev Ops, we noticed a diverse range of team-building strategies. For instance, companies like Asana, historically focused on Product-Led Growth (PLG), allocated a small percentage (18%) of their total headcount to Sales. Their year-on-year growth in Sales headcount remained modest at 1%, raising intriguing questions about their unique approach.

Enabling Sales Through Rev Ops and GTM Systems

Rev Ops and GTM (Go-to-Market) Systems play pivotal roles in empowering the Sales team effectively. This responsibility falls into two overarching buckets:

• Strategy: Are we empowering the Sales team to focus on what truly matters?
• Productivity: Are we aiding Sales Representatives in accomplishing their tasks swiftly and efficiently?

Rev Ops primarily addresses the first aspect, while GTM Systems focus on the second.

Insights from the Field

We delved into specific companies to draw concrete examples of varying approaches:

• ‍Asana ✅
  ‍% of Total Headcount in Sales: 18% (500 Reps)
  Rev Ops Headcount: 21 | GTM Systems Headcount: 14

• DemandScience ❌
  % of Total Headcount in Sales: 40% (400 Reps)
  Rev Ops Headcount: 2 | GTM Systems Headcount: 1

• BlackLine ✅
  % of Total Headcount in Sales: 27% (500 Reps)
  Rev Ops Headcount: 12 | GTM Systems Headcount: 11

• Gong ✅
  % of Total Headcount in Sales: 25% (375 Reps)
  Rev Ops Headcount: 18 | GTM Systems Headcount: 7

• Seismic ❌
  % of Total Headcount in Sales: 21% (415 Reps)
  Rev Ops Headcount: 6 | GTM Systems Headcount: 11

• Braze ❌
  % of Total Headcount in Sales: 28% (450 Reps)
  Rev Ops Headcount: 18† | GTM Systems Headcount: 7

† 78% of the Rev Ops team (14 out of 18) sit on Deal Desk.
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Our analysis reiterates that a larger team isn't the sole solution. It's about precisely resourcing this mission-critical team, ensuring the right investment. A lack of investment and misallocation of resources are equally detrimental to GTM effectiveness. In essence, investing in Rev Ops is essential, but doing it right is imperative for business success.