Navigating the RevOps Backlog: What’s the Real “P1”?

Every RevOps pro, no matter the size of their team, has the same problem: a crazy backlog. Hear from panelists Aviv Bergman, Head of Partnerships & BizDev at Sweep, John Hulina, Principal at CRM Assist, Kim Hargrove, Managing Director at KCK Consulting, Inc., Amanda Garza, Sr. RevOps Manager at Clari, and Eric Portugal-Welsh, Director of RevOps at Deputy, about their best practices for effectively triaging your backlog.

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Every day someone adds another item to your RevOps backlog. Some of these requests are mission-critical while others are just noise. How can your RevOps team begin to tackle this growing list of GTM demands? By taking a strategic approach, you can remove 20% of backlog work from your plate today. 

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Accountable processes

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“When customers come to me as a consultant something is usually on fire, and they're panicking.” - Kim Hargrove

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Your RevOps team has a limited capacity, especially when you’re a team of one. The first step to tackling an out-of-control backlog is to set up strategic processes to help you understand which requests are the most important and why. 

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• Deploy a discovery system. If your Head of Sales asks for something, you should probably tackle that ticket. If an AE is logging requests, it’s worthwhile to ask questions and poke some holes. 
• Schedule annual or semi-annual strategic planning sessions. Meet with stakeholders to outline your priorities for the quarter or the year and manage expectations. 
• Set up an intake process that helps you understand the impact of NOT fulfilling a request. Is it directly connected to your strategic priorities for the year? 
• Schedule regular office hours. This holds everyone accountable for their requests. If they don’t show up, their request isn’t as urgent as they thought and their ticket will be closed. 

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The art of saying no

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“If you don't have a way to say what is and isn’t urgent, you end up saying yes to everything.” - Amanda Garza

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The art of saying no starts with understanding everyone’s objectives. When everyone meets and comes to an agreement on what the revenue org is trying to accomplish, it’s easier to make an argument for saying no to a request if it isn’t aligned with those objectives. 

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Make sure you understand what “urgent” means to everyone. If something breaks and impacts your revenue process and customer experience, like when your CPQ tool won’t generate a quote, it’s marked as a high priority because it’s standing in the way of revenue.

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Knowledge management

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Creating and maintaining a knowledge base really is the best way to have repeatable answers to repeatable questions. If you’re starting from scratch, keep in mind these knowledge base best practices: 

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• You don’t have to be formal. If everyone lives in Slack, put your documentation into Slack. 
• Use video for answers to frequent questions or training for new features. Our panelists love Loom, Vidyard, and Scribe. You can even record directly in Slack.
• Create flow chart visualizations with tools like Lucidchart and Whimsical. 
• Use color and make it visual. Color coding in green, yellow, and red provides context and helps everyone focus on the same priorities.

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Take control of your backlog

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“Strategic planning should not be done in a silo. You should have input and guidance from stakeholder groups.” - Eric Portugal-Welsh

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No one will ever get their backlog down to zero. Still, you can automate out non-urgent, non-strategic requests by ensuring that stakeholders are aligned on priorities and offering frequent, structured, and accountable processes for engaging with the RevOps team and backlog.

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