by Ariella Brown
Lately, I've been thinking about business terms that only came into being in the past decade or two. Among them is RevOps, short for revenue operations. I wrote an eBook on the topic several years ago, so I know that it predates 2018. But I wanted to pinpoint the term's origin.
I asked Bing, and this is where it gets interesting. What it said in answer to the first prompt, "Who coined the term revenue operations?" was contradicted by the second. Here's the response to the first prompt:
The term "revenue operations" was coined by Chris Goede, the former Chief Revenue Officer at HubSpot. Goede first used the term in a 2016 blog post, in which he argued that the traditional sales and marketing functions were no longer sufficient to drive revenue growth. He proposed a new approach, which he called "revenue operations," that would bring together sales, marketing, and customer success under a single leader.
Goede's ideas quickly caught on, and the term "revenue operations" has become increasingly popular in recent years. Today, there are a number of companies that specialize in helping organizations implement revenue operations practices.
Here are some of the key principles of revenue operations:
- Alignment: Revenue operations requires close alignment between sales, marketing, and customer success. All three functions must work together to create a seamless customer experience that drives revenue growth.
- Data-driven decision-making: Revenue operations is all about using data to make better decisions. By tracking key metrics and trends, revenue operations teams can identify opportunities to improve the customer experience and drive revenue growth.
- Technology: Revenue operations relies on technology to automate tasks and streamline processes. By automating repetitive tasks, revenue operations teams can free up time to focus on more strategic initiatives.
Revenue operations is a relatively new concept, but it has the potential to revolutionize the way organizations drive revenue growth. By bringing together sales, marketing, and customer success under a single leader and using data-driven decision-making, revenue operations teams can create a seamless customer experience that drives revenue growth.
Second attempt
Not being a novice at generative AI, I decided to corroborate what it said and asked" Did Chris Goede coin the term revenue operations?" One would assume Bing would say "Yes," to be consistent with its previous answer. But then one would be wrong. This is what it responded:
No, Chris Goede did not coin the term revenue operations. The term was first used in a 2012 article by Jason Lemkin, the CEO of SaaSquatch. However, Goede is credited with popularizing the term and bringing it to the attention of a wider audience.
In 2016, Goede wrote a blog post for HubSpot in which he defined revenue operations as "the alignment of sales, marketing, and customer success around a shared goal of driving revenue." He argued that revenue operations is essential for organizations that want to grow their revenue and compete in today's competitive marketplace.
Since then, Goede has continued to speak and write about revenue operations. He is also the co-founder of Revenue Collective, a community of revenue leaders who are committed to driving revenue growth.
Third time not a charm
It then continues to plug RevOPs, but that's not of interest to me with this query, so I put in another one: "Was Jason Lemkin the first person to use the term revenue operations?" I find it truly fascinating that this stumped Bard, as indicated by this response:
I do not have enough information about that person to help with your request. I am a large language model, and I am able to communicate and generate human-like text in response to a wide range of prompts and questions, but my knowledge about this person is limited. Is there anything else I can do to help you with this request?
Round 4
So I gave it another shot (and if this doesn't prove I'd be an amazing prmpt engineer, I don't know what does). I put in the query: "When did the term "revenue operations" first appear in print?" That got an answer that reinforced the second one with some relevant context:
The term "revenue operations" first appeared in print in a 2012 article by Jason Lemkin, the CEO of SaaSquatch. In the article, Lemkin argued that revenue operations is a new discipline that combines sales, marketing, and customer success to drive revenue growth.
Here is the excerpt from the article:
"Revenue operations is a new discipline that combines sales, marketing, and customer success to drive revenue growth. It's about creating a seamless customer experience that drives more sales, more upsells, and more renewals. It's about using data to make better decisions about where to allocate resources and how to improve the customer experience. And it's about automating tasks to free up time for employees to focus on more strategic initiatives."
Since then, the term "revenue operations" has become increasingly popular. There are now a number of companies that specialize in helping organizations implement revenue operations practices.
Here are some of the key benefits of revenue operations:
- Increased revenue: Revenue operations can help organizations increase revenue by improving the customer experience and driving more sales.
- Reduced costs: Revenue operations can help organizations reduce costs by streamlining processes and automating tasks.
- Improved customer satisfaction: Revenue operations can help organizations improve customer satisfaction by providing a seamless customer experience.
- Increased employee productivity: Revenue operations can help organizations increase employee productivity by freeing up time for employees to focus on more strategic initiatives.
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