Onboarding a RevOps Consultant

Who This Article Is For

If your organization has engaged or is thinking about hiring a RevOps consultant, this article is for you. If your organization has engaged or is thinking about hiring any kind of consultant, this article is for you. Having been on both sides -- as the client and as the consultant -- there are some not-so-obvious rules for a successful engagement.

Why You Should Care About Effective Onboarding

Most organizations, especially startups, typically don’t have unlimited funds. There’s pressure to use your resources (time, money, effort) wisely. Generally, choosing to hire a RevOps consultant (or insert specialty + consultant label here) makes business sense for scoped projects where deeper expertise is needed for speed. Therefore, effective onboarding does the following:

• Sets an intention. Agreeing on specific activities and agreements upfront reduces unnecessary friction. Not only do you avoid spinning your wheels, you avoid damaging important relationships in the process.

• Enlists others. Rarely is organizational work done in a vacuum. By introducing consultants and setting up expectations, others (internal team members, other consultants) can participate in creating success.

• Creates a repeatable framework. Once you’ve created an onboarding process, it will be easier to speed up future engagements and scale.

The above assumes that you’ve hired the right RevOps consultant for the task at hand and you’re clear about the project objectives and deliverables. If not, that’s another issue for another article. Or, better yet, call me.

Elements to Successful Onboarding

Now let’s get to the heart of setting yourself and your RevOps consultant up for success:

1. Paperwork. At the start of an engagement, you’ll need to ensure all the appropriate NDAs, contracts, tax documents (e.g., W-9s), and invoicing schedules buttoned up. When negotiating with your CRM consultant, you’ve most likely outlined the overall plan, timeframes and deliverables.

2. Access. I suggest having a robust list of the systems (software, accounts, tools) and who owns them (read: have admin access). Additionally, provide a list of the departments/contact points your RevOps consultant will need in order to do their best work. You probably have a HR-related list when onboarding employees that you can modify.

3. Introductions. In addition to providing contact info for specific individuals to your consultant, you’ll want to provide context and set the stage for their work.

4. Kick-off meeting. During this in-person or virtual meeting with your consultant you should:

   • Share your vision for the project and its success, describe the corporate culture, explain how their work fits into the organization, and other resources you’ve deployed (this could be internal or external) related to their work with you.

   • If your kick-off meeting is with others in the organization, now is the time for formal introductions to the team and other consultants. Not knowing all the players and their role can lead to misunderstandings, stepping on toes and other nonsense. So, facilitate collaboration and information sharing at the get-go as a way to set the tone and reinforce expectations.

   • Establish the cadence and the level of detail you need for status updates. Stating your communication preferences and information needs upfront puts everyone at ease.

5. Regular check-ins. Schedule regular check-in points with your consultant outside of project team meetings. You’ll want to dedicate 1:1 time to address issues or feedback not suitable to a public forum.

   • Ask about what’s going right and what’s getting in the way. By keeping open and transparent lines of communication will alert you to brewing issues that could cause delays or surprises.

   • Ask for feedback. Communication goes two ways. Your consultant’s feedback can improve your onboarding process or how others work with you.

   • It’s also a best practice to follow this leadership maxim: praise in public, correct in private. These private meetings are appropriate to review contractual milestones and potential changes in engagement.

6. Project measurement. In my RevOps consultancy work, dashboards are excellent equalizers as it aligns all parties with the goal(s) in mind.

   • Dashboards with specific metrics are preferable, especially if your project crosses organizational functions. It aligns all players and ties results to specific activities.

   • Consistent project measurement through dashboards also requires the definition of clear and measurable goals. The details of the project plan or “how” may be fuzzy. What you’re trying to accomplish should not be fuzzy. Undoubtedly you’ll encounter roadblocks or challenges. Yet having a clear vision of your objectives will help you and your consultant sift through problem-solving scenarios.

7. Lean on your consultant’s expertise and processes. When you hire a consultant, you’re relying on their experience and expertise. Most likely they already have templates and processes in place. They’ve already figured out the pot holes, black holes, and gaps. Be open and flexible to incorporating those frameworks into your organization. And, an exceptional RevOps consultant will know how to blend their frameworks with your organizational processes.

Plan for Growth

Hiring the right RevOps consultant for your organization is an important decision. Check out my RevOps approach and methodology and read how successful RevOps projects lead to revenue success. Alternative partners can help you fill the gap and plan for growth.