Sales leaders know that predictable revenue ties directly to efficient sales cycles. And these cycles are dependent on the company’s overall sales operation rhythm—also known as operating cadences. These cadences determine how often team members meet, what type of meetings are needed, what goals to track, and how to measure success.
“Ultimately, your progress depends on your cadence and the communication supporting it. With an effective cadence in place, your organization is well-positioned to achieve its overall growth goals,” says Josh VanGeest, Vice President of Revenue Operations at Clari. “Creating a truly effective revenue operating cadence has the power to drive the type of predictable growth, year after year, that companies aspire to.”
What is an Operating Cadence?
An operating cadence is a routine meeting time among the revenue and sales teams to review goals, track progress, and plan for the future.
Your organization likely has several operating cadences running at any given time, all working together to propel the revenue team toward its goals. For example, if a rep and their manager meet one-on-one each week, that’s a weekly operating cadence. Likewise, a monthly forecast call represents a monthly operating cadence, while quarterly business reviews (QBR) and board meetings represent a quarterly cadence.
All of these meetings are important conversations that comprise your company’s overall revenue operating cadence.
Short-term vs. Long-term Performance Measurement
When it comes to achieving long-term performance targets, the adage applies: You can’t run before you can walk. Setting and meeting short-term goals first will incrementally get you to where you need to be.
The key here is to measure and track performance at a granular level to ensure you are consistently making progress.
Joshua Moreau, Strategy Consultant at Clari, says you should start by thinking about what you want to achieve every week—whether that’s the number of meetings you want your reps to have with prospects or the number of closed deals. Then, make sure your goals are realistic and communicate them clearly to everyone, so expectations are shared.
And, as VanGeest notes: “Remember that designing your cadence doesn’t have to be a huge ordeal. You can improve your cadence gradually over time by leveraging the right insights, technology, and framework.”
Importance of Setting Short-Term Goals
Setting short-term goals is critical because it keeps everyone aligned and allows for longer-term goals, Moreau says.
“Weekly cadences make sure you’re handling all the business that needs to be handled on a day-to-day basis, with those immediate deadlines,” he says, “so that you don’t lose sight of that big picture.”
One-on-one meetings are a great example of a weekly cadence. A successful one-on-one will bring together sales reps and their managers to overcome roadblocks, mitigate risk, accelerate pipeline and deal execution, and boost motivation. A RevOps platform shines here by highlighting deal data, making it transparent and accessible. Reps and managers can then use their time together to strategize and move the ball forward—versus playing catch-up and relaying past actions.
Advantages of a Weekly Cadence
A weekly revenue cadence can help teams meet short-term goals while keeping everyone on track for longer-term objectives. Then, you can gradually expand as process updates become more familiar and accepted across the revenue team. How? The answer is data.
Weekly cadences driven by data focus sales teams on the most important deals, ultimately allowing them to take action earlier to save deals at risk of slipping or to spot low-hanging fruit to close more (or better) deals.
Weekly cadences can also help RevOps leaders fine-tune the process for optimum efficiency. “RevOps leaders can test the waters on a smaller scale to gauge how their team responds to the update and get ahead of any process gaps,” VanGeest says.
Develop Your Operating Cadence
When looking to develop a weekly operating cadence, Moreau recommends RevOps leaders start by planning out exactly which activities and actions will be expected of reps and managers weekly. “Get that weekly cadence strong and structured,” he says. “Get everybody consistent and aligned.”
A RevOps platform like Clari helps by providing a unified, transparent, up-to-date view of each opportunity and its trajectory so sales teams can start their meetings on the same page and use time together to drive more revenue.
Download Our Weekly Operating Cadence Worksheet
The Revenue Operations Council, a group of world-class RevOps experts, shares real-world strategies for creating effective cadences and communication for growth in their research paper, “Upleveling Your Revenue Operating Cadence and Communication.”
Leverage the ROC’s insights with this ready-to-use RevOps worksheet at your organization to fine-tune your weekly cadence.
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