Lights, camera… inaction!

Many times, businesses realize they have certain requirements to meet their long-term revenue goals, but lacking resources and skills makes them feel stuck. Scaling is challenging, especially when you don’t want to increase your headcount.

This inevitably leads to confusion: who do you hire? An agency or a freelancer? On paper, both choices have their benefits and downsides, and making a decision becomes a daunting task. After all, one wrong choice can cost you thousands of dollars.

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So how do you decide between choosing a revenue operations agency and an independent consultant? In this blog, we will help you make up your mind.

Hiring an External RevOps team: When do you need it?

Seasoned professionals might tell you that you needed a revenue operations team yesterday. But it’s never too late - an external RevOps team can help your business at multiple stages - when you are beginning a new project, when you are adopting a new tool, or when you start to feel that your departments aren’t fully aligned. 

But do you hire a revOps team in-house, or outsource it? While this is a tricky question, we’ll try our best to answer.

RevOps isn’t a magic wand that fixes everything - but it works towards building an environment where the most growth can be achieved. There are several instances when bringing in a RevOps team can be immensely beneficial. 

• Resource crunch: Especially true for early-stage businesses, it is quite inevitable to find yourself in a position where you need help but cannot hire a full-fledged team, or even a single full-time resource person. An external RevOps team or resource person is a flexible option in this case since you have the option to scale up or scale down how you desire. 

For example, with a consultant, you could choose to spend 5K one month and 2K the next. While hiring an agency you could also scale up (or scale down) resources as you like, and dictate the number of hours you expect to pay for.

• Lack of a specific skillset: Another situation where it may help: you already have a team in place but they do not have the skills you require for a particular project. This is especially relevant when the role of revenue operations is ever-evolving. A revops expert can work in tandem with your full-time employees and assist them on projects. 
  
  
• Scaling or adapting to new tools: When expanding your MarTech stack, it would be wiser to hire dedicated help rather than making a mess of things trying to do them yourself. As you’ll soon realize, there are hidden costs of DIY revenue operations. External RevOps teams work with multiple clients and tools - something that isn’t always the case with most full-time employees.
  
  
• Bringing in a sense of alignment: Businesses may sometimes find their teams scrambling even after years of operational success. It makes more sense to hire an experienced external team that helps them identify system flaws and audit and streamline their processes. 
  
  

So… what can a RevOps agency do for you?

Just about anything. Agencies are like any other business with their own in-house resources. Revenue operations roles are versatile and agencies hire from a varied talent pool that addresses several issues faced by clients.

RevOps agencies usually offer a bouquet of services, ranging from strategic advice to operational solutions. It can help grow your business immensely, and you wouldn’t want to miss out. 

For example, a RevOps agency may help you scale your MarTech stack, set up your HubSpot, or put up a lead scoring system in place, among multiple other things. 

Depending on their areas of expertise, RevOps agencies are also a good starting point when onboarding new systems and tools. 

Revenue operations agency vs consultants: who does it better? 

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In several situations, help from a revenue operations agency can come in handy. This may leave you wondering - what does a RevOps agency offer that Revops consultants don’t?

The benefits of hiring a RevOps agency

• More resources, wide skill pool: Unlike freelancers, agencies have several people working for them and thus always have a backup for emergencies. For example, if your resource person is unavailable and you have an urgent requirement, an agency could help you out with backup resources. Furthermore, with bigger teams, comes a bigger repertoire of skills - something a lone freelancer may lack.
  
  
• More scalability: Agencies are also more scalable and can provide you with just the right amount of resources. For example, you may need 10 hours of work one month and 35 the next - with agencies, you may scale up your requirements without having to worry about a resource crunch or scale down when things are slow (unless you have a retainer amount in your contract).
  
  
• Streamlined internal processes: Like any other business, agencies have internal processes and frameworks that make it easier for them to take on new projects and clients without a hiccup. You could also rely on an agency to have the technicalities of partnerships sorted out, which creates a more professional avenue. 
  
  
• Peer-reviewed work: Most professionals working in agencies have their work internally peer-reviewed and supervised before they present it to you. This encourages productivity and ensures less time is spent on tweaking and editing. Additionally, with more people involved, agencies might prove to be better at ideating and strategizing. 
  
  
• End-to-end solutions: A larger pool of resources allows agencies to offer end-to-end solutions. Think about it: a freelancer might be a developer, a marketer, or a revenue operations consultant. But by hiring an agency, you can access all these people and their skills! This ultimately saves you time, as you do not have to constantly hunt for new talent. And time, my friend, is money. 
  
  
• Better project management: Most agencies have dedicated project managers who look after specific projects and clients. This makes for a more organized process with little scope for delays and surprises. 
  
  
• More reliable in the long run: Because of the above reasons, you are more likely to form lasting relationships with agencies, and longer partnerships often bring a sense of familiarity akin to having a full-time team member. Additionally, a setup like this also makes more sense when you have long-term projects like lead scoring & management.

As you can see, hiring a revenue operations agency can be a wise choice if you have a large and complex project. 

But while agencies are great for 360-degree solutions, freelancers come with their own set of advantages. 

The benefits of hiring a freelancer

• More flexibility: Unlike agency employees, freelancers are self-employed individuals and their schedule may be a tad more flexible. If your work is erratic and emergencies may crop unexpectedly, a freelancer might be able to adjust to your timelines and might even work during weekends. 

Remember, a lot of consultants also have a full-time job and moonlight as freelancers, and may be more open to working during off-hours. This doesn’t mean you intrude on their personal space & time, but this flexibility might be more convenient for more spontaneous projects. 

• Less expensive: This is a no-brainer. Agencies have several employees and more resources, which calls for a slightly bigger bill — of course, you get what you pay for, and if your project is more complicated, you’d be better off hiring an agency. However, if it’s a small and fairly simple project, hiring a freelancer makes more sense. 
  
  
• Specialized expertise: Agencies are able to offer several services because they have bigger teams and skill pools, but what if you require one very specific skill for your project? Now this is where a freelancer might be a wiser choice since most consultants usually niche down to one or two areas of expertise you can leverage.
  
  
• Fewer processes: Many people love working with agencies because the set processes ensure everything happens as smoothly as possible. However, this may not be everybody’s style - some people just want to get their work done and not make a fuss. In that case, freelancers might be the better choice.

Now that we have discussed the benefits of both, it’s up to you to decide - who fits your requirements better? Agency or freelancer?

If your project requires meticulous strategizing and research, a wider skill pool, and top-notch resources, you should definitely consider hiring an agency. And in that case, we have a few suggestions for you.

RevOps agency must haves - how to choose the right one?

With so many agencies around, how do you find something that ticks all the boxes? Well, there are a few signs: 

• Cross-functional expertise: Ensure that the agency has considerable experience having worked with several clients and platforms, so you can rely on them for their expertise. 
  
  
• Understanding how a business works: The agency must have a basic understanding of how businesses operate. This ensures minimal hand-holding and friction, and the agency intuitively understands what the client’s goals are. 
  
  
• Good communication skills: An absolute essential for any agency - they must know how, what, and when to communicate. Outsourcing a requirement may leave a client feeling anxious about the progress, and clear communication helps!
  
  
• Up-to-date with the market: If an agency has no clue what’s new in the market, it can be a red flag. Always look for agencies that know what they’re doing. After all, you’re paying for an expert. 
  
  
• Good with data analytics: One of the key reasons one should hire an agency is their past experience - if an agency is unable to draw on the experience and use the data and insights to help future clients, they’re not doing a good job. 
  
  
• Good project management skills: Most agencies have a great deal of resources at their disposal, which is why you’d hardly ever find a good agency scrambling at the last minute. Effective, organized project management is one of the best ways an agency can build trust. 
  
  
• Strategy and execution: While agencies are invaluable for their domain expertise and know-how, what matters most is the execution of things: if an agency constantly comes up with great strategies but fails to execute them, it’s a no-go.

• Compliance-ready: Some global regions are stricter when it comes to compliance and regulations related to user data (we’re looking at you, Europe) and clients should ensure that the agency has sound legal knowledge regarding the same. 

Once you find a revenue operations agency that seems to tick most of these boxes, you can move ahead and put a ring on it - or send them an email.

If you play your cards right and choose the right RevOps agency for your business, you might just be able to make the breakthrough Freshlearn did!

Before you onboard an agency…

So you have found an agency that fits your criteria well. Great! But before you proceed, you must sign off on a few things first: 

• Formally decide the scope of work and the deliverables.
• Research the background of your agency and do your due diligence to ensure that it’s a good fit.
• Test the waters during the first few meetings to assess their compatibility with your team.

Conclusion

Choosing a revenue operations agency is a large task. Ensure that you choose one that doesn’t just align with your requirements, but also your values. 

Fractional CMO is a RevOps agency that would love to take your revenue operations off your hands. Our team of experts would be delighted to collaborate with you to help you align your departments and achieve maximum growth.