RevOps rebellion: why smashing silos is the CMO’s greatest act of genius

Hey! CMO. Ditch the lone wolf act and team up closely with sales and customer success. In short, that means jumping on the so called RevOps bandwagon.

The idea is simple: rather than working in silos, all customer facing teams (marketing, sales and customer success) should operate under one strategy, aimed at optimising revenue across the entire organisation (or what marketing calls the customer lifecycle).

Huh! Who'd have thought it?

The issue is, implementing a RevOps approach in an organisation not designed for cross functional collaboration is near impossible.

But it can be done...

In this article I'll lay my experiences bear and share some personal challenges I’ve encountered while trying to introduce this mindset. Hopefully this will spark a conversation about how CMOs can use their role to drive this transformation.

Rebellion 1: Securing marketing’s place across the sales cycle

One of the first hurdles I faced was expanding marketing’s influence beyond just lead generation. Traditionally, marketing’s role stops after passing qualified leads to sales, but in a RevOps framework, marketing should stay involved throughout the sales process to ensure continuity and alignment of both message and brand.

When I tried to get involved in the later stages of the sales cycle – whether to help craft messaging, provide nurturing content or support lead handover – I was often met with resistance from the sales team. I remember one instance where I offered to join a customer call to better understand their concerns and tailor future marketing efforts. The response..?

We’ve got this; marketing doesn’t need to be involved.

This reaction isn’t unusual when sales see marketing’s involvement as stepping on their toes.

What I learnt is that it’s crucial to present marketing’s role as a value add, not an intrusion.

It’s inclusive not intrusive.

By framing my team’s involvement as a way to enhance the leads we hand over and ultimately make the sales team’s job easier, I started to get more buy in. But shifting this mindset takes time and requires consistent communication – something a CMO should make a priority. We have the experience and headspace to take on that challenge.

Rebellion 2: Closing the gap with customer success

Another challenge was integrating marketing expertise into the customer success function. As explained above, in a true RevOps model, marketing isn’t just about filling the funnel. It’s the secret sauce for keeping customers loyal, stopping them from wandering off, and boosting the amount they spend over time. But trying to get marketing involved after the sale – when the customer support team usually holds the reins – has been like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

For example, I’ve suggested several initiatives to use marketing resources to improve the post sale customer experience – personalised email campaigns, customer education content, even joint marketing opportunities. However, I often found myself left out of the discussion, with customer success teams preferring to stick with their established routines and technical expertise.

One particularly revealing moment came when I suggested running customer webinars to engage key accounts. Instead of seeing this as a valuable engagement tool, the customer success team worried it might confuse customers by adding a new, marketing driven touchpoint that would erode trust.

Looking back, I realised the support team didn’t see marketing as part of their universe. To fix that, I had to show that marketing wasn’t just about pulling in new logos but also about keeping them around. I’m still chipping away at it, but by giving real examples of marketing efforts that actually keep people interested and using our products, I’ve slowly started to shift their thinking. It’s a constant tug of war that CMOs face when trying to bring everyone onto the same page.

How CMOs can use their role to drive full funnel collaboration

So, how can CMOs smash through these obstacles and successfully implement a RevOps mentality in organisations that are deeply rooted in traditional structures? Here are some strategies that have worked for me:

1. Use data as a shared truth:

One of the best ways to bridge the gap between departments is through metrics. By sharing customer insights, lead scoring data and engagement metrics, marketing can highlight the clear benefits of a unified RevOps approach. When you speak a common language – numbers – it becomes easier to demonstrate the value of collaboration.

2. Build relationships with sales and customer success leaders:

Personal relationships make a huge difference. I’ve found that building strong, informal connections with my counterparts in sales and customer success has been crucial in encouraging collaboration. If they see you as a partner rather than a competitor for resources (or even recognition), you’ll find it easier to create an open, collaborative environment. It’s something that requires constant work and you may find it necessary to redesign the relationship more than once. And that's fine. It shouldn't be regarded as a failure.

3. Pilot campaigns to prove value:

Sometimes, it’s better to show than to tell. Something I’ve talked about in my Have Your Cake artile. I’ve seen success by starting small with pilot initatives – like a co branded customer whitepaper or a joint webinar series. These initiatives demonstrate marketing’s value in customer retention and once they deliver results, it’s easier to push for more integration.

4. Position marketing as a strategic partner, not a support function: 

This shift in thinking is essential. Marketing needs to be seen as a partner in driving revenue growth, not just a machine that cranks out leads. By showing how marketing contributes to the halo effect (renewals, upsells and overall customer satisfaction), you can earn a place at the table across the entire customer lifecycle. Be careful with language though – talking about customer lifecycle can pull people back into the old way of thinking. Instead, using terms like RevOps or growth marketing can help avoid that trap.

5. Emphasise customer centricity: 

Ultimately, every team (marketing, sales, product, operations, HR, customer success) should be working towards the same goal – customer delight. By consistently reminding teams that marketing’s role in the sales cycle and customer journey is about better serving the customer (and driving more revenue), you’ll encounter less resistance and more cooperation. I once worked in an organisation that truly put the customer at the heart of everything they did, making certain marketing initiatives fly because of their customer centric culture.

Final thoughts: transforming through persistence

Introducing a RevOps mentality into an organisation that isn’t structured for it requires patience, LOTS of patience. As CMOs, we are uniquely positioned to connect the dots between departments, making us ideal champions for a more integrated approach to the customer journey. We are natural connectors and communicators, we just need to reframe how we use those skills across the organisation.

So… Yes, there will be resistance. Yes, it’s difficult. And hell yes, it takes time. But by using our ability to connect people, build strong relationships and prove the long term value of collaboration, CMOs can transform marketing from just another function into a true driver of revenue and growth.

I hope this sparks some ideas for others facing similar challenges, and I’d love to hear your experiences with implementing a RevOps approach in your organisation.