Lean Methodology is a startup strategy that’s all about cutting waste and getting the most bang for your buck.
For startups in the Dominican Republic, Latin America, and the Caribbean, this is super important when you’re dealing with limited resources and developing markets.
Here’s what Lean is supposed to do:
Lean Methodology teaches you to try out different things, see what works, and stop doing what doesn’t. The principles make sense. Many startups fail because they put their eggs all in one basket, move too fast without planning, or allocate budget in the wrong areas (or the right areas at the wrong time). Lean is supposed to fix all that:
- Cut the Fat: Get rid of stuff that doesn’t help.
- Learn Fast: Try things, see what happens, and change it up.
- Wait and See: Don’t commit too early.
- Go Quick: Get your product out there fast.
- Trust the Team: Let everyone take charge.
- Build it Right: Make sure quality is part of the plan from day one.
- See the Big Picture: Understand how everything fits together.
Find problems and fix things that go wrong.
Lean pushes you to “always be solving.” You can always do better in Customer Acquisition costs. You can always bring in more customers or get more sales on products, right? Get the best bang for your buck. You do that by:
- Watching the Numbers: Keep an eye on things like how much it costs to get a customer, how many quit, and how much they’re worth.
- Listening to People: Ask customers what they think.
- Looking at the Data: Find patterns and weird stuff in the numbers.
Make careful, purposeful changes.
When you find opportunities to improve, you do so, but not all at once. There’s a process:
- Switch it up: Change direction based on what you learn.
- Tweak it: Make small changes to make things better.
- Try New Stuff: Run tests to see what works.
This is all a cool concept, but results come from actual deployment, not theory. How can you improve on Lean Methodology?
** RevOps Enters the Chat **
Lean methodology focuses mostly on constant improvement and value delivery. RevOps builds on this concept, applying a similar process across revenue-generating functions. It makes sure sales, marketing, and customer success are working together to make the customer happy.
What RevOps adds to startups:
- Removing Silos: Break down departmental barriers so marketing, sales, and customer success can work together.
- Holistic Alignment: Make sure every team contributes to the overall revenue strategy rather than optimize in isolation.
- Cross-Departmental Focus: Look at the entire customer journey and revenue cycle to identify improvement opportunities that impact the organization as a whole.
Why RevOps is great:
- Get More Done: Make things run smoother and avoid doing the same thing twice.
- Everyone On Board: Make sure everyone’s working towards the same goals.
- Happy Customers: Give customers a smooth and easy experience.
Getting Started
Whether you’re a Lean practitioner or still finding improvement opportunities around every turn, getting started with RevOps is the same:
- See Where You Are: Figure out what’s working and what’s not.
- Set Goals: Decide what you want to achieve.
- Make a Plan: Write down exactly what you’re going to do and when.
- Do It & Watch: Start doing it and track how it’s going.
- Change as Needed: Make adjustments based on the data.
RevOps Science enables RevOps by uncomplicating Process, Progress, and Performance.
Yeah, Revops is cool but how do you get it going? It’s called RevOps Science.
Process: It’s a simple framework called B.O.O.M:
B – egin: Find out what’s Right, Wrong, Missing, and Confused and get measuring.
O – perate: Decide what projects are needed to improve RWMC metrics.
O – Obviate: Ensure that projects address the needs of your 5 revenue pillars: Awareness, Engagement, Enablement, Land, and Expand.
M – aximize: Set expectations that are easily tracked and measured, and set regular intervals to confirm if the PROCESS is delivering the anticipated results.
Progress: This is called the Revenue Growth Formula. This defines your 5 pillars of recurring revenue with a Metrics Ladder and ensures that all 5 pillars are actively working together to scale growth.
The 5 Revenue Pillars are:
- Awareness: Generate awareness around your product or services
- Engagement: Generate qualified leads with targeted offers that work for specific buyer channels
- Enablement: Facilitate sales content and processes to ensure that leads convert
- Land: Build community and retention processes to ensure sales become long-term customers.
- Expand: Build a service or product roadmap designed for your current customer base and gauge profitability before continuing product/service build.
Performance: In RevOps Science, this is called a Parallel Growth Plan. It makes sure that the Metrics Ladder remains agile by establishing metrics in the short term that march towards revenue outcomes on the calendar. Goals on the clock and goals on the calendar.
Here’s the easiest way to project manage Parallel Growth Plans.
Now You Know What NOT to do.
Startups benefit from Lean Methodology, but RevOps takes things further by bringing sales, marketing, and customer success together. What’s cool about RevOps Science is it adds a clear framework with B.O.O.M, the Revenue Growth Formula, and Parallel Growth Plans, which helps everything run smoothly and hit goals. For startups in LATAM looking to really grow, focusing on RevOps Science is a better bet than just sticking to Lean Methodology.
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Jonathan J. Mentor is a renowned revenue scientist, growth strategist, and advocate for underrepresented startups. As the Founder & CEO of Successment, he enables recurring revenue for startups with RevOps Science®.
In 2024, Successment’s #ProvokeVisibility Campaign was nominated in the Dominican Republic for the United Nations World Summit Awards.
