70 questions for a VP of Revenue Operations candidate to ask in an interview
Here are 70 questions to have prepared so that you can confidently take control of your interview for a VP of Revenue Operations role.
Revenue Operations is a relatively new function, and depending on the size of the company you are interviewing for, you may know more about the role than the person interviewing you.
Asking specific questions ensures you are able to make the right decision about whether this company is the best choice for you, whilst also demonstrating that you know your stuff and can start fast if awarded the position.
Your questions will differ depending on who you are being interviewed by, but having these prepared will give you flexibility to pick those that are relevant as the conversation unfolds.
The Industry
What are the alternatives to our category of product/service?
What is the future for the XYZ industry?
Where are the new competitors going to come from?
The Company
What does ACME look like in five years?
Who are the target customers? Why?
Who is not a good fit?
Why does ACME lose deals?
What is ACME’s biggest threat?
How does ACME’s culture affect our ability to win and retain customers?
The Revenue Engine
Marketing
Where do leads come from?
How is the marketing team structured?
What is the biggest challenge generating pipeline?
What does marketing think of sales/customer success?
Which channels work best for driving pipeline? (Partners, referrals, events?)
What is the typical lead to opportunity cycle?
Which verticals have the biggest opportunity? Why?
How does pipeline vary across customer segments, geos, products?
Sales
What does a typical deal look like?
How is the sales team structured?
Who are the most common buyer personas?
What are the most common reason deals slip or are lost?
What do sales think of marketing/customer success?
How accurate are sellers at forecasting?
What are the most common objections?
What are the most common packages that are sold?
How does pricing work? How much do customers negotiate?
How are competitors priced compared to ACME?
What is the typical contract length?
What is the legal process and what causes most delays?
What payment terms are offered?
Why do good sales people leave?
Customer Success
What onboarding/integration services are provided? Mainly direct or partners?
How much of our business is with or through partners?
What causes implementation projects to go wrong?
What does the implementation process look like?
How is the customer success team structured?
What does customer success think of marketing/customer success?
What is the current GRR/NRR and how is that trending?
What causes customers to churn?
How involved are Customer Success in evolving the marketing and sales strategy?
How is Customer Success handled? What is the cadence of meetings?
How do we manage/report if customers are using the tools and getting value?
The Systems
What does the current revenue tech stack look like?
How well does the tech stack match the buyer and seller journey?
What would buyers/marketers/sellers/CSMs say about our tech stack?
Which systems have the poorest adoption? Why?
Which systems have the most duplication in functionality?
How do you prevent shadow IT being brought in by each function?
The Data
Who owns revenue data in the organisation?
What are the key metrics across the revenue lifecycle that the business is managed on?
Where do senior leaders go to get realtime insights on the state of the business?
What insights have been used to improve the buyer or seller experience?
What essential data is not in this central location/dashboard?
How do functional leaders report to their own part of the business? Speadsheets?
The Enablement
How is your enablement team structured?
What would sellers say about your enablement offering?
How is enablement content split today in percentage between your product, your sales process and your customers/personas?
Which part of the sales process do sellers struggle with the most?
How are front line managers at coaching their teams?
Who owns buyer enablement in the company?
What buyer enablement tools do you currently have (diagnostics, calculators, benchmarks)?
Which personas do you provide buyer enablement tools for?
How often do you ask customers what tools and information they require?
The RevOps Team
What does the current Revenue Operations team look like?
What was their route into the business - internal hire or external?
How would the other Go-To-Market teams describe the RevOps team?
How often do the RevOps team meet with real customers (not internal ‘customers’)?
What do the best RevOps team members do to support the company’s strategic goals?
Where are the biggest gaps in the current RevOps team?
How does the company measure the impact of the RevOps team?
The Two Closing Questions
If I could build/fix one thing in the first 90 days - what would that be?
I’m excited by the opportunity; given what we’ve discussed, will you be happy to recommend me for the position?
What else?
Depending on the size of the company you are interviewing for you may want to dive deeper into":
Finance: metrics, budget planning, compensation models
Deal desk: pricing, bundling, discounts, approval thresholds
HR: hiring processes, time to fill, onboarding, exit interview stats
Product: roadmaps, feedback loops, customer interviews
Partners: Marketplaces, resellers, affiliates, customer referrals
The key to being a good interviewee is to lead the discussion, or at least be prepared to as soon as the opportunity arises.
Having a good set of prepared questions means you will be ready the moment someone asks “Anything you want to ask me?”
Good luck!
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Whenever you are ready, there are three ways that I can help you accelerate your revenue.
Buyer Enablement Assessment - Answer nine questions in five minutes and receive your free personalised report to help you SDRs and AEs generate pipeline.
Revenue 360 Assessments - inspire and lead your revenue teams with revenue specific 360 reports designed for marketing, sales and customer success teams.
Buyer Enablement Platform - We’ll design, build and manage your buyer enablement platform on your behalf - generating quality pipeline in under 90 days.