Revenue operations is a cross-functional strategy that can increase sales and revenue and overall operational efficiency. At its core, revenue operations is both an emerging technology sector and a new way of organizing sales operations to drive company growth. Although there are many ways of structuring Revenue Operations, here are five common phases companies go through on the journey toward becoming truly optimized:

Step 1: Customer first

In this approach, revenue operations are oriented toward delivering value to customers instead of extracting value from them. It’s not a matter of making money at all costs; it’s about creating a sustainable business that can thrive while providing superior customer experiences and delivering value over time. That means building products that customers want and encouraging relationships based on trust, transparency, mutual benefit, and co-creation.

The best way to create something new is by starting small—and then iterating continually until it works for …