Why marketers should ❤️ revops (Exit Five Newsletter #138)

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🤑 7 ways to offset costs on your in-person events

The most stressful part of in-person events for me, hands down, has always been the budget.

Things are always more expensive than the first quote (especially if your CEO just has to add in that extra whatever that costs $10k), and then you’re struggling to figure out how you’re going to pull it all off.

It’s an art form – and one our friends at Zuddl (who we use for all of our events at Exit Five), are masters of. They’ve put together a helpful guide on event budgeting that includes:

• 7 tips on how to alleviate and offset costs for your in-person events
• Key costs you might not be including in your budget
• What % of your budget you should allocate for unexpected costs

The key to building an event program that lasts isn’t just making sure you drive revenue long after the event ends,  but also knowing where you can save up front.

Grab a copy of the guide here – especially if you have an in-person event this year.

👯‍♀️ 4 Reasons Marketers Need To Be Best Friends With RevOps

Over the last decade, Sean Lane has built B2B go-to-market operations from the ground up.

He’s seen it all. The biggest mistakes, the early decisions that have major ripple effects, and the universal milestones you have to hit to be successful.

He even wrote The Revenue Operations Manual (yes, he’s that obsessed with RevOps).

What’s his #1 takeaway from a decade in the trenches? Marketers who partner deeply with Ops come out on top.

Here’s his four key reasons why all B2B marketers should make working with RevOps a priority ASAP:

Reason #1: They Help Make Your Funnel Crystal Clear

It’s dangerous to assume that Sales and Customer Success have the same definition for a lead, MQL, or opportunity that you do – if you've ever sat in a pipeline review that turned into an endless debate about whose numbers are right, you know this all to well.

But Ops can be the referee here, and get everyone on the same page.

They can bring Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success into a room, lock the door, and keep everyone there until the entire funnel is mapped out and clearly defined.

Action item: Carve out 30 minutes with your RevOps partner and define each funnel milestone. You’ll never have to explain why your MQLs are the real MQLs again.

Reason #2: They Never Stop Planning

So many teams treat “annual planning” like a one-and-done exercise then panic when changes blow up the forecast.

The best Ops pros embed continuous planning into the org’s DNA. They revisit the data monthly (or even weekly) and can quickly help reallocate budget using real-time data.

Action item: Sync monthly (not just in December) on pipeline health, conversion rates, and which campaigns to kill or double down on.

Reason #3: They Can Fix Your Bottom-of-Funnel Leaks

You’re so busy driving MQL volume that you miss the obvious: sometimes you can get more revenue just by moving your win rate from 15% to 20%.

RevOps are pros at figuring out exactly what increases close rates (ex: getting a VP-level stakeholder involved) so you can spend time where you’ll have the biggest impact.

Action item: Ask Ops to analyze all won/lost deals from the last 90 days and identify the top 2–3 must-have deal factors. Then, tailor your marketing content or enablement materials to guarantee those show up in the process.

Reason #4: They Can Help You Tap Into AI

Everyone’s hyped about AI, but unless you’re spending tons of time figuring out exactly how to use it, you’re probably missing out on tons of value.

From advanced lead scoring to analyzing call transcripts in seconds, RevOps can spot where AI makes sense (hint: saving your sales reps from manual data entry is huge).

Action item: Pick one AI use case, like summarizing all your prospect calls and automatically logging notes in your CRM. Then work with Ops to get it up and running ASAP.

P.S. Catch the full interview with Sean here.

Also - if that last point about tapping into AI got you interested, check out our new

📺 UPCOMING EVENTS

B2B LinkedIn Ads Playbook: What Works (and What Doesn’t) in 2025

B2B marketing is getting harder to measure. Less click and cookie tracking means traditional attribution models are breaking down.

So how are the best teams adapting?

Join us this afternoon (February 11, 2025) for an Exit Five Live session with Pranav Piyush (Co-Founder & CEO, Paramark) to learn:

• The gaps in the old way of doing attribution
• What the best B2B marketing teams are doing now for attribution
• The key questions CMOs face from boards and execs about measurement
• Three things you can do this quarter to improve your measurement

It’s like a live podcast – but with chat, Q&A, and real talk. Open to all, even if you're not an Exit Five member.

Join Us Live!

🏢 OPEN ROLES

Who's hiring right now?

🔥 HOT JOB OF THE WEEK: Great Question is hiring a Senior Demand Generation Specialist. The role is fully remote and open to people living in one of their hubs; Denver CO, Boulder CO, or the San Francisco Bay Area, CA. Great Question tripled revenue last year, and is looking to do it again in 2025. You'll be their first Demand Gen specialist, owning paid advertising, SEO, and all things demand generation. It's a great opportunity to get in early.

Interested? Apply here.

Other open roles on the Exit Five job board this week:

• CardFlight is hiring a Head of Growth Marketing
• Ceros is hiring a Senior Product Marketing Manager
• Neuron7 is hiring a Content Marketing Director. Fully remote, US Only.
• Databox is hiring a Lifecycle Marketing Manager
• Mutiny is hiring a Content Lead
• Drivepoint is hiring a Content Marketing Manager
• Global Payments is hiring a Principal Content Strategist, SMB Professional Services
• Global Payments is hiring a Principal Content Strategist, Higher Education
• Opus Training is hiring a B2B Growth Marketing Manager

See all open roles

Have an open role and want to make sure the best B2B marketing talent sees it?

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