Trailhead Thoughts
“Growth and comfort do not coexist.”
- Ginni Rometty
Trail Map - Learn. Think. Act. ™
Build Your Revenue Operating System
📚Learn
A revenue operating system is more than just a sales funnel. It’s a combination of processes and tolls that helps you utilize the right resources in the right place - consistently. Here’s what it includes:
A deep understanding of how your customers make decisions.
Your business process for forecasting and delivering the work.
Your team’s process for finding and serving the right customers.
Core tools: decision-making, problem-solving templates, communication plans, and guiding principles.
Click the image to watch our YouTube Video
🤔Think
Ask yourself:
Do I know how my customer decides to buy?
Can my team explain our process without guessing?
Are we using the same tools or do we all do our own thing?
Where do deals fall apart in our current process?
💪 Act
Map out your customer’s buying journey.
Define the key stages in your sales and delivery process.
Introduce 3 essential tools:
Decision-Making 2×2’s
A Problem-Solving/Account Planning tool (think hexagon)
Effective Communication Tool - your call plan
Write 3 - 5 guiding principles to help your team make faster, better decisions.
Start small. Iterate. Build your system - not someone else’s.
Beyond the Trailhead
Seeing Rev Ops from All Sides
Revenue Operations isn’t just systems and processes - it’s the people, tools, and actions that drive growth: demand generation, new customer acquisition, retention, and expansion.
Too often, leaders approach sales challenges through just one lens: the customer, the organization, or the sales rep. Each has value - but none tells the full story alone.
Customer lens: How do they decide to buy? Where do they start? What roadblocks stand in their way? Writing down the answers might refine your focus - or reveal that you’ve been chasing the wrong audience.
Organization lens: Ask marketing, operations, sales, and customer success the same question. Watch how the story changes.
Rep lens: How do your salespeople work? Is their approach repeatable?
The real clarity comes when you stack these perspectives. That’s when you can pinpoint the right priorities, the right investments, and the right timing - whether you’re solving for demand generation, new acquisition, or retention.
Pick one current revenue challenge. Look at it through all three lenses, side by side. What shifts in your strategy when you do?.
Voices from the Trail
Meet Cyndi Laurin– founder of Guide to Greatness
In this episode of The Find My Catalyst podcast, Cyndi and Mike tackle the real story behind business growth.
It’s not just revenue. It’s not just scale. It’s about clarity, alignment, and the messy work of growing people, not just profits. This conversation explores the unique challenges businesses face at every stage.
If you’ve ever felt stuck between chasing the next opportunity and trying to lead your team with focus - this one’s for you.
Listen to this episode on Spotify
Hitting the Trail
We’re lacing up and heading out. Here’s where Catalyst will be in the coming weeks. Join us on the path and be part of the conversation.
That’s it for this week.
Keep putting one intentional step in front of the other - the view gets better and better as you climb.
The Find My Catalyst Team