The RevOps metric dictionary, by Malek Damiri

Every company has a metric dictionary, and in most of them it lives in people's heads, in the SQL behind the dashboards, and in the slide where a number was last explained. This deck covers how to write it down: the eight fields each entry needs, example entries for bookings, recognized revenue, and active customer, source-of-truth rules, and three habits that keep it current. Condensed from the essay by Malek Damiri at https://malekdamiri.com/writing/revops-metric-dictionary/

Transcript

1. An essay in slides The RevOps metric dictionary Definitions, owners, and source-of-truth rules Malek Damiri · Head of Revenue Operations malekdamiri.com
2. The problem Every company has a metric dictionary In most of them it lives in three places. In people’s heads In the SQL behind the dashboards In the slide where a number was last explained Writing it down means the next argument about a number can be settled by reading instead of by meeting. The RevOps metric dictionary malekdamiri.com 2
3. What it is One entry per metric, in plain language Readable by someone in finance, sales, or data without translation. It is not A data catalog, which lists tables and columns A dashboard inventory The RevOps metric dictionary It sits above both and answers What does this metric mean? Who decides? Where does the number come from? malekdamiri.com 3
4. If a metric is not in the dictionary, it is not a metric yet. It is a query someone ran. The RevOps metric dictionary malekdamiri.com 4
5. The fields, 1 to 4 The RevOps metric dictionary Eight fields cover almost everything 1 Name One canonical name, plus the aliases people actually use so the entry can be found. 2 Definition One or two sentences on what it measures and what it excludes. 3 Formula in words Not SQL. A sentence a non-technical reader can check against the SQL. 4 Owner A person, the one who decides what the metric means and signs off on changes. malekdamiri.com 5
6. The fields, 5 to 8 The RevOps metric dictionary Source, grain, refresh, and gaps 5 Source of truth Which system, and which table or report inside it, wins when sources disagree. 6 Grain What one row represents: per customer per month, per deal, per invoice line. 7 Refresh How often the number updates and how to tell when it last did. 8 Known gaps What the number does not capture, which cases are handled by hand, and where it is known to drift. malekdamiri.com 6
7. A metric with its gaps listed is one people trust more, not less. Known gaps is the most useful field and the least often written. People can see that someone has looked. The RevOps metric dictionary malekdamiri.com 7
8. Example entry Bookings Definition Formula Owner Source of truth Grain Refresh Known gaps The RevOps metric dictionary Contract value of opportunities closed-won in the period. Sum of the amount on closed-won opportunities by close date, net of discounts. Sales operations lead. The CRM opportunity object. One row per opportunity. Nightly. Amendments after close are not reflected unless the opportunity is reopened. malekdamiri.com 8
9. Example entry Recognized revenue Definition Formula Owner Source of truth Grain Refresh Known gaps The RevOps metric dictionary Revenue earned in the period under the company’s recognition policy. As published by finance at close. The controller. The general ledger, fed by billing. One row per customer per month. Monthly, after close. Not available before close, and any pre-close estimate is labeled as an estimate. malekdamiri.com 9
10. Example entry Active customer Definition Formula Owner Source of truth Grain Refresh Known gaps A customer with at least one paid invoice in the trailing window. Count of distinct billing customer IDs with a paid invoice in the trailing window. RevOps. Billing, joined to the account mapping table. One row per customer per day. Daily. Customers on unpaid pilots are excluded, and parent and child accounts count once. These are generic on purpose. Yours will differ in every detail. The shape is the point. The RevOps metric dictionary malekdamiri.com 10
11. Source-of-truth rules A metric has exactly one source of truth Other systems can hold copies, and the dictionary should say they are copies. The rule I use: the system where a fact is created owns it. Deals Invoices The warehouse Created in the CRM, so the CRM owns bookings. Created in billing, so billing owns billings and revenue. Creates nothing. It joins. It is the source of truth only for derived metrics, the ones that need both systems to exist. Even for a derived metric, the entry names which upstream system wins when the two disagree, so a conflict has an answer before it happens. The RevOps metric dictionary malekdamiri.com 11
12. Keeping it alive A dictionary dies the day it stops matching the dashboards Link every tile Every dashboard tile links to its dictionary entry, and a tile without an entry does not ship. Note every change Every change to a definition goes through the owner and leaves a note in the entry saying what changed and from which period. Confirm each quarter Once a quarter, each owner confirms their entries are still right or fixes them. An entry nobody will own gets deleted. If nobody owns it, nobody should be reporting it. The RevOps metric dictionary malekdamiri.com 12
13. Where it lives The RevOps metric dictionary Keep it somewhere with history Plain text in a repository Works well. A wiki Works if someone tends it. A spreadsheet Works until there are two copies of it. malekdamiri.com 13
14. The dictionary will not end disagreements. It changes what they are about. Instead of arguing over whose number is right, people argue over whether the definition is right, and that is an argument you can actually finish. The RevOps metric dictionary malekdamiri.com 14
15. The RevOps metric dictionary: definitions, owners, and source-of-truth rules Read the full essay malekdamiri.com/writing/revops-metric-dictionary/ Malek Damiri Head of Revenue Operations The RevOps metric dictionary More writing Get in touch malekdamiri.com/writing/ linkedin.com/in/malekdamiri/ malekdamiri.com 15