RevOps Rockstars

This week's guest on RevOps Rockstars is a strategic sales & operations leader who was recognized as one of Utah’s 2020 Business Executive 40-under-40. He helped Qualtrics go from a $1B unicorn to an $8B SAP acquisition and then through an IPO at a $20B+ valuation. Welcome to the show Chief Operating Officer, GTM Operations at Workato, Cody Guymon! David, Jarin, and Cody sit down this week to discuss the value a statistician brings to a ops team, why you should start preparing for board meetings as soon as the quarter ends, and the value of doing ride-alongs with sales reps. 
 Takeaways:

When assigning territories you need to keep fairness and equity in mind. You don’t want one rep to have 80 customers and another rep to have one. By using data to assess spending and industries, you can divide up accounts more fairly. 

While Cody measures general success through the company number, he also ties each functional unit to the function they support. A Field Ops Director for EMEA is tied to EMEA results, a CS op is tied to the overall goals of the CS team. 

To drive successful results, you need to be methodical. Block out time in your calendar for strategizing. Talking with frustrated sales reps will help boost their morale, give you a better understanding of issues, and build stronger relationships. 

When balancing outsourced and in housed work, Cody prioritizes outcomes and speed. For features that have high impacts, are needed quickly, and take a while to build, he will outsource. For longer term, less urgent projects, those are handled in house. 

The best thing you can do in a new RevOps position is to “nail it and scale it”. Whatever function you start in, learn the ins and outs of the role, become world class at it, and then scale yourself. 

When preparing for board meetings, earlier is better. If you start preparing right after the quarter ends, all of your data and initiatives are fresh in your memory. Starting early gives you extra time, giving you weeks before a meeting to review a polished deck.

A best practice for RevOps leaders is to stay close to your sales and revenue teams and really understand how they work. Riding shotgun with sales people and attending marketing events will give you a clear picture of how those teams operate. 

Quote of the Show:

“I find a lot of the innovation just comes from listening to sales.” - Cody Guymon

Shoutouts:

BJ Larsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanjlarsen/ 

Yezi Peng: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yezi-peng-5223652b/ 

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/codyguymon/ 

Website: https://www.workato.com/ 

Email: cody@workato.com 

Ways to Tune In:

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/08a4b302-d25e-4b7b-a11a-60e9b51df083/revops-rockstars 

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revops-rockstars/id1654084702 
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6ynGAP60cktaDs1Cb6Chxh 
YouTube - https://youtu.be/Ej0FSaMWEis

Show Notes

This week's guest on RevOps Rockstars is a strategic sales & operations leader who was recognized as one of Utah’s 2020 Business Executive 40-under-40. He helped Qualtrics go from a $1B unicorn to an $8B SAP acquisition and then through an IPO at a $20B+ valuation. Welcome to the show Chief Operating Officer, GTM Operations at Workato, Cody Guymon! David, Jarin, and Cody sit down this week to discuss the value a statistician brings to a ops team, why you should start preparing for board meetings as soon as the quarter ends, and the value of doing ride-alongs with sales reps. 

 Takeaways:

  • When assigning territories you need to keep fairness and equity in mind. You don’t want one rep to have 80 customers and another rep to have one. By using data to assess spending and industries, you can divide up accounts more fairly. 

  • While Cody measures general success through the company number, he also ties each functional unit to the function they support. A Field Ops Director for EMEA is tied to EMEA results, a CS op is tied to the overall goals of the CS team. 

  • To drive successful results, you need to be methodical. Block out time in your calendar for strategizing. Talking with frustrated sales reps will help boost their morale, give you a better understanding of issues, and build stronger relationships. 

  • When balancing outsourced and in housed work, Cody prioritizes outcomes and speed. For features that have high impacts, are needed quickly, and take a while to build, he will outsource. For longer term, less urgent projects, those are handled in house. 

  • The best thing you can do in a new RevOps position is to “nail it and scale it”. Whatever function you start in, learn the ins and outs of the role, become world class at it, and then scale yourself. 

  • When preparing for board meetings, earlier is better. If you start preparing right after the quarter ends, all of your data and initiatives are fresh in your memory. Starting early gives you extra time, giving you weeks before a meeting to review a polished deck.

  • A best practice for RevOps leaders is to stay close to your sales and revenue teams and really understand how they work. Riding shotgun with sales people and attending marketing events will give you a clear picture of how those teams operate. 

Quote of the Show:

  • “I find a lot of the innovation just comes from listening to sales.” - Cody Guymon

Shoutouts:

Links:

Ways to Tune In:

What is RevOps Rockstars?

Welcome to Opfocus’s podcast RevOps Rockstars. Join hosts David Carnes and Jarin Chu as they interview RevOps professionals and explore the challenges they face today. Throughout the show, we dive into how guests got started with their careers, their best tips and tricks, and what excites them about the future of the industry.