The RevOps & ABM Alignment

What are person-based ads and how can companies use them in ABM campaigns? Why is a solid marketing foundation crucial for service-based companies?  Why should C-level executives be involved in building ABM strategy early on? Romeo Mann sits down with Dmitri Lisitski, CEO & Co-founder at Influ2 (ABM software), to answer these and more questions.HIGHLIGHTS:00:00 Intro and Reflections on the Market Condition08:30 Person-Based Ads in ABM16:19 Advanced Marketing Tactics36:21 C-level Executives in ABM StrategyConnect with Dmitri LisitskiLinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo Mann:LinkedIn | Webpage

What are the key steps in creating a go-to-market roadmap? How to enter a new market? Which parts of the GTM strategy can you outsource to agencies?Romeo sits down with Derek Osgood, Founder & CEO at Ignition, to answer these and more questions:HIGHLIGHTS:00:00 Intro and Background01:23  GTM Roadmapping 09:27  Customer Feedback and Insights20:38 Entering a New Market31:47 Message Customization for Different Regions34:40 GTM Execution Plan41:23 Internal Competencies vs Outsourcing44:45 GTM Maintenance and Optimization48:23 Post Launch Phase50:55 Neglected GTM AreasConnect with Derek OsgoodLinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo Mann:LinkedIn | Webpage

How should companies prioritize go-to-market investments? What factors influence choosing a go-to-market for different customer profiles? When should benchmarking be used to assess go-to-market performance?Romeo sits down with Thomas Neergaard Hansen, President at Amplitued, to answer these and more questions.HIGHLIGHTS:00:00 Introduction and Background03:11 The Uncertainty in the B2B SaaS Market05:32 Optimizing GTM efficiency08:31 Consolidating the GTM Tech Stack12:03 The Benefits of Product-Led Growth15:03 Surviving as a Smaller B2B Company23:00 The Art and Science of Sales and Marketing26:19 Advanced Segmentation and Targeting29:42 Benchmarking GTM metrics33:23 Critical Role of GTM Strategy42:25 Adapting to Technological Changes and AI Connect with Thomas Hansen:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo Mann:LinkedIn | Webpage

How to align inbound and outbound strategies? What are the challenges with outbound sales? How to improve the B2B buying process? Romeo Mann sits down with Catie Ivey, CRO at Walnut, to answer these and more questions.HIGHLIGHTS:00:00 Introduction and Background03:15 Developing Outbound Motion06:00 The Difference Between CRO and Sales Leader roles08:00 Aligning Inbound and Outbound Strategies11:44 When to invest in ABM platform15:29 Essential skills for marketers today21:09 Challenges with Outbound Sales27:12 What should CRO prioritize in a Series B Company?35:11 Improving the B2B buying process37:27 Recommended Resources Connect with Catie Ivey:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo Mann:LinkedIn | Webpage

How does Lean methodology factor into go-to-market strategies? What are the key considerations before adopting an ABM strategy? How does RevOps' role shift before and after an IPO?Romeo sits down with Pablo Dominguez, Advisory Leader at Insight Partners, to answer these and more questions.00:00 Introduction and background06:54 Applying Lean Methodology in GTM9:33 How Insight Partners Work with Companies15:45 Finding GTM Fit25:19 The Ultimate Metric in ABM28:14 Experimentation and Iteration in ABM29:33 RevOps Pre-IPO vs Post-IPO37:45 Leveraging AI in Marketing and RevOpsConnect with Pablo Dominguez:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage

What drove the shift from SalesOps to RevOps? What are the key functions in RevOps and how do they evolve with company growth? When should a company start RevOps and what are the initial steps?Romeo Mann sits down with Carol Chen, VP of Revenue Operations, to answer these and more questions.HIGHLIGHTS:00:00 Introduction and background04:22 How SalesOps shifted to RevOps07:17 When to implement RevOps10:22 Focus areas in RevOps16:49 RevOps blueprint19:33 Internal RevOps vs Agency23:01 Pre-IPO and Post-IPO dynamics25:52 Shift from growth at any cost to retention29:59 Tools consolidation and ROI33:58 Investing in RevOps35:28 How ABM aligns with RevOps42:32 RevOps Inspirations and resourcesConnect with Carol Chen:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo Mann:LinkedIn | Webpage

What are the marketing fundamentals many B2B marketers overlook or neglect? What does alignment between sales and marketing look like in practice? What the CMO should focus on during the first 90 days?Romeo sits down with Jeff Perkins, CMO at Greenlight Guru, to answer these and more questions.HIGHLIGHTS:00:00 Introduction and background03:09 The basics of marketing and ABM10:20 Transition to B2B marketing15:11 Key focus areas for marketers in 202421:33 Understanding the customer journey|25:37 Creating a 90-day plan as a CMO33:27 What the CEO expects from the CMO37:11 Sales and marketing alignment in practice41:23 Habits for marketers in 202447:55 Jeff's book recommendation Connect with Jeff Perkins:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage

In this episode Romeo sits down with Shantanu Shekhar, Senior Director of GTM operations at Gong.io, to explore creative go-to-market strategies, from exclusive events to community building.Additionally, our guest sheds light on Gong's AI strategy, highlighting the importance of understanding data volume, relevance, and compliance. Drawing from Gong's experience, he illustrates how conversational intelligence helps revolutionize sales processes and Account-based marketing.During the conversation, Shantanu also shares practical tips for engaging with target personas in a crowded market, especially in enterprise deals.HIGHLIGHTS:00:00 Shantanu's journey from engineering studies to RevOps08:24 The role of conversational intelligence in changing GTM11:19 Understanding Gong's conversational intelligence tool15:10 Using accounts' insights in ABM19:08 Targeted events for building thought leadership30:37 Challenges in enterprise deals and how to overcome them35:09 Creating content and playbooks for enterprise deals38:07 RevOps resources: Shantanu's recommendationsConnect with Shantanu:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage

This time, Romeo together with Anastasiia Binss (now RevOps Head at Semble) discusses the 5 most common pitfalls of ABM in organizations and how to fix them. What you'll learn from this episode:00:00 Journey from Anthropology to ABM and RevOps5:28 What is Account-based marketing7:28 Changing to ABM is scary17:41 Common misconceptions about ABM21:21 Pitafll #1: We don't understand what ABM is25:75 Pitafll #2: We set ourselves the wrong KPIs31:26 Pitafll #3: We set it and forget it36:25 Pitafll #4: Our sales team is not part of the process41:33 How to get sales buy-in for ABM44:50 Pitafll #5: We underestimate the size of the project49:27 Treat ABM as a strategy, not a project (This episode comes from our past summer webinar with Anastasiia Binns)Connect with Anastasiia:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage

Today, Romeo is joined by Jeppe Wienziers Stenbæk - Head of Business Architecture & Technology at Pleo. They offer smart company cards that enable employees to buy the things they need for work, all while keeping the company's finance team in control of spending. From this episode, you will learn the difference between tactical and strategic RevOps, the "domain model" for operations teams, how RevOps in Pleo helps in optimizing GTM, the role of AI in RevOps, and more.HIGHLIGHTS:00:00 Jeppe's journey into RevOps06:54 Overview of Plio and evolution of the RevOps team18:05 Organizing RevOps teams23:09 RevOps - Marketing cooperation29:56 Attribution and reporting35:02 Data integration and usage37:44 Data consolidation39:22 Roles and competencies in RevOps41:25 The pricing team as a part of RevOps44:48 RevOps strategic projects47:02 Adapting to changing market conditions51:26 Changing competency metrics in hiring52:48 The Role of AI in RevOpsConnect with Jeppe:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage 

In this episode, Romeo sits down with Jesse Ouellette, founder of LeadMagic, discussing insights on email deliverability, technology setup, and pitfalls of conventional outreach.Together with Romeo, they explore challenges in data and tools for modern outbound strategies and ABM. They also address GDPR concerns with tools like ZoomInfo and Apollo, and the usefulness of 3-rd party data.Tune into the full episode for insights into optimizing email outreach with a focus on data and tooling.Connect with Jesse:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage 

Kubilay, VP of Revenue at Insider, guides listeners through the global impact of overseeing sales, marketing, and customer success for a company with over 1000 employees and 26 offices. Serving clients like Singapore Airlines, Estelada, Samsung, Adidas, and Nike, Insider's technology, illustrated through the New Balance example, enhances conversion rates and customer value.Kubilay reminisces about the "Crocodile Approach" strategy, focusing on unexplored markets, and the hard work behind building a European presence. He describes Insider.'s unique approach to outbound based on personalized gap analysis and use cases tailored to every client.Discussing the influence of COVID-19 on e-commerce, Kubilay emphasizes the importance of over-serving customers, retention strategies, and the evolving market dynamics. He explores the trend of B2B consolidation and unveils Insider's strategy to generate one in four new businesses from existing clients.In the final segment, Kubilay recommends game-changing books: "The Hard Thing About Hard Things" by Ben Horowitz and "Principles" by Ray Dalio. Explore more insights for revenue leaders, entrepreneurs, and business strategists on the evolution of revenue operations and the impact of personalization in the full episode.Connect with Kubilay:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage 

In this episode, Romeo is joined by Nicholas Lansberry - GTM Operations Manager at Expedient. They are a data center and cloud services provider for digital transformation. Nick together with Romeo discusses the role of AI as a teammate. Nick explains a few use cases, eg. using AI to assist salespeople in crafting tailored messages for target accounts, using CRM data and industry insights.They also envision the future of AI in roles like revenue architects, focusing on customizing and refining AI blueprints to align with specific business needs. The discussion also covers Ai importance in reporting, especially in tools like HubSpot. Watch the full episode to learn more about using AI in your go-to-market operations.Connect with Nick:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage 

In this episode, Romeo is joined by Leopold van Oosten, the CEO and Founder of Amsterdam Standard - a Software House providing team augmentation for product companies.Leo describes Amsterdam Standard's journey from referral-based business to scaling marketing and sales motions in the red ocean of the IT market.He agrees with Romeo, that to stand out as a Software House, you must have a clear ideal customer profile, a unique point of view, and an expertise-based value proposition for the chosen industries you're targeting.As an example, Leo tells how his LinkedIn strategy became one of the main sources of leads for the company.Connect with Leo:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage 

In this episode, Romeo is joined by Mark Kosoglow, the CRO of Catalyst Software  - a Customer Success Platform that helps CS managers proactively take the right actions to prevent churn.During the conversation with Romeo, Mark challenges the traditional focus on top-of-funnel acquisition and advocates for prioritizing post-sales efforts. He explains the crucial role of creating a recurring impact for customers after the initial sale for SaaS growth.He introduces the concept of "moments of impact" as critical experiences within the customer journey that contribute to the overall value creation. In a nutshell, they're a series of impactful moments for customers.Additionally, Romeo's guest explains the operational rhythm and philosophy necessary for effective post-sales management. He details how Catalyst.io deploys specific solutions aligned with customers' business initiatives, constantly delivering value through a structured approach.For dessert, Mark challenges the reliance on lagging metrics like churn and advocates for measuring success through metrics tied to specific business initiatives.Tune into the full episode to learn more ways to create recurring impact for customers and increase business growth.Connect with Mark:LinkedIn Connect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage 

Romeo and Todd Thomas, CRO of Aiden Automotive Technologies, touch upon the essential nature of subject matter expertise in B2B and targeted ABM.No matter how advanced technology becomes, knowing the nuances of a specific industry or field remains critical.True ABM requires a deep understanding of the target audience, precise messaging, and tailored approaches.All that should come from identifying the unique needs and challenges of different stakeholders in target accounts.Businesses should also not underestimate the role of data in refining strategies. Understanding what works and what doesn't is crucial in iterating for better outcomes.Tune into this episode to delve deep into the blend of technology, data science, and its impact across various industries. If you've ever wondered about the true value of subject matter expertise in marketing, this episode is a must-listen!Connect with Todd:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage 

In this episode, Romeo delves deep into the world of Revenue Operations (RevOps) alongside Dan Tyre, a seasoned veteran from HubSpot, with a robust entrepreneurial background spanning over 42 years.From the very beginning, Dan takes listeners on a journey through his impressive career. He recounts his pivotal roles in five startups - with the first one starting at a valuation of two million dollars and eventually soaring to a staggering 1.4 billion dollars. His subsequent ventures led him from Phoenix to Microsoft, eventually crossing paths with Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, the co-founders of HubSpot. Now, 16 years into his tenure at HubSpot, Dan finds himself deeply entrenched in the marketing world, gaining invaluable insights into the growing importance of RevOps.During their conversation, both Romeo and Dan touch upon the transformational shift in the perception of RevOps. From being a role relegated to "fire extinguishing", RevOps is now envisioned as the Spider-Man of the corporate world, connecting different strands to ensure seamless operational synergy. Dan brilliantly captures its essence, quoting the HubSpot RevOps overview: "RevOps is a strategic integration of sales, marketing, and service to provide a better end-to-end view of administration and management, thereby enhancing day-to-day processes across these departments."But why has RevOps become so essential in recent times? Dan believes that it's the rapid scaling of companies that pushes them towards a metaphorical "bottleneck". When growth becomes too quick to handle, companies run the risk of diluting their customer experience. Herein lies the true power of RevOps - its ability to consolidate data and offer insights that propel companies toward sustainable and intentional growth.Romeo also introduces listeners to the intricacies of setting up an effective RevOps framework within tools like HubSpot. From understanding the lifecycle stages to defining lead statuses, Romeo emphasizes the need for clarity and visibility in data management. This episode dives deep into practical steps, including the usage of lucid charts and the maturity model, which helps businesses understand their stage in the RevOps journey - be it crawling, walking, or running.Before wrapping up, Dan shares a potent takeaway. He underscores the immense competitive advantage businesses can gain by embracing RevOps. With the right data, understanding, and efficiency, businesses can not only delight customers but also solidify their position in the market.Tune into the full episode to learn how RevOps can revolutionize your growth strategy and why it's quickly becoming an indispensable facet of modern businesses.Connect with Dan:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage 

In this episode Romeo is joined by Mallory Lee, VP of Operations at Nylas. Their platform gives developers universal access to email, calendar, and contacts providers through a single integration.Mallory graduated in 2009, when the economy was in a dreadful shape. She was determined to stay in Indianapolis, and during that time one of the only growing companies in her region was ExactTarget (acquired by Salesforce in 2020), where she began her career as a Marketing Business Analyst and stayed for 4 years, climbing up to the title of Marketing Budget & Operations Manager.During her time in ExactTarget she learned Salesforce and had the chance to work on marketing automation projects right at the time when marketing automation started to gain ground.After ExactTarget, Mallory held a variety of roles at Salesforce, Formstack, Bluebridge and Cheetah Digital until she found Terminus where she stayed for 3 years, climbed the ranks, and ultimately found her true calling in the customers journey specialty.Mallory attributes the recent popularity of RevOps to the major advancements that we’ve seen in RevOps tech and the defining of the category. Her passion in RevOps is all about connecting the dots end to end, driving efficient growth, creating enterprise value and approaching growth in the right way.When it comes to building a working GTM motion, Mallory mentions that the key need for any strategy is the need for clear and aligned communication between stakeholders. If your operations team is not on the same page, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle. One of the caveats that Mallory has noticed is that in some environments the ones who hold the Salesforce key are the ones who dictate the rules, which is not a healthy environment.Both Romeo and Mallory agree that early stage startups often try to implement a functional RevOps motion and fail due to rushing the process, often influenced by factors such as impatient investors, pressure from the market and incompetent leadership. This seems sustainable while investor money is coming in, but once that well dries up - the true damage of a misaligned GTM team shows.Tune into the full episode to learn how to create a winning revenue strategy!HIGHLIGHTS: 01:05 Mallory’s Career Beginnings05:42 Finding Her Calling in Improving The Customer’s Journey07:00 Why RevOps Became Popular10:52 Quick History Lesson in RevOps13:05 B2C vs B2B Revenue Strategies17:45 Seeing The Big Picture in Revenue19:17 Why RevOps & ABM Work Well Together23:32 Early Stage Startups and Bad RevOps Models27:52 Forrester and RevOps in 202333:10 How To Become a Winning RevOps Specialist37:32 Shiny Object SyndromeConnect with Mallory:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage

In this episode, Romeo is joined by Anastasiia Binns, Head of RevOps at N.Rich - an ABM and buyer intent platform. The episode focuses on how she has implemented Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and how Revenue Operations (RevOps) plays a crucial role in enabling ABM within their organization.The guest  takes a no-nonsense approach to RevOps and proudly identifies as a HubSpot enthusiast. Drawing from experience building the RevOps function from scratch in four different companies, she shares insights into the world of revenue operations. The guest's expertise lies in establishing RevOps from the ground up, often stepping into organizations with minimal operational support. Anastasiia recounts her journey at N.Rich, highlighting the introduction of ABM as a new concept. While emphasizing and adapting to GDPR compliance in her approach, she notes the differences between the US and EU players in the space such as terminals and demand base. Anastasiia introduces herself as a team of one at N.Rich, responsible for RevOps. Her expertise lies in building RevOps functions from scratch, and she shares her journey of joining the company with the goal of setting up the RevOps function and implementing ABM.Anastasiia explains that the platform combines intent data and ABM advertising. The company targets accounts, not individual prospects, and uses advertising to engage these accounts. N.Rich's platform optimizes campaigns, focusing on clicks, conversions, and significant engagements rather than mere impressions. The platform also helps segment the audience based on intent data, making content more relevant.The guest clarifies that the company captures IP addresses and tracks cookies to understand which companies are engaging with content. They focus on company-level intent data, which is GDPR compliant. She distinguishes this approach from some US-based companies that use person-level intent data, which can raise GDPR compliance issues.At N.Rich, the company defined their ICP and categorized accounts into three tiers. The decision-making process for tiering involved aligning sales and marketing goals and ensuring consistency in targeting. RevOps played a facilitating role in these decisions.Anastasiia mentions that the company leverages HubSpot's integration to monitor account activity and engagement. The data captured in HubSpot helps the SDR team understand when accounts demonstrate first-party intent. The team uses campaign analytics for additional insights. They also modified their attribution mechanism to accommodate the changes made during the ABM implementation.HIGHLIGHTS:00:30 N.Rich's Approach to Implementing ABM10:43 Creating A-Tier Lists for Ad Campaigns13:20 The Role of RevOps in ABM17:42 Overlooking Early Stage ABM Priorities24:53 Becoming Relevant to Targeted ABM Companies28:05 Top 3 Ideas for a RevOps Roadmap31:04 Resources for RevOps and ABM LearningConnect with Anastasiia:LinkedIn | WebpageConnect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage

In this Episode, Romeo is joined by Evan Dunn, Director of Growth Marketing at Syncari.Evan's career spans linguistics, marketing, analytics, and AI. He began in linguistics, transitioned to marketing and social listening consulting, and later entered analytics consulting for TV shows. Evan excelled in digital and growth marketing, having worked with unicorns and collaborating with CMOs and IT leaders across his career. Evan embraced Account-Based Marketing (ABM) at Syncari, where he is the Director of Growth Marketing, emphasizing the impact of data alignment. Evan's versatile experience makes him a valuable asset in data-driven marketing and technology, demonstrating adaptability and various insights from across diverse industries.In B2B service and software, the reliance on sales conversations is crucial, even as the SaaS market evolves. Evan points out that research from PeerSignal suggests that even PLG companies are reintroducing sales teams to maintain customer stickiness and create effective feedback loops. The guest shares two main challenges which emerge in the B2B domain: the need to track conversations and the intricate relationship between companies and individuals within them.Historically, Salesforce initially structured its data model like accounting software, leading to a mismatch in data needed for Account-Based Marketing (ABM). This misalignment created a necessity of lead-to-account matching to cater to ABM's focus on turning leads into accounts. However, smaller companies without strict procurement processes face challenges when shifting towards company targeting.In contrast, HubSpot adopted a different data architecture, reflecting their pioneering vision of cloud CRM. For growing companies, data alignment might not be a priority, but it becomes crucial as businesses scale and seek greater productivity. Data sets and IT play pivotal roles in B2B organizations, with early-stage startups needing systems that support experimentation and rapid adaptation. Accurate data alignment across systems, called operational data, is essential for effective campaigns, while analytical data is used for strategic dashboards and strategic decisions made by top level management.Creating systems that foster alignment across RevOps and ABM functions is crucial. Data and IT solutions can help these teams work towards a common goal of revenue generation. Syncari, a potential solution, emphasizes the importance of business-wide alignment facilitated by efficient systems and instrumentation. As businesses shift their focus away from high-tech sectors, data-driven insights become essential for targeting new industries. Data in the hands of front-line teams is critical for feedback loops and informed strategies, as relying solely on communication tools like Slack can result in inadequate sample sizes for strategic decision-making. HIGHLIGHTS:01:04 Introducing today's guest 02:40 Connecting the customers09:28 Relevant data structuring15:20 RevOps and ABM alignment21:25 Educating SDR's29:30 Superstar culture vs OKR culture37:15 The importance of data accuracy 43:40 Learning resources on ABM and dataConnect with Evan:LinkedIn | Webpage Connect with Romeo:LinkedIn | Webpage