Episode 12 : Why customer success is central to your revenue org

Welcome to another enlightening episode of the RevOps Co-op podcast! Today, we're thrilled to have Shantanu Shekhar join us. Currently leading Revenue Operations at the German HR tech company Personio, he's previously led business and GTM operations at industry giants like Gong and LinkedIn. Shantanu's deep expertise in customer success, coupled with his broad understanding of the RevOps landscape, offers invaluable perspectives for anyone looking to be in revenue-driven roles.

In this episode, we delve into the pivotal role of customer success within revenue organizations. We explore how redefining revenue beyond traditional sales, fostering alignment through shared goals, and emphasizing specialization within RevOps teams can propel your business forward.

Debate on Revenue Ops Focus

Shantanu highlights the diversity of opinions surrounding Revenue Operations, which reflects the evolving nature of the field. In a discussion with Camela, they questioned whether RevOps should focus solely on revenue-generating teams or have a broader reach. Shantanu argues that limiting RevOps to just sales overlooks the significant contributions of other departments, especially customer success. 

“The bigger your SaaS company becomes, the more dollars of revenue are actually sitting within the customer success organization.” - Shantanu Shekhar

Jump to the clip to hear Camela and Shantanu discuss the philosophy of RevOps. 

Expanding Revenue Definition Beyond Sales

Challenging the conventional view, Shantanu emphasizes that revenue isn't generated by sales alone. He points out that as companies grow, a substantial portion of revenue comes from customer success activities, such as renewals and upsells. 

Ignoring this segment means missing out on key revenue streams and opportunities for growth. At Personio, they’ve brought sales and customer success together as the Revenue and Success org, which is a more inclusive focus. 

“The bottom line is that your revenue is split across these three different teams working together. If they aren’t working together, you're not going to get the benefits and the value add for your customers.” - Shantanu Shekhar

Jump to the clip to learn why it’s a mistake to think of revenue as just net new revenue.

Creating Alignment Through Goals & Communication

Shantanu stresses the importance of creating formal structures where different departments intersect. By establishing forums or councils that include marketing, sales, customer success, operations, and finance, organizations can improve communication and collaboration. Drawing inspiration from the book Measure What Matters, he advocates for shared Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) to unite teams under shared goals.

“How do you bring all of these teams together in almost a council or a group where you're creating that shared intersection?” - Shantanu Shekhar

Jump to the clip to hear why shared OKRs bring GTM teams together.

Customer Success and RevOps

Shantanu shares his passion for customer success and its intrinsic link to RevOps. He believes that customer success is not just a department but a central component of the revenue engine. Camela and Shantanu discuss the shift from viewing the customer journey as a linear funnel to embracing the flywheel model, which represents continuous engagement and value delivery.

“There's this element of, well this is how we do it, this is how we've always done it. It's difficult to move away from that and see the actual combined power of working as one group.” - Shantanu Shekhar

Jump to the clip for the lowdown on how working for all 3 GTM orgs can give you a RevOps edge.

Specialization in RevOps Teams

The conversation touches on the necessity of specialization as organizations scale. Camela and Shantanu agree that while RevOps aims to unify operations, it's crucial to have specialists like CRM administrators or marketing automation experts within complex systems. This ensures efficiency and effectiveness in managing different facets of the revenue process.

“The moment you expect the same person to be working on system A, system B, and system C, nothing will get done.” Shantanu Shekhar

Jump to the clip for advice on how to bring specialists under the RevOps umbrella.

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