Lessons from Leading a Unified RevOps Function - Julia Kim

May 20, 2024

In this engaging discussion, Julia Kim, VP of Revenue Operations at Electric and a Columbia University instructor, shares her insights on building a unified RevOps function. She challenges the common view of RevOps as just sales operations and emphasizes the importance of cross-functional support. Julia elaborates on the role of tech ops, collaboration practices, and the need for alignment under the CRO. With practical examples, she addresses balancing reactive and proactive strategies, and introduces innovative AI applications to enhance forecasting and productivity.

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INSIGHT

RevOps Is A Cross-Functional Multiplier

Revenue Operations should cover sales, marketing, customer success, partnerships, data, process, and tech as a unified go-to-market function.
Technology acts as a multiplier when headcount or resources are constrained.

ADVICE

Match Org Design To Maturity

Align your RevOps org design to company maturity before shifting to strategic work.
Do tactical cleanup first, then add strategic pods as operational maturity increases.

ADVICE

Pilot With A Revenue Programs Pod

Create a dedicated Revenue Programs pod to pilot experiments before full rollout.
Use small-scale manual or light-automation pilots to validate outcomes and iterate.

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I'm a really big believer in the idea of a unified RevOps function supporting all the go-to-market teams.

But I'll be honest, sometimes it's a little discouraging when I look at how RevOps is done in practice, because outside of a few examples, I usually see essentially a sales ops function with a new name.

So I wanted to find people who are actually leading a unified RevOps team in the real world and to understand how they're doing it and how it's working out for them.

Today's guest is leading a very mature RevOps function at Electric and has a ton of practical insight to share.

Thanks to Our Sponsor

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About Today's Guest

Julia Kim is VP of Revenue Operations for Electric and an Adjunct Instructor at Columbia University. She has over 10 years experience as an operations executive and has launched award-winning consumer and SaaS products mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Forrester, and TechCrunch.

Before Electric, she led GTM operations for 4 profitable acquisitions. In addition to her RevOps experience, she has a technical background with a recent focus in artificial intelligence and predictive data modelling.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliajuleskim/

Key Topics

[00:00] - Introduction
[01:50] - Definition of Revenue Operations
[03:40] - RevOps at different stages of maturity
[09:09] - Deep dive on Julia’s team structure
[14:00] - Collaboration within the RevOps team
[21:52] - Addressing concerns about unifying the ops functions
[28:07] - Identifying biggest opportunities for impact
[37:19] - Relationship with data team
[40:11] - Change management and enablement
[47:37] - RevOps and AI
[55:11] - What’s a current challenge?

Thanks to Our Sponsor

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