Sharebird
Sign Up / Sign In
Ignacio Castroverde

AMA: Cisco Senior Director, Global Virtual Sales Strategy and Operations, Ignacio Castroverde on Finance / Revenue Ops Alignment

October 17, 2024 @ 10:00AM PT

View AMA Answers

  1. How do you get finance to allocate budget to programs that we haven’t proven out yet, but are experimental?

    We recently brought on a CFO and they are asking us to add timelines for ROI to many of the programs that have not yet begun (like influence marketing).

    Ignacio Castroverde
    Ignacio Castroverde

    Cisco Senior Director, Global SMB & Mid-Market Sales Acceleration and Program Office • 1y

    How I go about getting budget for these experimental programs really comes down to the CFOs style. If they are risk averse and very data-oriented, I will: - View From Other Side: Imagining their most frequent worry. Do they want numbers set in stone, or are they OK with a potential payoff and some risk? - Pilot: I recommend starting with a pilot. A smaller investment is easier to justify, and we want to get some proof of concept data. – Keep Flexible: In my offer, I state that we are prepared to ...Read More

    903 Views
    2 requests

  2. How have you made the business case to get more finance resources to help support the revenue engine?

    Ignacio Castroverde
    Ignacio Castroverde

    Cisco Senior Director, Global SMB & Mid-Market Sales Acceleration and Program Office • 1y

    How I build a case for more finance resources to support our revenue engine - Connect the Dots: Showed how increasing finance support would lead to more revenue. With more finance folks, we would be able to turn our sales data around quicker and find trends sooner so that we could make faster adjustments. - Show Examples: I gave specific instances where we were hamstrung or lost deals due to capital constraints, There is no better way than real-world impacts to illustrate the necessity. - Relati ...Read More

    827 Views
    2 requests

  3. What’s the benefit of having a deal desk that involves sales / finance / legal etc and how do you keep this from slowing deals down?

    Ignacio Castroverde
    Ignacio Castroverde

    Cisco Senior Director, Global SMB & Mid-Market Sales Acceleration and Program Office • 1y

    Why It's Great: All parties work together on the front end which alows for issues to be identified early and deals close properly. Faster Approvals: With buy-in from all parties up front, there is no greatly reduced last-minute runaround. Lower Risks: Both legal and finance identify potential problems upfront, save you $$$ down the line. Preventing It from Holding Us Back - Define Processes: Everyone should understand the steps and what are they suppose todo to prevent any setbacks in operations ...Read More

    837 Views
    2 requests

  4. Where is the best place to start improving the accuracy of pipeline and forecasting reports (currently off by at least 20% each quarter)?

    We use Salesforce and currently base reports on opp stages.

    Ignacio Castroverde
    Ignacio Castroverde

    Cisco Senior Director, Global SMB & Mid-Market Sales Acceleration and Program Office • 1y

    If your pipeline and forecasting reports are only out by 20% each quarter better here is my advice on how to give them surgery: - MEDDPICC for Qualification Rollout: This framework helps standardize how your teams are qualifying opportunities amongst everyone. This brings an extra level of discipline to your sales process and means you only move in well-qualified deals, making forecasts more robust. - Revisit Your Opportunity Stages Again — Once more, make sure you have defined your opportunity ...Read More

    823 Views
    2 requests

  5. How can I persuade a “cost-focused” finance team to approve my requested SaaS solutions and changes to the tech stack that I believe will improve revenue and forecasting?

    Ignacio Castroverde
    Ignacio Castroverde

    Cisco Senior Director, Global SMB & Mid-Market Sales Acceleration and Program Office • 1y

    To rationalize with a cost centric finance team is slightly challenging, but let me give it a try: – List the Advantages: Define how exactly integrating these SaaS tools and switching tech stack will result in increased revenue or better forecasting. Use actual numbers or examples where applicable – it really strengthens your argument. - If you can, I think it's worth stressing that while there is an initial expense with short-term solutions they pay off in the long run. Or it automates some dru ...Read More

    804 Views
    2 requests

  6. How do you help finance understand the role of SDR’s, and include them in structuring territories and OTE’s?

    We are getting ready to hire our first few SDRs to support our sales team of 2 AEs. The AE’s divide their territories roughly down the middle of the US map.

    Ignacio Castroverde
    Ignacio Castroverde

    Cisco Senior Director, Global SMB & Mid-Market Sales Acceleration and Program Office • 1y

    These are few elements I would take into account to o enable our finance teams to understand what SDRs represent and have them play a role in structuring territories & OTE. - Educate Finance About SDRs: It has the crucial job of prospecting and qualifying leads, so it can pump your AEs with ready-to-close opportunities. - Give Them the Numbers: Finance is data-driven. Estimate how many more qualified leads, conversion rates and sales SDRs can bring. For instance, if every SDR is able to prod ...Read More

    754 Views
    2 requests