AMA: Intercom VP, Sales Operations, Tyler Will on Stakeholder Management

Decision-making is a crucial organizational skill for successful companies. Plenty of teams with good ideas fail to execute because they can't make decisions effectively. In this question, I presume there is some disagreement over who should make a particular decision but without that context it's hard to evaluate further. Here are three tools I recommend that can significantly improve the clarity of who, how, and when you will make decisions in your organization. RAPID framework (HBR article am ...Read More

We're about 30 people now, aligned to four major areas covered by my direct reports. We have specialists (i.e., operations team and planning team) but others choose generalists (e.g., ops + planning). This is an important decision to make consciously because it will affect everything you do day to day, who you hire, what happens when someone is out of seat, etc. I think as teams get bigger they tend to specialize more but that creates silos and puts more pressure on the leader to be able to synt ...Read More

I do not base my approach so much on the team I'm talking to, rather it's more about individual personalities, their stylistic preferences and how they fit with mine. Things like how often we meet, how well we know each other, what the nature of the work is all matter. With some people, we're serious about work but have fun. For example, our SVP of Sales told me I should have a reality tv show and that he'd even invest in it. That's not a conversation I would have with someone in the product org ...Read More

I don't think Demand Gen is any different from building a relationship with other stakeholders. In another answer, I talked about the Trust Equation (https://trustedadvisor.com/why-trust-matters/understanding-trust/understanding-the-trust-equation) which is a great framework to use for anyone. It's also crucial to understand what Demand Gen needs from RevOps/Marketing Analytics and Marketing Ops. You want to make sure you are delivering on that and advising them on best practices, new opportunit ...Read More

Aligning internal stakeholders is crucial in just about any organization. To do that, you need clear rules about work and decision ownership. As I mentioned in a different answer, teams with good ideas fail to execute because they can't make decisions effectively (i.e., they cannot get aligned on what to do). Here are three tools I learned, use, and now regularly teach to my team and co-workers that can significantly improve the clarity of who, how, and when you will make decisions in your organ ...Read More

If there is a historically tense relationship between functions, you have to do something very different to try to reset the situation. This will be much harder if the respective leaders have been in seat for some time, but whether new or old, it's great you want to take action. I would have a multi-day offsite with the leadership team of both functions. I think it's really important that this happen out of the office and away from the day to day. You won't fix anything in the same environment w ...Read More

First and foremost you have to remember that it's a human relationship at it's core. That means getting to know the person and not just doing work. Assuming that is happening to a sufficient degree then three things that may be useful are: Make sure you understanding what matters to your cross-functional partners. If you do not understand their part of the business, the mechanics of it, the metrics they care about, it's going to be hard to have a partnership. In other words, it cannot just be yo ...Read More

Revenue Operations roles can be hard to quantify performance (especially compared to sales or demand gen marketing roles we work closely with which are highly quantified). There are four things I typically look back on as part of my self-assessment/reflection at the end of a year. Business performance. Even though I don't have a quota, my team and I play a crucial role in helping our company grow. As a senior leader, I feel responsibility for hitting our financial plan (revenue and cost), growin ...Read More

There are many dimensions at play in approaching this problem that I don't have a singular template, but here are a few things to think about. What is the nature of the decision / project? If it's something small, in your area of (genuine) expertise, has limited impact or downside, and so on then you probably don't need to bother to gather input in the first place. If it's a major decision that will commit substantial resources, is a "one-way door" so you can't reverse the decision, or requires ...Read More

I'm pretty flexible (loved ones may disagree) about how I work and communicate so it's never been a major problem but I think two principles can help guide everyone through this situation: 1) Be true to yourself. If you aren't upholding your own values, needs (personal and professional), and communication preferences at all, the relationship will ultimate crash and burn. 2) You have to expect them to do the same. That means finding ways that can be made to work for everyone. It's often really he ...Read More