Standing Up Revenue Operations for a Multi-Billion Dollar Business

08/31/23 • 34 min

The Closers: Modern Revenue Accounting Podcast

This episode features an interview with Jackie Meer, VP of Revenue Operations at Genesys.

In this episode, Jackie shares with us her Rubik’s Cube approach to solving problems, how Genesys is utilizing automation, robotics and AI to transform their end-to-end process, and why it’s important to be an empathetic leader and bring your employees along for the ride.

Em’s Key takeaways:

Embracing “Opportunity to Renewal”: The amount of data upstream isn’t always captured through “Quote to Revenue”; it really is a holistic process. Making sure that we’re capturing all the data and that we have higher retention rates and lower churn rates.
Leveraging AI puts us ahead of the curve: We need to all be thinking about how we can utilize AI for all kinds of use cases to make us more effective accounting professionals and leaders.
Leading a team with empathy instead of fear: We’re all moving so quickly, but providing our teams with even a little bit of context will ultimately lead to something better in the future for everyone.
Overcoming complacency through dynamic leadership Building out successful accounting teams starts with shaking things up, having an empathetic leadership approach, providing context into the “why” of what we’re doing, and bringing your people along for the ride.
Empowering cross-functional teams through divide and conquer: When it comes to initiatives, we as leaders feel like we need to be a part of every decision, every meeting, and that doesn’t need to be the case if we trust cross-functional teams and leaders to do their part to make things happen.

Segment Timestamps:

*(01:36) - Off the Ledger

*(15:05) - General Ledger

*(27:17) - The Future of Revenue Accounting

Links:

Sponsor:

Zuora’s Modern Accounting Summit: If you are an accounting or finance leader looking to learn from the best and elevate your role in the organization, this virtual Summit is for you!

Join us live to hear from modern CAOs and controllers, as well as the top experts from EY, PwC, and Deloitte. Together, we’ll explore what modern accounting looks like today and where it’s headed in the future. If you are unable to attend live, you can watch the event on-demand using the link below.

When: September 12 2023 at 09:00 AM – 11:00 AM PDT

Where: Learn more, register, or watch on-demand here.

Check out additional resources for this episode:

>> Connect with Em Daigle on LinkedIn

This episode features an interview with Jackie Meer, VP of Revenue Operations at Genesys.

Em’s Key takeaways:

Embracing “Opportunity to Renewal”: The amount of data upstream isn’t always captured through “Quote to Revenue”; it really is a holistic process. Making sure that we’re capturing all the data and that we have higher retention rates and lower churn rates.
Leveraging AI puts us ahead of the curve: We need to all be thinking about how we can utilize AI for all kinds of use cases to make us more effective accounting professionals and leaders.
Leading a team with empathy instead of fear: We’re all moving so quickly, but providing our teams with even a little bit of context will ultimately lead to something better in the future for everyone.
Overcoming complacency through dynamic leadership Building out successful accounting teams starts with shaking things up, having an empathetic leadership approach, providing context into the “why” of what we’re doing, and bringing your people along for the ride.
Empowering cross-functional teams through divide and conquer: When it comes to initiatives, we as leaders feel like we need to be a part of every decision, every meeting, and that doesn’t need to be the case if we trust cross-functional teams and leaders to do their part to make things happen.

Segment Timestamps:

*(01:36) - Off the Ledger

*(15:05) - General Ledger

*(27:17) - The Future of Revenue Accounting

Links:

Sponsor:

Zuora’s Modern Accounting Summit: If you are an accounting or finance leader looking to learn from the best and elevate your role in the organization, this virtual Summit is for you!

When: September 12 2023 at 09:00 AM – 11:00 AM PDT

Where: Learn more, register, or watch on-demand here.

Check out additional resources for this episode:

>> Connect with Em Daigle on LinkedIn

Previous Episode

Prospect to Disclosure is a Cycle, Not a Process

This episode features an interview with Andrew Dailey, Managing Director with MGI Research.

In this episode, Andrew shares why real change only happens when an organization has strong leaders, the importance of data quality and the timeliness of data, and how inflation is impacting organizations today. Andrew also speaks into why he believes critical thinking is king and how he’s actively working to help companies evolve well in a time of constant and fast paced change.

Key Takeaways:

Prospect to disclosure isn’t a linear process, it's a cycle: The concept of order to cash was seen as a linear process in the 80's when systems were different. Now, they’re outdated.
Agile monetization: rethinking or recasting how organizations monetize and all the systems and processes involved. Currently, this is where a lot of companies are investing and where change is happening. It’s at the core of every company.
Data cleanliness and quality are key: No one owns data cleanliness or quality and yet it’s very difficult to generate profitability analysis without these elements. Clean up your data, utilize it, and make it better.
Evolving monolithic ERP systems: In order to evolve, first, you have to understand your business by asking questions like - What industry are you in? What’s the maturity of your company? What’s the art of the possible vs the theoretical?
Change is a muscle that must be built: Adopting and adapting on a frequent basis allows companies to future proof their company’s stability in the market. It’s time for companies to embrace innovation when it comes to packaging, pricing and the journey into automating processes to create a frictionless experience internally and externally. Constant change is the new normal and the pace of change is accelerating. To keep up, automation must be part of your company’s strategy.

Segment Timestamps:

*(03:00) - Off the Ledger

*(20:25) - General Ledger

*(29:50) - The Future of Revenue Accounting

Links:

Sponsor:

Zuora’s Modern Accounting Summit: If you are an accounting or finance leader looking to learn from the best and elevate your role in the organization, this virtual Summit is for you!

When: September 12 2023 at 09:00 AM – 11:00 AM PDT

Where: Learn more, register, or watch on-demand here.

Check out additional resources for this episode:

>> Connect with Em Daigle on LinkedIn

Next Episode

Revenue Automation Masterclass with PwC

This episode features an interview with Pete Schraeder, Partner at PwC.

In this episode, Pete shares about how business models are evolving from ownership to usership, how automation augmentation is no longer just for the tech industry, and how he’s approaching right-sizing client solutions holistically. Pete also talks about grouping use cases and how it’s all about optimizing for business functionality.

Em's Takeaways:

Business models are changing from ownership to usership: There has been a trend in moving from ownership to usership and that changes the game of how businesses run. With that in mind, we need to be able to look at our current models and see where we can elevate our products or services so they can evolve to fit the current marketplace.
Solutions should fit individual client needs: When right-sizing solutions, it’s important to remember there’s no “one size fits all” approach. Each client is different, they have different needs and they need to be treated and sized accordingly.
Group use cases for right-sizing solutions: While we can’t forget all of the different use cases we encounter in revenue automation, three can be endless use cases. So, it’s important to ask, what use cases will provide the best functionality for what the business is trying to do? This will help create better, more efficient solutions as well as ensure the business’ ability to scale in the future.
Looking at the end to end cycle holistically is crucial: When solutions are put in place in a silo, so many things get missed. A comprehensive approach is important at every transaction and triggered event upstream to create an optimized process. It’s much more difficult to fix things upstream retroactively.

Segment Timestamps:

*(01:56) - Off the Ledger

*(10:21) - General Ledger

*(36:13) - The Future of Revenue Accounting

Links:

Sponsor:

Zuora’s Modern Accounting Summit: If you are an accounting or finance leader looking to learn from the best and elevate your role in the organization, this virtual Summit is for you!

Watch on demand and earn CPE credits here.

Check out additional resources for this episode:

>> Connect with Em Daigle on LinkedIn