RevOps Live! | Data foundations, AI, and breaking down silos with Leore Spira

Drumroll please. . . RevOps Live has returned!

We’re officially back on the air with monthly episodes where I sit down with some of the top RevOps leaders in the world to learn their secrets to operational excellence.

Tune in on the first Friday of each month for candid, unfiltered conversations that cover top trends, insights, and best practices in the RevOps field today.

For our premier reboot episode, I got to sit down with Leore Spira, director of revenue operations at Blink Ops, and self-proclaimed “RevOps geek.”

Click here to watch the full episode. (It’s ungated!)

Here’s a sneak peek at what we covered:

• Why a strong data foundation requires discipline
• Common pitfalls to avoid in building RevOps infrastructure
• How a strong RevOps function can alleviate silos among GTM teams
• The role of AI in enhancing efficiency and automating processes

Whether you’re a seasoned RevOps pro or just starting out, Leore’s episode is a must-watch for anyone navigating the growing complexity of the revenue operations field.

Building a strong data foundation requires discipline

Early on, Leore and I agreed on one key takeaway: if you want to achieve operational success, you need a strong data foundation. Leore emphasized that many companies—especially startups—move too quickly to capture customers and drive revenue but neglect the foundational data infrastructure that will enable their GTM efforts to scale. She compared this to building a house: “You can’t put up the walls before laying down the foundation.”

Why do startups need a strong data foundation?

Without a solid data foundation early on, startups won’t have accurate, reliable data to inform their decisions and effectively scale. A fragmented data infrastructure can wreak havoc on a startup’s GTM efforts. Poor data quality slows down a company’s growth trajectory, as data silos prevent teams from focusing on the key leverage points of the business and working together cohesively.

While most organizations would agree that a strong data foundation is important, having the discipline to put it into practice is a different story.

Leore outlined this common scenario for an early-stage startup as an example of what to avoid.

“Most startups want to run fast. You want to have a product. They want to earn tons of revenue. They want to bring tons of customers at the beginning, but they don’t really understand how important it is to stop, understand the process, understand your ICP, or at least your customer, and then make sure that you align with everything else.”

– Leore Spira

The problem with a “move fast and break things” motto in the early days of a startup is that scaling GTM efforts down the road will be more difficult. Eventually, these organizations will need to hire a RevOps team to come in and fix what’s broken.

That’s why RevOps leaders will always advocate for building data infrastructure and GTM motions correctly from the beginning. It’s less messy — and it promotes more sustainable growth in the long run.

“When data quality is prioritized from the start and aligned with business objectives, it becomes the bedrock for scalable growth. Poor data quality, on the other hand, can throw companies off course.”

– Leore Spira

Check out our GTM Guide to Data Quality to learn more. 

Our annual RevOps survey reinforces this fact. Despite universal agreement on the importance of a strong data foundation, many organizations still struggle with data quality.

• 66% lack strong confidence in their data onboarding processes
• 58% lack confidence in routing inbound leads to the right sales reps
• 65% lack confidence in their lead scoring capabilities

Why operational infrastructure is necessary at early-stage startups

All too often, startups skip essential steps in their operations in favor of scaling fast.

Leore revealed how many early-stage companies struggle with a chaotic go-to-market strategy due to poorly managed data. They often make the mistake of hiring tactical admins to “clean up” processes rather than hiring RevOps leaders to build and maintain a scalable, integrated system from the get-go.

GTM alignment revolves around RevOps

One of the TOUGHEST challenges RevOps teams face is aligning sales, marketing, and customer success teams (and making sure everyone gets along).

Leore emphasized the need to break down organizational silos to allow for cross-functional collaboration. Each department must collect and share data transparently. They also need a unified strategy that focuses on the entire customer journey (if you need help with this, download our Trailblazer’s Guide).

The biggest obstacle to achieving alignment and breaking down silos is waiting too long to build out a RevOps function within the organization. Leore recounted her firsthand experiences with this.

“I had this experience in previous companies as well. They hire us, or they bring us to the company after round B, sometimes even C, when they have Salesforce or HubSpot CRM in place. They want to either move to one system or to the other. They want you to fix everything they want, and then you need to break everything. You need to clean, and you need to chase for data, and then you need to train the team. It becomes a mess.”

Land and expand: the new way to break down GTM silos

Leore revealed that there’s a shift happening on GTM teams. And this shift is helping to break down silos and encourage cross-functional alignment on GTM teams. It’s not just sales and marketing, but also customer success and account expansion.

“Companies and CROs are shifting from new business and new logos to land and expand. And this is how you break the silos. They need to understand that you don’t just need to win deals. You need to land and expand. You need to win the customer and make an impact. Then move towards growing the account and growing the LTV.”

This shift towards lifecycle marketing and understanding the customer journey requires marketing, sales, and customer success to be more connected, communicate often, and share what’s working.

Breaking down departmental silos means that GTM teams have a shared goal. They can align (with the help of RevOps!) on data which leads to better customer experiences and account expansion!

How Leore uses AI for RevOps efficiency

It wouldn’t be a RevOps conversation without a discussion about AI.

She shared some of the top use cases for AI on her RevOps teams:

1. Automated forecasting: AI-based tools can quickly analyze data trends and project outcomes, allowing RevOps teams to identify potential bottlenecks or opportunities early on.
2. Personalization in marketing campaigns: By analyzing customer behavior patterns, AI can recommend hyper-personalized marketing messages that resonate with prospects and increase conversion rates.
3. Lead scoring: AI tools help optimize lead scoring by analyzing engagement data and providing insights into which prospects are most likely to convert.
4. Cross-silo data analysis: AI helps break down data silos, offering a holistic view of performance across sales, marketing, and customer success teams.
5. Operational efficiency: AI-driven platforms reduce the amount of manual work required for data entry, allowing RevOps teams to focus on more strategic initiatives.

For companies looking to integrate AI into their RevOps strategy, Leore recommended starting small, and incorporating AI into one area at a time before rolling it out across your operations.

3 final takeaways

Leore’s key takeaways for RevOps teams were:

• Invest in data infrastructure early: Don’t wait for operational chaos to take over. Building a robust data foundation early on will save headaches—and revenue—down the line.
• Break down silos: Aligning teams around shared data and unified strategies is critical for long-term success.
• Leverage AI: The right AI tools can dramatically improve efficiency and provide valuable insights for decision-making.

“Once upon a time, it was the CEO who orchestrated the company, right? And then RevOps took this place, not because they took the CEO’s place. It’s because they took this responsibility to orchestrate the go-to-market, to orchestrate all the departments who really have a relationship with the customer. It’s music to your ears, right?”

Watch the complete interview with Leore here.

And stay tuned! New RevOps Live! episodes drop the first Friday of each month.

Recommended Resources