B2B Sales & Marketing Exchange: Why are you excited to return to in-person events?  

Christina Kay: I know this might sound weird, but I’ve always loved attending conferences. My mom and dad spoke at conferences all over the U.S. and I LOVED going with them as a kid. I’ve always been a “talker” — I would go around the expo halls, chat with different organizations and bring back the best food and swag to their school’s booth. Now, as an adult, I have the same feeling but I’m a bit more focused on the networking and learning aspect than stocking up on the best snacks and promotional items. I thrive around people and returning to in-person conferences will give me that post-conference energy to come back and make some great strategies for ResellerRatings. 

B2BSMX: What have you learned from your experiences with virtual events that you will bring with you back to in-person/hybrid?   

Kay: Time management and that I don’t have to do EVERYTHING to get a good experience. 

B2BSMX: You’ll be speaking about the importance and necessity of RevOps. Why is it so critical? How can marketers get started?   

Kay: RevOps is a must because it combines three very important areas of a business — sales, customer success and marketing. And within those three areas, RevOps is the nucleus of the processes, technology and people. When RevOps is in place, it helps improve communication and project management while streamlining processes.  

Marketers can get started by simply talking to each department, listening to their pain points and learning what’s working and what’s not. From there, they can create processes that help connect their needs with business goals and then tie that to the processes developed.  

RevOps takes time (and patience) to truly see success; you might need a growth driven approach where you can switch processes if one isn’t working — that is why the aligning/discover phase of building out your plan is super important. 

B2BSMX: What are some important components of a successful RevOps tech stack?  

Kay: The ideal tech stack must include something that has overarching data and integration abilities. For example, HubSpot is an all-in-one tech and it can connect to basically anything within their App Marketplace (and, if you don’t see yours, you can most likely connect it with an API). HubSpot’s new Operation Hub is a RevOps nerd’s dream because if you can code it, you can do it. That truly helps align everyone and everything.  

When working out your RevOps model, you should start with an audit of your current stack. The tech stack should work for everyone. It is super important that your technologies are synchronized and integrated (I know I have said this a lot, ha) but RevOps truly won’t work if this isn’t happening. 

B2BSMX: What are you looking forward to learning at B2BSMX?  

Kay: Oh my goodness — I am honestly excited to learn from some of the top leaders in sales and marketing in general. Also, I am looking forward to bringing back all my learnings to our executive meetings to enhance our GTM strategies. And I am TRULY happy to meet people in person — I have missed that so much!