SalesTechStar Interview with Bob Gault, Chief Revenue Officer at Auvik

Bob Gault, Chief Revenue Officer at Auvik highlights the importance of communication platforms and how it can enable better sales-marketing alignment:

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Welcome to this SalesTechStar chat Bob, take us through your B2B journey and how it led you to being the new CRO at Auvik…

Thank you for having me! I’ve really enjoyed my 12 years working in the networking field. I started at Cisco working in the channel with the Cisco field sales teams and partners in an effort to create a multiplier effect for both teams. My role started off domestically, but as we grew we realized many of the B2B best practices actually translated globally.

From there I moved to Extreme Networks, taking the position of CRO where my responsibilities included leading the direct, inside sales, channel, and customer success teams to drive cohesive work from every team to ultimately capture market share across the commercial and enterprise segments.

At this point in my career, I realized that culture was the most important thing for me in finding my next home. What drew me to Auvik was the way the executive team displayed their thinking and action which led to a sort of union-ness amongst all employees. The culture here really shines through simply by people liking to be at the company, which is something I can personally attest to, and you can tell customers genuinely like working with Auvik.

For new CROs taking over new teams: what initial focus areas do you feel should be the priority as revenue leaders get accustomed to the brand process and existing processes/technologies?

Talking to customers, partners, and the team is a critical priority. CROs need to better understand what’s working well and what isn’t, in order to build a plan that makes sure enhancement and acceleration are possible and are doing well. This can help a CRO address the areas that are not performing at the desired level. From there, the next priority is to make sure you have the right team in place and that it’s organized in the most efficient way, to place the company in the best position to succeed.

What it really all comes down to is communication. I believe that communication serves two essential functions in every company: it disperses information that is needed by employees in order to get things done and secondly, helps build trust and commitment. Workplace communication is vital for a company to be productive and run smoothly.

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In B2B today, how can CROs play a more impactful role when aligning sales-marketing teams and efforts to boost overall growth?

I believe the role of being a CRO entails defining the strategy. It also entails keeping the priorities and initiatives needed to achieve success top of mind. Once you have ensured the company is aligned, a CRO needs to clearly communicate to the team why these priorities are important and how the role each and every one of them plays is crucial in order to achieve success.

When you solidify a unified message between sales and marketing, and then to your teams, customers and partners, everyone can operate on the same page.

There has to be constant, balanced communication so all teams are aware of how equally important and pivotal they are to the success of the company.

What kind of technologies do you feel sales-marketing teams need to use more closely (and how) to drive better operations/processes and impact?

Communication and sales platforms are extremely important to make sure that none of the work falls through the cracks. Sales platforms allow marketing and sales teams to work together to push qualified leads through the sales funnel while ensuring that the communications are aligned with each individual potential customer’s needs.

Communication tools make team members easily accessible to each other to clearly document what they’re working on, and address any questions customers may have had along the way.

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A few thoughts on the top trends you feel will shape the B2B technology industry this year?

Regardless of the state of the worldwide macroeconomics, I believe tools that are easy to use, deploy, open, and secure are critical to the success of IT. Tools need to enhance a company’s ability to provide a great customer experience to their end-users while increasing productivity and reducing costs.

Some last thoughts, takeaways, before we wrap up!

What I love about Auvik is that we are extremely action-oriented. I am eager to drive dynamic efforts that will allow our team to build bigger tactical programs on a global scale that focus on our customers, partners, and channel operations while driving valuable strategic engagements in the market.

I firmly believe this organization is aligned with its mission to deliver a remarkable technology management experience. We are scaling into new vertical markets, expanding our product portfolio, and enhancing direct and indirect sales channels. Not to mention we are pairing that with Auvik’s exceptional customer experience.

With only having 6 weeks under my belt at Auvik, I have really gotten to better understand our technology, the people in the company, and the culture. While enjoying my newfound home, I’m more excited than ever about the opportunities in front of us and our ability to win in the marketplace. It’s safe to say that Auvik is on the path to being a global market leader and it’s going to be a fun and successful next couple of years!

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