SalesTechStar Interview with Kevin McWey, Chief Revenue Officer at DataVisor

What are the crucial strategies and practices that matter most to modern B2B sales teams? Kevin McWey, Chief Revenue Officer at DataVisor weighs in:

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Welcome to this SalesTechStar chat Kevin, tell us about yourself and your journey in the Sales industry….what about sales inspires you?

I began my sales journey in editorial sales, and at the age of 23, I took a bold leap into the tech world, driven by a passion for entrepreneurship. Like most post-grads, I found myself in various roles before discovering my niche in financial technology, specifically fraud and compliance, information security, and solutions dealing with enterprise risk. The evolving regulatory and compliance industry post-9/11 intrigued me, and I saw the potential to apply technology for the greater good. I rapidly gained expertise and explored different roles, including upselling, cross-selling, and managing teams. My leadership experience was deeply fulfilling, and I gained insight into P&L management and the pivotal aspects of operations, product management and development, which I reference daily with my team and clients.

In this industry, every day presents new challenges, opportunities to connect with people, and the chance to provide solutions that genuinely benefit the greater good.  The intersection of human connection, problem-solving, and the potential for positive impact fuels my passion for sales.

As a sales and revenue leader: what are some of the core strategies and practices that you feel matter most in B2B tech (that you often see B2B teams miss on)?

These are some of the crucial strategies and practices that matter most in B2B tech, but often get overlooked:

• Depth of understanding: In our high-tech field, sellers must grasp not just the surface but the intricacies of how the technology works and its impact on the end customer. Understanding inherent risks, friction, and revenue implications is paramount. Technology evolves rapidly, and keeping up through continuous education is vital.
• Customer-centric approach: Understand your customers’ Key Performance Indicators, what they need to achieve, and their pain points. Pain points can change daily and weekly, so staying updated is crucial.
• Build trust: Becoming a trusted advisor is key. Gather information, do due diligence, and understand the problems your customers are trying to solve.
• Differentiate the signal from the noise: Many claims are made in the technology industry. Focusing on transparency and setting the right expectations with clients is essential. By aligning on customer expectations and the product capabilities and feature readiness, you set the client/vendor relationship up for success.

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We’d love to hear about the revtech and salestech that you rely on to drive your goals and processes? When it comes to integrating and aligning processes and technologies to drive unified brand impact: what works better in your view: tips from your years in the industry? 

In my experience, the integration and alignment of processes and technologies are essential to driving sales and revenue goals. Here are some key tools and tried and true approaches that I’ve found to work well:

• Salesforce: I’m a staunch advocate of Salesforce, especially since it has evolved to be more than just a CRM. It can and should function as a comprehensive system of record. To maximize its impact, Salesforce should serve as the central point where everyone can access a centralized view of dashboards and financial data.
• Groove: Groove (its been acquired now) and other tools that centralize access to critical information have been a significant part of my sales engagement stack. It provides a consolidated platform for viewing critical information, distinguishing what’s relevant from noise, facilitating seamless integration with other tools, extracting intelligence from various subscribed sources, streamlining tasks, saving time, and promoting efficiency.
• MindTickle: MindTickle is an excellent tool for tracking what’s working and what’s not in our sales processes. It allows for targeted coaching and helps highlight both high and low points in the process, empowering sellers to focus on their core competencies.

Ultimately, the key is to leverage technology not by utilizing more point solutions but to enhance efficiency, streamline processes, and enable sales teams to spend more time in front of customers. It’s about staying agile, adapting to new tools, and prioritizing what truly drives results.

Can you share myths surrounding the everyday role of a B2B CRO? What do you feel modern CROs need to look at more stringently viz a viz their roles to meet gaping business needs?

Firstly, CROs need to broaden their perspective to include the full business P&L. One common misconception is that a CRO’s primary responsibility is limited to their own sales team. In reality, a modern CRO should take a broader view, encompassing global sales and aligning all players in the space.

Secondly, CROs should acknowledge that learning sometimes arises from failures and course corrections. Embracing failures as valuable learning opportunities is vital for growth. Not only that, but CROs must advocate for their employees, ensuring they have the necessary tools and support to excel. They should lead by example, maintaining a positive and realistic attitude while actively participating in finding solutions.

Strategic alignment is also a significant component of a CRO’s role. Ensuring that all teams are on the same page and communicating effectively is critical, particularly in bridging any schisms between sales and product teams. This requires fostering open and transparent conversations that build trust between managers, ICs, and their counterparts. I have experienced far too many places where we break glass and escalate when a first conversation amongst peers hasn’t even occurred yet.

Encouraging cross-functional engagement and cultivating a culture of collaboration is another crucial aspect. CROs should facilitate communication between sales and other departments, helping to bring valuable customer feedback to development and executive teams for collaboration and a shared understanding of market dynamics. Effective teamwork can drive growth and enable the company to adapt more effectively to changing business needs.

Any thoughts on the impact of AI on the future of revenue processes and revtech?

AI is making a big impact on the future of revenue processes and revtech. There are so many databases and tools nowadays that it can be easy to get stuck in CRM systems and forget why you’re there. Instead, we can use AI to help us sort through the data and highlight the most important themes. It’s like having a second memory that helps us streamline our work, make better decisions, and stay focused on what really matters and what sales teams do best. With AI, we can work smarter, uncover hidden opportunities, and make our revenue processes more efficient and effective.

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