What is Revenue Operations? with Jordan Henderson [Episode 881]

Podcast Host: Andy Paul
Guest: Jordan Henderson

About the Guest

Jordan Henderson align sales, marketing, customer success, and other go-to-market functions around a more unified revenue strategy.

Jordan brings an unconventional background to RevOps, having started his career as an attorney before moving into customer success, sales operations, and ultimately revenue operations. His cross-functional experience gives him a practical perspective on how companies can build better systems, improve internal alignment, and create a more buyer-centered go-to-market motion.

His work focuses on helping organizations move beyond siloed sales operations and toward a more holistic revenue model that connects every stage of the customer journey.

TLDR

Revenue Operations is more than just sales operations with a new name. Jordan Henderson explains how RevOps brings together sales, marketing, customer success, and other go-to-market functions to create a more aligned and buyer-driven revenue engine. He also shares why this function is becoming increasingly important as digital selling evolves.

Episode Summary

In this episode of the Sales Enablement Podcast, Andy Paul sits down with Jordan Henderson, Director of Revenue Operations at Revenue.io, to break down what Revenue Operations actually is and why it matters.

Jordan starts by sharing his unusual path into RevOps, including how he went from practicing law to working across customer success, sales development, sales operations, and eventually revenue operations. That journey gives him a unique view into how go-to-market teams operate and where companies often create friction across the customer journey.

The conversation then turns to the core difference between sales operations and revenue operations. Jordan explains that sales ops typically supports the sales team in a traditional sales-led model, while RevOps takes a broader cross-functional view that includes marketing, customer success, finance, and the entire go-to-market strategy.

Andy and Jordan also explore why RevOps is becoming more important in a digital selling environment. As buyer journeys become less linear and more self-directed, companies need stronger coordination across teams, better upstream feedback loops, and a more unified view of how revenue is created. Jordan argues that the future of RevOps is ultimately about aligning internal systems and teams around how buyers actually buy.

Key Topics Covered

• What Revenue Operations means in practice

• The difference between sales operations and revenue operations

• Why RevOps requires a cross-functional go-to-market view

• How Jordan Henderson transitioned from law into RevOps

• Why RevOps is critical in a digital selling environment

• The role of upstream feedback loops across teams

• How RevOps supports a more buyer-driven revenue process

• Why siloed functions create friction in the customer journey

Key Takeaways

• RevOps is broader than sales ops.
  Revenue Operations supports the full go-to-market system, not just the sales team.

• Cross-functional alignment is the point.
  RevOps helps sales, marketing, customer success, and other teams operate from a shared revenue perspective.

• Buyer behavior is driving the shift.
  As buyers self-educate and move through journeys in non-linear ways, companies need better internal coordination.

• Feedback loops matter.
  RevOps works best when information flows both downstream and upstream across functions.

• Organizational structure affects execution.
  Companies may still have separate functions, but RevOps creates the connective layer that aligns them.

• The future of GTM is more unified.
  RevOps is helping companies move away from siloed execution and toward a more integrated revenue engine.

Who This Episode Is For

• Revenue leaders building a more aligned go-to-market strategy

• Sales operations professionals exploring the shift to RevOps

• Marketing and customer success leaders working across silos

• Founders and executives evaluating revenue team structure

• Anyone trying to better understand how RevOps supports digital selling