Revenue Builders Podcast

Episode: Building an Operational Cadence with Meghan Gill

Date: September 21, 2025
Hosts: John McMahon, John Kaplan
Guest: Meghan Gill (Former MongoDB, Sales & Marketing Ops Leader)

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode dives deep into how to create an effective operational cadence within sales organizations—transforming sales operations from a perceived “internal affairs” department into a value driver and trusted business partner. Meghan Gill shares lessons from her 17-year journey at MongoDB, emphasizing how the right rhythm, infrastructure, and reporting empower sales leaders, build trust, and foster scalable growth.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sales Operations: From "Internal Affairs" to Trusted Partner

• John Kaplan emphasizes that top sales ops teams don't act as corporate police but as coaching partners for sales leaders.
  • “They're not like the internal affairs in a police department … They're like coaches and they help the sales leader think with a more business intent.” (00:34)
• Meghan Gill outlines her philosophy of building credibility by solving fundamental problems before suggesting strategic interventions.
  • "Don’t come in too hot. Just solve the first basic problems and then you earn the right to be at the table and be saying, ‘Hey, have you looked at this?’” (01:41)

2. Building Trust Through Early Wins in Reporting

• Meghan shares a practical example: assigning a new sales ops partner to the channel team who focused first on cleaning up the reporting.
  • “At that time, the reporting was just a mess … I said to her, Anshu, just fix the reporting, make sure … they have a clean view of their data … get that win and let's just start there.” (01:45)
• This approach builds trust, leading leaders to increasingly rely on ops insights.

3. Establishing and Evolving an Operating Cadence

• John Kaplan compares operational rhythm in sales to the structured routines of athletic teams, highlighting its empowering—rather than punitive—nature.
  • “It wasn't micromanaging … I was a part of a cadence that was a championship team. And so the cadence became favored, it became enabling.” (02:45)
• Meghan Gill describes how cadence evolves as companies scale:
  • For early-stage companies: Focus is often recruiting and building pipeline (frontline manager cadence).
  • For larger organizations: Multiple layers of cadence (frontline, leadership, pipeline inspection, segmentation, planning).
    • “As you grow … you have multiple cadences. You have a frontline manager cadence … Then you have, you know, leadership level … [around] forecasting and pipeline ... planning for the following year … it became quite a lot to manage.” (04:11)

4. The Importance of Infrastructure & Delegation

• Meghan stresses the need for the right infrastructure so that frontline managers, not just the CRO, inspect pipelines and processes.
  • "You can't expect the CRO to be inspecting pipeline … for every single team. You have to have the frontline managers doing it and then have a layer of inspection above them." (04:27)

5. Cadence as Enabler of Insights & Action

• John McMahon points out that sales ops provides insights that go beyond a CRO’s gut feel.
  • “They give you, from the data, from talking to salespeople, they give you insights … A lot of times they turn up something, they say, ‘it looks like something's going on over here.’” (05:10)
• Sales ops can help identify and flag trends or issues that demand leadership attention.

6. Making Cadence Work in Practice (Communication & Preparation)

• Meghan shares how she and her team operationalized cadence:
  • She had a weekly set of key metrics reviewed ahead of staff meetings, which drove accountability and preparation throughout the organization.
    • “I had a set of metrics I wanted to look at every single week. And those metrics were part of the staff meeting that Cedric would hold every week. … Over time, they started coming to the meetings with those answers already because they knew I was going to ask them…” (06:56)
  • This approach had a cascading effect, as department heads would then work with their teams on the same metrics.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• John Kaplan:
  “They’re not like the internal affairs in a police department … They’re like coaches and they help the sales leader think with a more business intent.” (00:34)

• Meghan Gill:
  “Don’t come in too hot. Just solve the first basic problems and then you earn the right to be at the table and be saying, ‘Hey, have you looked at this?’” (01:41)

  “You can't expect the CRO to be inspecting pipeline … for every single team. You have to have the frontline managers doing it and then have a layer of inspection above them.” (04:27)

  “I had a set of metrics I wanted to look at every single week. … Over time, [the team] started coming to the meetings with those answers already because they knew I was going to ask them.” (06:56)

• John McMahon:
  “People like Megan give you that you can’t get yourself as a CRO … they give you insights that you might have had a gut feel about … but a lot of times they say, ‘it looks like something’s going on over here.’” (05:10)

Timeline of Key Segments

• 00:34 – Kaplan frames elite sales ops as business partners, not corporate “internal affairs”
• 01:41 – Gill describes strategy of building trust by first fixing basic reporting
• 02:45 – Discussion of rhythm/cadence in winning teams and organizations
• 04:11 – Gill lays out how cadence evolves with scale
• 04:27 – Importance of infrastructure and delegation in operational cadence
• 05:10 – McMahon highlights insights and flags from sales ops to CROs
• 06:56 – Gill on using recurring metrics and meetings to build accountability culture

Summary

Meghan Gill’s experience at MongoDB serves as a masterclass in evolving sales operations from basic reporting cleanups to an indispensable, insight-driven function. The episode is rich with practical advice on establishing credibility, building a layered operating rhythm, and using data and cadence to empower—not micromanage—sales teams. Listeners come away with tactical strategies for building trust, ensuring preparation at every level, and making sales ops a true linchpin for scalable growth.