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Listen "#98 Deal Desk Best Practices – with Kunal Pathak, Deal Strategy, GTM & Rev Ops at ServiceNow"
Episode Synopsis
Kunal Pathak, Director of Deal Strategy & Operations at ServiceNow, joins Philipp to unpack what it really takes to run a world-class Deal Desk. With experience building deal operations at Salesforce, DocuSign, and now ServiceNow, Kunal shares how the function evolved from a transactional back office into a strategic control tower for revenue execution.We cover:- What a Deal Desk is and how it’s evolved into a strategic function- When it’s time to introduce Deal Desk (hint: when your CEO reviews every deal)- Balancing governance and deal velocity: the CFO vs. CRO charter- Why a bad policy is one that creates constant exceptions- The 70/30 rule: when to automate vs. when to go high-touch- The ideal team setup and where Deal Desk should sit (Finance vs. Sales)- How to collaborate with Legal, Finance, and Pricing Strategy- Building commercial constructs that make it easy to buy- Using AI and automation to move from reactive to proactive deal strategy- How to start a Deal Desk from scratch—and what to prioritize firstKunal Pathak on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunal-pathak-66b27317/ Weflow: getweflow.comRevOps Chat Community: getweflow.com/community RevOps resources: getweflow.com/revops Janis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech Philipp on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer Chapters:(00:00:00) Intro & Meet Kunal(00:02:29) What Is a Deal Desk and Why It Matters(00:06:58) When to Introduce Deal Desk(00:09:15) Top Challenges When Setting Up the Function(00:11:21) Balancing Governance and Deal Velocity(00:14:27) Policies, Exceptions & the 70/30 Rule(00:16:06) Where Deal Desk Should Sit (RevOps vs. Finance)(00:18:38) Building the Right Team & Hiring Profiles(00:21:20) Legal Collaboration & Ownership Boundaries(00:24:48) Partnering with Pricing Strategy(00:27:59) Value Engineering and Deal Economics(00:30:12) The Future of Deal Desk – AI & Automation(00:35:30) How to Start a Deal Desk From Scratch(00:37:01) The First Hire & Key Priorities(00:40:01) Resources, Books & Final Thoughts
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