what is sales operations

WHAT IS SALES OPERATIONS?And Why Your Company Needs It

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“We need a Sales Operationperson”

The explosion and increasing necessity of “sales operations” is here...

Yet many of us, maybe even you…still don’t really understand what a

sales operations person does?!

The Sales Operations function can vary based on the GOALS, stage, and

STRUCTURE of your organization, from the front-line to the C-suite

BUTone way to think about it is...

Sales Operations creates, implements, and optimizes the processes, data and applications that support the sales team.

Learn more about the Slackbot for sales teams at Troops.ai

Create

Drive

Measure

Plan

They also help mold the foundation that feeds into marketing, finance, and customer success.

DATA

Sales & CS

Marketing

Finance

Woah...that’s A LOT of stuff.

BTW Click Here to learn more about why Modern Sales Orgs Love TROOPS.AI’s Slackbot for Sales Teams!

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It’s Not Uncommon for Sales Operations to Be Responsible For orHelp Guide Initiativeslike...

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Defining Required Data Structure & Fields

Workflow and Validation Rules

Automation

CRM Setup

Sales Enablement Tools

Sales Tech Stack

Setting A Foundation

Knowledge Sharing

Establishment of Team Communication Calendar

Assuring Alignment Across Teams on Data and communication

Communications

66%of companies say sales operations leads sales

process definition

Source: Syngy

Input on Org Structure

Onboarding / Training Knowledge / Management (Can fall under Enablement)

Hiring Plan

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People

Ongoing Development, Adoption, Compliance and Improvement on Sales Process

Time Management Amongst Teams

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Driving Performance

Dashboard Construction

Defining and Evaluating Goals and KPI’s

*All in the name of supporting metrics based decision making!

Measuring Performance

71%of companies say sales

operations leads performance analytics

Source: SyngyReporting

Forecasting

Territory & Lead Allocation + Distribution

Designing and Comp Plans to Reward, Retain and Attract Talent

Budgeting for New Hires

Planning

All These Things Lead to Greater Sales Effectiveness!

Learn more about the Slackbot for sales teams at Troops.ai

There might be a few things we glossed over...

But you can see how Sales Operations Pros often need to be like a Swiss Army Knife...

You need to be able to do a lot!

So when does it make sense to bring on a sales operations person?

Often when it’s time to “bring order to chaos”.

Rapid growth without visibility, process,

and measurement can get you in trouble.

That’s why having someone in place to help establish and guide that growth

is a GOOD IDEA!

And guess what...

As you grow, so does the role and responsibilities of sales operations!

Here’s one example of how the role of sales operations can change that someone

way smarter than us made:

Source: Saleshacker via Matt Cameron

STAGE SITUATION WHAT YOUR HEAD OF SALES COVERS WHAT SALES OPS DOES

Finding fit~<$1M ARR

● Hired first head of sales

● ~4AEs, ~2 SDRs● No predictability,

looking for productivity before scaling

● Sales process development● Skills training● Onboarding● Guides proposal dev.● Comp plan design● Owns forecast● Deal approval

The hires:(1) ‘Technical operations’Skills: CRM administration and Advanced Excel**; Analytical thought partner to leader

● Report and analytics● Commission calc● Input to growth strategy

Repeatability~$1M=$10M ARR

● Product/Market fit is confirmed

● As above hiring more AE’s and SDRs whilst trying to find formula for repeatability

● Likely Series A funding

● Sales process improvement● Guides proposal dev.● Comp plan design● Owns forecast● Deal approval

The hires:(1) ‘Technical operations’(2) ‘Sales effectiveness manager’Skills: Program mgt, in depth functional sales knowledge/experience

● Sales onboarding● Training architecture design● Training & cert. delivery

Going big~$10M+

● Time to scale -- Serious VC money is in the bank

● Likely Series B

Go to market strategy (with Director) The hires:(1) ‘Technical operations’(2) ‘Sales effectiveness manager’(3) Sales Operations DirectorSkills: GTM strategy/planning, commercial negotiation, process design, sales domain expertise

● Sales operating plan incl. Growth plan● Deals desk (approvals and bid support)● Territory and Comp plan design● Comp plan design● Owns forecast● Sales process enforcement

So this whole Sales Operations thing is pretty darn important right!?

Learn more about the Slackbot for sales teams at Troops.ai

"Sales operations provides leverage to sales organizations through the smart adoption of technology and automation.

It's their job to sniff out and execute opportunities to make reps and managers 10, 20, 30% and more efficient. And with the growth of sales efficiency solutions available, not having sales ops paying attention to and grabbing these opportunities injures your sales motion."

-Peter Kazanjy

Founder, Modern Sales Salonand Author Founding Sales

"The rise in technology to assist sales makes investing Sales Operations mission critical to building and efficient modern sales org. The top organizations I've seen emphasize this early in order to have the infrastructure in place to scale."

-Max Altschuler,

Founder & CEO Saleshacker.com

So next time someone asks “What is Sales Operations?”

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Now you know why they are so important to the

growth of your business!

Oh, and while we have you….

Does your company use Salesforce & Slack?

Many of the fastest growing modern B2B Sales Orgs are using TROOPS to Streamline Their Workflow.

See why UnderArmour, Mixpanel and HackerRank are using TROOPS:

JUST CLICK HERE

Thanks for Reading!