Sales Operations Pt. 1: What is it?
Streamline the Sales Process
High Level Overview of the role:
Sales operations is the process of managing and optimizing the various components of a company's sales function, including people, processes, technology, data, and metrics. Sales operations professionals work to streamline and improve the sales process, with the ultimate goal of driving revenue growth for the company.
The sales operations function includes a variety of activities, such as sales forecasting, territory planning, quota setting, sales compensation design, sales analytics and reporting, sales process optimization, sales enablement, and sales technology management.
Sales operations plays a crucial role in supporting the sales team to be more effective and efficient in their work, as well as providing insights and data-driven recommendations to sales leaders to help them make informed decisions about sales strategy and resource allocation.
TLDR: You are essentially the person supporting the sales team with analytical & management horsepower so they can focus on one thing - selling.
What does Strategy & Operations Do (Day to Day):
Some of the key responsibilities of a sales operations professional may include:
Sales Strategy: Developing and executing a sales strategy that aligns with overall business objectives, including identifying target markets and developing sales plans.
Sales Planning: Creating sales plans that include sales forecasts, budgets, and sales performance metrics, such as pipeline analysis and revenue projections.
Sales Enablement: Ensuring the sales team has the resources and training they need to effectively sell, such as creating sales collateral, providing product training, and developing a sales playbook.
Sales Operations Management: Managing the day-to-day activities of the sales team, including territory management, lead generation, and customer engagement.
Sales Performance Analysis: Analyzing sales performance data to identify trends and areas for improvement, and making recommendations to sales leadership.
Sales Technology Management: Managing the company's sales technology stack, including CRM systems, sales automation tools, and reporting dashboards.
Overall, sales operations associates play a critical role in helping tech companies operate their sales teams efficiently and consistently grow their business pipeline.
How to Be Successful
To be successful in the sales operations role, here are some key strategies to consider:
Develop a deep understanding of the business: As a sales operations professional, you need to have a strong understanding of the company's products or services, target market, competitive landscape, and overall business strategy. This knowledge will help you make informed decisions about sales strategy and resource allocation.
Leverage data and analytics: Sales operations is a data-driven role, so it's important to have strong analytical skills and be comfortable working with large datasets. Use data to identify trends, make informed recommendations, and measure the impact of your efforts.
Focus on process optimization: Look for ways to streamline and improve the sales process, from lead generation to closing deals. This can involve analyzing sales workflows, identifying bottlenecks, and implementing process improvements.
Collaborate with other departments: Sales operations is a cross-functional role, so it's important to build strong relationships with other departments, including marketing, finance, and IT. This collaboration can help you align the sales process with overall business objectives and leverage resources from other teams.
Emphasize communication skills: Sales operations requires strong communication skills, as you'll be working with a variety of stakeholders, including sales leadership, sales reps, and other departments. Effective communication can help you build trust, gain buy-in, and drive positive change.
Stay up to date with technology: Sales technology is constantly evolving, so it's important to stay up to date with the latest tools and trends. This can involve attending conferences, networking with other sales operations professionals, and keeping up with industry publications and blogs.
Work Experience & Academic Background
To work in sales operations, a background in sales, operations, or analytics can be helpful. Some common educational backgrounds include business, finance, marketing, or data analytics.
Here are some of the skills and experiences that are commonly required or preferred for sales operations roles:
Sales Experience
Operations Experiences.
Analytical Skills
Communication Skills
Project Management Skills
Sales Technology Experience
Typically since this role is more of a “back-office” type of role in technology organizations, companies are not very strict when screening candidates for these roles. If you have no experience/no degree at all this might be a good role for you to move into.
Note: Anecdotally I know Sales Operations people with super non traditional background, some with only an associates degree or some who went to trade school, but they were very good at their jobs.
Note on Nuances in Sales Operations Roles
One thing to look out for when evaluating these types of roles is companies that just hire you to become a sales tool subject matter expert. The ideal sales operations role should have a good mix of data analysis, sales strategy and sales tooling (e.g. pulling a data from a CRM such as Salesforce). Some companies will bait and switch by leading with a fancy title and/or job descriptions but in reality will have you be the company Salesforce expert.
While being a Sales Tool SME is a great gig (especially if remote), just know that there won’t be as much upward career progression. You might get to $120K and then be capped there forever until you completely switch roles. More traditional Sales operations roles will have the important analytics and strategy part which could lead the way to working in other more lucrative areas such as Strategy, Analytics and even Sales.
Salary
The salary for sales operations professionals can vary depending on a number of factors, including years of experience, location, industry, and company size. However, here is a general idea of the average salaries for different years of experience in the US,:
Entry-level (0-2 years of experience): $56,000 - $85,000 per year
Mid-career (3-5 years of experience): $77,000 - $120,000 per year
Experienced (6-9 years of experience): $100,000 - $150,000 per year
Senior-level (10+ years of experience): $130,000 - $200,000+ per year
It's important to note that these figures are just averages and can vary depending on a variety of factors, including industry, location, and company size. Additionally, compensation packages for sales operations professionals may include bonuses, commissions, or other performance-based incentives, which can also impact overall compensation.