Sales operations teams were once the unsung heroes of the sales organization. But increasingly, organizations are recognizing the important role these teams play.
A recent Salesforce report found that 82% of sales professionals feel “sales ops plays a critical role in growing the business.” Furthermore, 82% feel sales ops is becoming more strategic.
Salesforce research found that
Optimized sales operations drive productivity and efficiency across the entire sales team. That means sellers can close more deals – more quickly. Research from McKinsey & Company found that companies with “world-class sales operations functions” see significant gains in terms of sales productivity.
Yet, the role of sales operations is still often misunderstood.
In this guide, we’ll explore the key role of sales operations in driving efficiency and how these teams measure success. We’ll also share best practices for sales operations planning and the important role technology plays in a winning sales ops strategy.
What is sales operations (Sales Ops)?
First things first: what is sales operations?
As the name suggests, optimized sales operations (or sales ops, for short) ensure the sales team can work faster and smarter.
But what exactly does this mean?
It is a term that describes the activities and processes that support the sales organization. Sales operations teams handle the myriad, “behind the scenes” administrative tasks to ensure the sales organization runs smoothly. We’ll take a closer look at some of the specific tasks the sales operations team handles later on.
Why is sales operations (Sales Ops) important?
Sales reps only have so many hours in a day. Yet, they often spend the bulk of their time on tasks that don’t drive revenue. The same Salesforce report cited earlier found that during the average week, sales reps spend a mere 28% of their time on selling activities, such as:
- In-person meetings with prospective customers
- Virtual meetings with prospective customer
- Prospecting
Sales reps spend just
Sales operations frees up these reps from a lot of the non-selling tasks that take up so much of their time. That means sales reps have more time to do what they do best: engage with sellers and close deals.
It also drives efficiency for sales managers. With optimized sales operations, sales managers can focus less time on administrative tasks – and more time coaching their reps to improve individual and team performance.
Optimized sales operations mean sales reps can close more deals – faster. It empowers sales managers to devote more time to ensuring sellers have what it takes to be successful.
What are sales operations responsibilities?
The ultimate goal of the sales operations team is to support the success of the sales team. The team handles the “behind the scenes” work so sales reps effectively and efficiently sell and sales managers can spend their time coaching and improving team performance.
But what exactly does the sales operations team do daily?
Responsibilities look different at every organization. However, some common responsibilities include:
- Creating sales forecasts
- Contributing to revenue strategies
- Developing and continuously evaluating sales rep compensation plans and sales incentives
- Collaborating with other teams on go-to-market plans
- Developing pricing structure for products and services
- Optimizing the sales process and lead generation initiatives
- Analyzing sales metrics on an ongoing basis
Another key sales operations responsibility is to implement and administer tools and technology that make sellers’ lives easier. Some such technologies might include:
- Customer relationship management (CRM) platform
- Sales enablement platform
- Revenue productivity platform
- Business intelligence platform
- Content management system
Sales enablement vs. sales operations
In the world of sales, sales enablement and sales operations are two terms that are used often. Both of these teams are focused on supporting the sales team. In addition, both sales enablement and operations teams typically report up to the head of sales.
However, they’re not the same thing.
Sales enablement teams are focused on ensuring sales reps have what it takes to be successful in the field. First, sales enablement teams work with sales leadership to determine what a great rep looks like. Some sales organizations develop an ideal rep profile (IRP) to define the skills and competencies needed for sales success. Then, sales enablement teams create and deliver onboarding, sales training, sales content, sales coaching, and other programs to ensure each seller can master the skills and competencies they need to close more deals.
On the other hand, sales operations planning is focused on ensuring the right tools and processes are in place to support the sales cycle. That way, sellers can more easily close deals – faster.
Both these teams are focused on improving the productivity of the sales organization. As such, sales operations and sales enablement need to be aligned.
Best practices for building an effective sales operations strategy
A solid strategy helps boost the effectiveness and efficiency of sellers. If you haven’t already, now’s the time to develop a sales operation strategy.
But what exactly does a good strategy look like?
It depends on a number of factors, including size, market, and maturity – among others. A sales operations strategy that works well for one organization may fall flat for another.
That said, there are certain best practices any sales organization can leverage to guide their planning.
Before developing a strategy, it’s important to take a step back to determine the mission of your team. In other words, spell out the reason the sales operations team exists. The mission of the sales ops team should be in alignment with the goals of the sales team as a whole.
Socialize this mission statement throughout the organization to ensure teams understand the role of sales operations.
Without goals, it’s impossible to know whether or not you’ve been successful. Be sure to set goals that are clear, specific, and based on data, rather than hunches. Sales ops goals should be challenging, yet achievable.
The sales ops strategy shouldn’t be created in a vacuum. Instead, it should be a collaborative effort with input from teams including sales leadership, sales enablement, and marketing. After all, each of these teams brings important insight into the sales process.
Once the sales ops strategy has been created, it’s important to maintain alignment with key teams. This ensures priorities are aligned and everyone is working towards the same goals.
Consider scheduling recurring meetings (for example, weekly) with representatives from each team. Representatives can share progress on initiatives and share challenges. This is an important way to ensure the sales ops strategy continues to meet the needs and goals of the sales organization.
As we’ve already covered, sales operations teams need to collaborate with the marketing team when developing the sales ops strategy. These teams must also maintain close alignment to develop an effective funnel structure.
Marketing teams can leverage the data collected by sales ops teams to understand better the quality of the leads generated by their efforts. Then, they can optimize their efforts accordingly.
In addition, tight alignment between marketing and sales ops teams helps maintain the quality of account data and lead management. High-quality data is key to an effective sales ops strategy.
A solid sales ops strategy can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the sales team. The right technology is an essential component of a sales ops strategy.
Sales ops teams are often charged with building and maintaining a tech stack that increases sales productivity. There are a number of different sales operations tools that may be part of the tech stack.
One key tool is the customer relationship management (CRM) platform. A CRM enables the sales team to more effectively manage their relationships with customers and prospects.
Another key tool is the revenue productivity platform. A revenue productivity platform like Mindtickle empowers revenue organizations to improve team performance with sales training, sales enablement, and call insights.
Other common sales ops technologies include:
- Business intelligence platform
- Marketing automation platform
- Sales intelligence platform
- Content management system
- Performance management platform
- Contract management platform
The right technology is key to sales ops success. However, more tools isn’t always better. The key is to find the right software for the needs and goals of your organization.
In addition, look for opportunities to streamline and consolidate your sales ops tech stack. Often, organizations purchase myriad tools – each of which addresses a single challenge. The result is an unnecessarily bloated tech stack. Research tells us the average B2B sales organization uses 10 tools – and plans to add more than four in the next year.
Instead, look for integrated solutions that address multiple areas. For example, Mindtickle’s revenue productivity solution incorporates training, content management, conversation intelligence, sales analytics and dashboards, and sales forecasting – all into a single, comprehensive platform.
Ongoing measurement is key. Otherwise, it’s impossible to know whether or not the sales operations team is achieving its goals.
Continuous measurement allows sales operations teams to understand where things are going well – and where there are opportunities to improve. Then, sales optimization teams can optimize their strategies and tactics accordingly to improve results.
In the next section, we’ll cover some of the key sales operations metrics teams should measure regularly.
What are the key metrics for sales operations to track for success?
It’s important to set clear metrics right from the start. But what should they include?
Of course, sales operations teams should track the performance of the sales team. However, they should also track sales team efficiency. In other words, how efficiently are sellers able to shepherd a deal from initial contact to close?
There’s not a “one-size-fits-all” set of metrics. Instead, these metrics vary from organization to organization. However, there are some common, core sales operations metrics tracked by most organizations. Here are a few.
The percentage of sales reps that hit their quota during a given time period. Sales operations teams can measure quota attainment across the entire sales organization, as well as quota attainment for certain teams, territories, or regions.
The percentage of deals that were won – as well as the portion that were lost – in a given time period.
The dollar value of deals closed, on average
How close a forecast was to what was actually achieved in a given period of time.
How long it takes sales reps to close deals.
How much of a rep’s time is actually spent on revenue-generating activities, as opposed to administrative tasks and meetings.
The number of meetings a seller has set up with prospects in relation to their prospecting activity.
It’s important to measure your chosen sales operations metrics on a regular basis. At the very minimum, these metrics should be tracked quarterly. Ideally, these metrics should be tracked more regularly so challenges can be identified early on – and then addressed accordingly.
Typically, sales operations teams own the systems where this key data lives. As such, sales operations can create user-friendly dashboards and reports that can easily be accessed. That way, teams can track performance regularly and adjust their strategies as needed – rather than waiting until the end of the quarter when it’s probably too late.
Improve sales productivity and streamline your tech stack with Mindtickle
The sales operations team plays an essential role in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the sales team. Sales ops ensures sellers have more time to sell – and managers have more time to coach their teams to improve performance.
The right technology is key to sales ops success. But adding more tools doesn’t necessarily lead to greater sales ops success.
It’s important to find the right tools for your sales organization. In addition, look for opportunities to streamline and consolidate your tech stack.
Today, some of the best sales ops teams depend on Mindtickle’s integrated platform to boost sales productivity and drive better outcomes. Mindtickle incorporates key functionality including sales enablement, conversation intelligence, content management, and coaching – all in a single, integrated platform. That means your sales teams have everything they need to be successful in the field – right in one spot.
See Mindtickle in Action
Ready to see how Mindtickle empowers sales ops teams to streamline their tech stack while empowering sales reps with the tools, content, and information they need for success in the field?
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By Poornima Mohandas
By Vivian Batman