Sales Operations, the new essential ally to boost your figures and your teams
A little context…
The last 3 years have been historic. They were marked by a pandemic, a recovery in activity that led to shortages and then record inflation, and wars. The whole thing has turned a globalized economy upside down and forced it to evolve. And who would have predicted it?
The use of the Internet in professional settings is a real groundswell. This has been further accelerated by successive periods of lockdown.
Sales representatives are teleworking, selling by videoconference and sharing more and more dematerialized information with customers and colleagues. B2B companies are launching into E-Commerce and/or information exchange platforms with their customers.
All this combined means that new working methods and sales strategies have emerged and new activities have developed. And today, we would particularly like to highlight the concept and function of "Sales Operations".
According to the "State of Sales Operations 2021" report by LinkedIn, the number of Sales Operations Managers positions increased by 38% worldwide between 2018 and 2020 alone.
So, what are Sales Ops? Why is it now critical for the company? What can we expect from it? And concretely, how does it apply to B2B companies and in particular to manufacturers, packaging printers and cardboard manufacturers?
1- What are "Sales Operations"?
The concept of "Sales Operations" aims to improve sales processes in a company in order to support its growth. Sales Ops enable the organization to sell more efficiently and quickly, help sales people achieve their goals and advise them to improve their sales practices continually.
The main mission of Sales Ops is to focus on optimizing internal processes and in particular:
- Redefine sales objectives
- Adopt new systems, tools and technologies to support the sales effort
- Analyze the data to identify trends and areas for improvement in the company
- Establish and refine the lead generation strategy
- Automate prospecting by setting up the right tools and processes, for example by personalizing sequences or harmonizing email templates
- Automate recurring tasks such as CRM entries, reports, email reminders, etc.
- Harmonize sales practices and aid in the recruitment of sales forces.
In summary, Sales Operations are a strategic component for the company because they guide the sales and marketing strategy and enable the acquisition of better sales practices. It is particularly important for B2B companies.
2- Why are "Sales Operations" now vital?
Do you want your sales representatives to sell?
According to Salesforce, a salesperson spends only 34% of their time selling.
What do they do with the remaining 66% of their time?
The age of "data"
Several factors explain the emergence of this concept and the corresponding functions within companies:
- The amount of data generated within organizations continues to increase,
- The proliferation of communication channels between your company and your customers (customer appointments, trade shows, newsletters, emails, social networks, website...),
- The proliferation of channels for acquiring new customers (showcase or E-Commerce site, trade shows, introductions, marketplaces, word-of-mouth...),
- The massification of data leads to reflection and analysis. Analysis that sales teams need to be able to succeed in selling better,
- The evolution of the economic context.
More and more data to exchange, which is just as much information to exploit correctly, both in the analysis that is given to it and in the strategic reflection and concrete actions (processes, work organization, investments, implementation of the right tools) that result from it.
Who in your organization can manage all this, with the objective of developing your revenues, your profitability while improving the experience of your employees?
IT? General Management? The sales management? Sales administration? Operational departments?
It is probably not clear: responsibility, job description, expected objectives must be reviewed in light of this new "data" paradigm to bring out the Sales Operations function in your organization.
Align the 5 pillars of your organization
Considering that your company is structured around five main pillars: strategy, people, data, processes, and tools, Sales Operations should become the backbone of your company by linking each of these major pillars and ensuring perfect alignment.
Are you sure that your sales objectives and your strategy to achieve them are perfectly aligned with your teams? And your internal processes? And also with the tools you use? In line with what your data says – which you have necessarily analyzed and dissected?
If the answer is no, you need to structure Sales Operations.
3. Sales Operations, serving to increase your figures and your teams
Increase turnover
As a key indicator, with a constant scope (same sales team, same marketing budgets), Sales Ops allow you to increase your turnover. Sales Ops will particularly work to:
- Increase the customer base
- Increase turnover per customer account
- Increase quote-to-order conversion
Increase profitability
Even more importantly, the action of Sales Ops leads to increased company profitability.
In the previous paragraph, we specified that the action will be measured with a constant scope. Therefore, with the same human resources and the same budgets for acquiring new customers, the company increases its turnover. Mechanically, this leads to more profitable sales, every time!
Increase the satisfaction of your sales teams, and more!
Sales Ops will align the vision of all stakeholders (Management, teams from different departments), will implement the right tools, the right processes and will share the results, based on reliable data.
Inevitably, the teams are satisfied because, on the one hand, their daily work is facilitated and, on the other hand, their performance is improved.
You build loyalty among your teams and create a virtuous circle internally.
In a few figures, what is the return on investment of Sales Ops?
According to the study “Revving Up Go-to-Market Operations in B2B” conducted by the Boston Consulting Group, B2B companies with closely aligned teams (sales, marketing, sales administration) observe:
- A 100 to 200% increase in the return on investment of digital marketing campaigns
- A 10 to 20% increase in the productivity of sales teams
- A 10% increase in the number of new customers acquired
- An increase in the satisfaction of internal employees of 15 to 20%
4- Sales Operations, how to get started?
When should the Sales Ops function be structured?
Some experts say that a company needs 1 Sales Ops Manager for every 10 sales representatives.
What about a company with a smaller sales force?
First option: get support from external experts to implement the tools, processes, and analyses related to your strategy. Measure the return on investment. Repeat.
Second option: identify the right person internally who could take on this responsibility. Train them and include this mission in their job description.
Third option: a mix of the first two. Start with support, understand the subject, and then upskill the right person.
Conclusion
We're not done talking about Sales Ops. A true 'concept' theorized in the United States, it is becoming a key function in the most successful companies. From start-ups to large groups.
We are already preparing additional content on:
- The key indicators that Sales Ops track and improve
- How HIPE is a tool designed for Sales Ops and improving sales performance