In order to hit revenue and growth objectives, organizations must have strategic sales operations. With the right sales ops strategy in place, the sales team will be able to perform their jobs at the highest level, working efficiently, closing more deals and generating as much revenue as possible. This involves leveraging the right data and insights, streamlining and prioritizing leads effectively and, of course, utilizing the appropriate technology to keep things running smoothly.
But that’s just a broad overview. In reality, developing a sales ops strategy isn’t always this straightforward. In fact, it can be downright challenging. Oftentimes the best way to approach such an initiative is to learn from others who have “been there, done that.” There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Below are a few tips that should help you get your ducks in a row.
First, focus
Before you begin developing a sales ops strategy, it’s imperative that your team take a step back and focus on its main objective. With so many different roles and responsibilities – from integrating CRMs to reporting and forecasting to pipeline management and more – it’s easy to become overwhelmed and clouded.
At the end of the day, however, the most critical role of sales ops is to ensure that sales reps have the resources, tools and processes they need to be productive. As such, any and all tasks being performed by sales ops should support and feed into this objective, whether directly or indirectly. Refocusing on what’s most important may mean reevaluating time consuming tasks or it may mean saying no from time to time – whatever it takes to make sure sales ops’ main priority is consistently being met.
With the focus back where it should be, here are the next steps to building an effective sales ops strategy.
Align Sales and Marketing
Misalignment between sales and marketing is certainly nothing new, but effective communication and collaboration between the two are essential to your company’s success. That’s why the first step in creating a sales ops strategy is to get these two teams on the same page. Technology can help make this easier. For instance, contract lifecycle management platforms can cut down on negotiation time, thereby improving efficiency.
Facilitate Easy Access to Content
One of the most precious resources the sales team has is time. That’s why a significant component of your sales ops strategy should be identifying and implementing time-saving processes, workflows and tools. One key area to focus on should be content. Finding relevant content to share with prospects is a critical but time consuming task. Sales ops can make a huge impact by organizing and maintaining a comprehensive, centralized database of content that makes it fast and easy for sales reps to get the information they need when they need it.
Enable Efficient Qualification of Leads
The next essential component of a sales ops strategy involves the all-important development of an effective lead qualification process. Poorly qualified leads are a huge waste of time and energy for sales reps and can directly impact the company’s bottom line. It’s up to sales operations to foster a process that evaluates and prioritizes leads based on certain criteria. When the only leads that are making it through the pipeline to the sales reps are of top quality, they’ll be able to close more deals faster and generate more revenue as a result.
Implement and Maintain CRM and Other Systems
Last, but certainly not least, a sales ops strategy should involve the implementation and maintenance of a CRM and whatever other systems, tools and technologies help optimize the sales team’s efforts. This involves making sure that all data entered into these systems is accurate. It may also involve evaluating and adopting time-saving tools, like automation.
At the end of the day, the sales team will look to operations to help them perform at their very best. Developing and implementing a sales ops strategy that includes the above key components will help sales reps optimize their time, maximize efficiency and consistently crush their revenue goals.