A Little Taste of What Sales Operations Can Do For Your Company
Five years ago, I got accepted to a new position doing Sales Operations. I was 22 years old at the time, had just finished studying business management and accounting, and wished to be a successful accountant. Upon finishing my studies, I decided to look for an internship. However, before I could find one in accounting, I got an offer for a temporary position doing Sales Operations. At first, I didn't understand what it meant to be a Sales Operator, but over time I got interested and started to learn more and more about the field. So, my personal journey in the field started then, when I accepted that first position…
Back then, and even now, whenever I encounter new people, they ask “What is Sales Operations…?”
Today, five years later, I’m here to answer your questions and give you a taste of what Sales Operations Managers do, how they can impact sales effectiveness, scale up sales, and increase bookings and revenues in your company.
Sales Challenge
"After learning the core business of the company in depth, Sales Operations Managers should be able to head all operational sales missions in order to scale up company sales."
Time Investment is a challenge when it comes to sales. Sales Managers should be aware of their timeline and try to invest their time into bringing in as much business as possible. Unfortunately, things do not always work that way -- Sales Managers often find themselves wasting a lot of time doing other things. But why is this?
There are many operational tasks for Sales departments, such as database maintaining (i.e., SalesForce), revenue forecasting, pipeline managing, and various monthly and quarterly reports. In addition to this, the Sales department also has to coordinate and align with other departments in the company, such as Finance, Marketing and Legal.
After learning the core business of the company in depth, Sales Operations Managers should be able to head all operational sales missions in order to scale up company sales.
Efficient Processes Will Make Life Easier
"When the Sales Operations team is not working on the day to day sales processes, they should make an effort to align themselves with other departments."
The Sales process usually involves collaboration with other departments. For example, whenever a company receives an order, it goes through an approval cycle before invoices are issued. This particular process usually involves the Finance and Legal teams' approval. The Sales Operations team must make the process quicker and more efficient. Additionally, new processes should be created based on demand. If possible, these will be managed by the Sales Operations team as well.
When the Sales Operations team is not working on the day to day sales processes, they should make an effort to align themselves with other departments. This way, the Sales Operations team will be able to track and manage the best processes. This will enable the company to collect payments more efficiently. When invoices are approved and issued faster, payments are received earlier.
Revenues
"As Sales Operations teams consistently track the company’s bookings, they can separate transactions that cannot be recognized and put them through internal (and sometimes external) procedures, ultimately bringing them to be recognized. This will increase the total revenue of a business."
First, I would like to explain the difference between Bookings and Revenues. Booking is whenever the customer makes a written commitment to buy your product or services. Revenue is whenever this booking is recognized in the company’s books. Sales Managers often tend to see only the partial picture of bookings. It’s not that they are wrong -- revenue recognition is an integral part of the financial department’s role. However, it can be related to sales concerning things like compensation calculations.
As Sales Operations teams consistently track the company’s bookings, they can separate transactions that cannot be recognized and put them through internal (and sometimes external) procedures, ultimately bringing them to be recognized. This will increase the total revenue of a business.
This is just a small taste of what it entails to be a Sales Operations Manager.
In my coming articles, I will dive deep into different fields related to Sales Operations. I hope to explain, based on my experiences, how you can establish or improve Sales Operations in your company.
For any questions, feel free to contact me:
E-mail: Rose.Penhasi@ScaleOps.co