Does your sales team work hard, but your revenue isn’t growing? Are they digging in with the right attitude and motivation while meeting prospecting goals, but still not closing enough? Do you have a winning product with great marketing tools, but ultimately, your sales are low?
If you possess everything you think is needed to be successful, but you’re not finding the desired results, maybe you don’t have everything necessary after all. To get unstuck, sooner or later, you’ll have to consider re-looking at your sales efforts as a whole to identify and improve the things you do poorly and begin doing the things you’re not doing at all. However, you won’t do this just once, but daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually. This is called Sales Operations.
According to Wikipedia, “Sales Operations is a set of business activities and processes that help a sales organization run effectively, efficiently and in support of business strategies and objectives. Sales operations may also be referred to as sales, sales support business operations. Sales Operations when coupled with Marketing Operations & Customer Success Operations such that all three functions are aligned to achieve higher revenue for the organizations, is called Revenue Operations”
Sales Ops is the coordination of all aspects of the sales process. From lead generation to closing deals, this includes lead management, territory management, and pipeline reporting. Sales ops is a relatively new field that's quickly gaining traction in modern companies because it has proven its value in driving revenue growth by executing with precision on tactical tasks that directly support sales reps' efforts to close more deals with customers. It's not just about managing data, process, and strategy, it's also making sure you have everything ready when your prospect wants it.
Let’s look at some of the best-known aspects of effective Sales Operations. (Note: your particular system needs may be different based on the characteristics of your business)
- Define Territory Segments
One way to do this is with a map segmented by area and assigned to members of your sales team. It should show the geographical distribution of potential customers. Consider mapping customer demographics like age or gender. This information will help you understand which segments are most likely to want your product or service."
- Consistent Message
It’s important to ensure a consistent message is being shared by each of your salespeople across all territories. This ensures the correct strategy as defined by the marketing group is used.
- Use an Asset Management System
Your sales team should have everything they need to share product information, pricing, etc. at their fingertips, all the time. Salespeople shouldn’t waste time searching for the materials they share with customers.
- Utilization of Technology
A Mobile/Web-based Sales Enablement Platform (S.E.P.) can greatly assist any Sales Operations system and salesperson with its ability to manage assets, quickly share interactive video and PDF presentations, host live, interactive webinars, for any salesperson in the medical sales field.
To learn more, visit verbTEAMS, the best S.E.P. featuring the most innovative tools in the industry.
- Keep a Database of KPIs
According to saleshacker.com, “An updated database is a vital part of your Sales Operations success. Plus, proper data management can help your organization succeed as you have all the data to help you in decision-making. The right data will help you know which business areas are succeeding, where you are likely to fail, and the opportunities to drive success. Analytics and reporting help you to evaluate success and losses and also help in decision making.”
- Accountability
According to saleshacker.com, “Accountability is one of the best causes of successful Sales Operations in an organization. Lack of accountability leads to increased costs, drags down margins, and reduces revenue. A Sales Operations manager can keep sales reps accountable for their performance and lift the entire team up.”
- Growth Forecasting
According to saleshacker.com, “Without proper forecasting, an organization can either spend too much that it loses on margin or spend too little to miss on sales. Forecasting will help you succeed based on your outlook of possible sales in the next quarter or two.”
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