The Changing Sales Environment
- Customers are smarter, more connected, more educated, more demanding
- Business environments more global, more competitive
- Managing customer relationships have become more difficult
- The Sales process involves more collaboration and sharing of information
However, Sales Superheroes are not getting the support they need!
- Sales strategy, planning, support highly decentralized
- Data, processes and systems dispersed
- Roles & Responsibilities unclear
- Resources & spending primarily focused on transactional needs
With as much as half of a company’s value creation resting with the sales force, sales-team effectiveness is crucial for growth. McKinsey research shows that the sales experience is one of the top drivers in customers’ purchasing decisions. Best practice has revealed that companies focus as much on the rep experience as on the customer experience. Source: McKinsey (June, 2017)
Full Partners in Sales Effort
Sales Operations, or Sales Ops, also known in some companies as Commercial Operations, Sales Enablement, or Sales Effectiveness, refers to the unit, role, activities and processes within a sales organization that support, enable, and drive front line sales teams to sell better, faster, and more efficiently.
The sales ops function is often overlooked, works behind the scenes providing the means for the sales force to carry out its function, managing the enormous complexity involved, delivering operational support, and ensuring the success of the overall sales effort.
Sales Operations give sales reps the direction, tools, processes, and support they need. It gives sales leaders the information they need to manage the sales team.
Sales ops is the spider in the web of activities involving sales, marketing, legal, supply chain and logistics, finance, human resources, information technology, and product development across individual business units, and regional departments. It is the glue that holds the sales organization together.
Without Sales ops’ support, many, if not most, reps would struggle. In fact, many would fail. At the same time, without Sales Ops, managers couldn’t run the sales organization effectively. They wouldn’t have the data needed to hold sales reps accountable and to keep the CEO informed.