The function of a Sales Ops team varies from one organization to the next. Many Sales Ops groups were created in reaction to one, or multiple, business challenges. A manufacturer needed a technical team that understood sales and the company’s multiple CRMs. A media agency needed a team to accurately forecast revenue across multiple seasons. A technology firm needed Sales Ops to onboard and train new hires.
There are some organizations that have proactively created their Sales Ops teams. We have seen a few that have put together a solid Sales Operations Charter. They often own all of the core Sales Ops functions. But with all this variety comes ambiguity on direction and objectives. This is causing major pain in the Sales Ops community.
- How does a Sales Ops leader position herself for the next promotion/job?
- What initiatives make most sense for her team?
- How can she network with other Sales Ops leaders and speak the same language?
We recommend Sales Ops leaders leverage LinkedIn to relieve this pain. Interviews with Sales Ops leaders indicate this is largely an untapped resource. The Sales Ops LinkedIn Improvement Plan is a good starting point. It will help you promote your Sales Ops brand through the social platform. It will train you to share best practices with other Sales Ops leaders. It will push you to grow your network of Sales Ops thought leaders.
Improvement Plan Execution Tips:
A Sales Ops leader may have to go looking for a new position. The struggle is how to sell his qualifications. The next organization might not care about his sales training skills. That will be handled by HR. Meanwhile, the new organization wants to know about his experience determining relevant data. His LinkedIn profile reads like a training manager. He is immediately disqualified from consideration.
Improvement Tip: Build LinkedIn profile that highlights the core functions found in the LinkedIn Improvement Plan.
A Sales Ops leader may want to run an enablement program through sales managers. Traditionally, sales enablement campaigns in her organization are run at the branch level. She know that this will lead to horrible execution and zero adoption. Finding proof that this falls under her jurisdiction would be a huge help.
Improvement Tip: Leverage LinkedIn groups to find validation of Sales Ops areas of ownership. The LinkedIn Improvement Plan highlights the best places to look.
A Sales Ops leader may need to seek advice from peers on overcoming challenges. Using a common language will be essential to facilitate communication. You want to know what the most common challenges are that your peers face. Many, you will be familiar with. Some you will not; here is where you will need to focus your time. Understand how others are building systems, reporting findings and delivering insights. Find out how they are building their influence in the organization.
Improvement Tip: Build a network of the Top Sales Operations leaders to follow. Engage them through LinkedIn to leverage their expertise.
Sales Ops leaders must promote their skills in various ways, to variance audiences. Use the Improvement Plan to begin to position yourself and your organization. You will find your department more influential and yourself more marketable.
