Introduction
Revenue or sales operations can be a daunting proposition for any enterprise. With multiple stakeholders involved in sales operations, it becomes increasingly difficult and necessitates continual accountability and analysis. Sales operations model provides an organization with clarity as to which individuals are responsible for various aspects of the sales process, thus making it easier for sales teams to focus their efforts in the right areas.
Organizations have evolved from the traditional linear sales funnel to a sales operations model that models the customer journey and their engagement with the product or service. This model has become the basis for a well-organized and efficient sales process, with distinct stages for different tasks and stakeholders. This model follows a cycle of acquisition, use, and renewal, each of which have their own process and set of stakeholders.
Overview
A sales operations model outlines the “who” of sales operations. It is used to plot out how a sales organization works, providing a line of sight to the individual players and their roles. This can be as basic as a “sales team” setup with a single salesperson responsible for all activities, or as detailed as a “sales organization” model which outlines the roles of marketing, customer service, product management, operations, and executive-level stakeholders.
The model consists of three main stages: the discovery stage, the negotiation stage, and the delivery stage. In the discovery stage, a salesperson is responsible for identifying potential customers and prospects, as well as understanding the customer’s business problem. Once these have been identified, the negotiation stage begins. This stage is where the salesperson builds a proposal and outlines the value proposition for the customer. The delivery stage involves managing the customer’s expectations and ensuring that the product or service is delivered in line with the initial agreement.
Key concepts
The sales operations model is built around a number of key concepts. These concepts will be discussed in further detail in the sections below.
Lead generation and qualification
In order to develop an effective sales operations model, companies need to set up systems for identifying customers and sorting them into qualified leads and non-qualified leads. Lead qualification involves filtering leads to determine their suitability for the products and services offered. This can involve assessing online behavior, analyzing customer demographics, segmenting customer profiles, and analyzing any specific interests the customer may have.
Opportunity management
All qualified leads become opportunities for the salesperson, who is then responsible for managing the opportunity to determine whether a sale is achievable. Opportunity management involves keeping track of each prospect and creating a clear plan as to how the salesperson will best pursue the potential sale.
Deal closure
Deal closure is the final stage of the sales process. This involves securing a sale through converting the lead into an opportunity and closing the deal. The deal needs to be properly structured and agreed upon before any exchange of money takes place.
Analytics
Analytics is an important aspect of sales operations. It can involve tracking key metrics, such as win-loss ratios, average deal sizes, or even sentiment analysis. Analytics helps sales organizations to understand how their sales operations are performing, identify areas of opportunity, and make improvements.
Conclusion
The sales operations model is designed to provide clarity and structure to the sales organization. It ensures that all the appropriate stakeholders are involved in the sales process and that clear roles are established throughout the organization. It also defines the workflow for each stage of the sales process and provides the necessary information for monitoring and analyzing the success of each stage. Finally, the model helps organizations to stay focused on their goals by providing an efficient and organized system for meeting them.
