Here's how you can navigate a discussion about a raise with your Sales Operations manager.

A great way to prepare for this interview is to remember the acronym S.E.A.T. or Skills, Experience, Achievements, Type of person. When the interview is approached with this background, it makes it much easier to articulate the presentation about key soft and hard skills including but not limited to Emotional Intelligence, Empathy, Task management, team management, selling skills, objection handling, probing, closing. Experience would detail how long those skills were have been in use, achievements interogate the KPI's that were met or considerably delivered, type of person reveals how the factors that make the candidate suitable for team and individual work. .

Know your value and prepare yourself thoroughly. List down all your achievements, contributions, and any additional responsibilities you’ve taken on since your last review. Use specific metrics (e.g., increased efficiency, revenue growth) to quantify your impact. Take some time to investigate industry salary benchmarks for your role and experience level. Websites like Glassdoor or Payscale can provide valuable insights.

The timing of communicating this should be when value has been considerably created over a long period by either exceptional performance in meeting key KPI or significantly contributing to the profit margins of the company by sales operations activities. This timing shouldn't be at a point when the company is making ubiquitous losses.

The KPI's that have been met or significantly met will reveal robust values about sales operations activities. The more KPI's that have been met and exceeded the higher the possibility of probably getting the listening ears of the organisation to consider the application. Sales operations is a discipline that sets key KPI's desirable to be achieved and results show very clearly on achievements met.

There may be objections to this proposal however the sales operations person should use logical reasoning and communicate in a very polite manner about the request.

Your manager might cite limited budget for raises. In that case you need to acknowledge the budget situation & express your understanding. You could suggest revisiting the discussion in a few months or propose a smaller increase Your manager may question your performance metrics. In that case be ready to present specific data that showcases your contributions such as improvements in order processing efficiency or successful projects that benefited the team Your manager might argue that your current salary is already competitive. So be ready to present your market research clearly, highlighting the industry benchmarks & how your skills & contributions align with those figures Keep the tone positive & professional throughout the discussion

Flexibility in decision making should be based on the 2 way communication that's very imperative to reaching an agreement and alignment either permanent or temporary alignment. It's not always likely that once staff asks the organisation for such requests, it will be done instantly. However with proof of robust achievements, detailed KPI's track history achievements, it may lead to the company having more listening ears or agreeing with the suggestions for a raise.

Consider whether salary is your top priority or if other benefits (e.g., flexible hours, professional development opportunities) are also important. Be open to negotiating on these terms if salary is a sticking point. Before the meeting, determine a realistic salary range based on your research. This gives you flexibility during negotiations & allows for adjustments based on the conversation. If the manager cannot meet your salary request, be open to negotiating other benefits, such as additional vacation days, a performance review in six months, or professional development opportunities. Regardless of the outcome, keep the conversation professional. Thank your manager for their consideration & express your commitment to the team.