What are the most important Sales Operations trends to watch?

Automation and AI are great, but investing in the wrong products won't help! Before you buy any new AI or Automation speak to your existing technology providers to understand what features the can offer you that will be based on AI and Automation. This way you have a connected tech stack and you can utilise the technology you are already paying for!

In my opinion the key Sales Operations trends to watch include the rise of AI and automation for sales processes, increased focus on data-driven decision-making, integration of sales and marketing technologies, emphasis on customer experience and personalization, and the shift towards remote and virtual selling methods amidst changing market dynamics and evolving buyer preferences.

Automation and AI is definitely the most important area sales operations teams can focus to save time, reduce the number of tools, and improve efficiency. It’s a good idea to first start with existing vendors to see what additional enhancements their software is offering. Sales operations leaders have a responsibility to stay up on the latest trends and stay engaged, literally it changes by the day.

Automation and AI are revolutionizing sales operations by enabling teams to focus on high-value activities instead of mundane tasks. By leveraging AI for predictive analytics, sales teams can better anticipate customer needs and tailor their approach. Moreover, AI-driven chatbots and virtual assistants can provide real-time support, enhancing customer engagement. As a result, sales professionals can optimize their strategies, leading to improved conversion rates and customer satisfaction. Adopting these technologies is not just a trend but a strategic imperative for staying competitive in the modern sales landscape.

The single biggest impact of AI, for us and others, has been the ability to deliver scaled *qualitative* insights, inputs, and outputs. Automation is great because it's a "If this, then do this" logic. AI is now able to scale the heavy lifting of thinking that managers could never do manually. AI can be leveraged for call/interaction scoring, quality scoring, broad insights (Customer anecdotes) - AI can synthesize the broad set of interactions and turn those into actionable insights for the organization.

Data and analytics have revolutionized sales operations by enabling a more empirical approach to strategy and execution. By leveraging data, sales teams can make informed decisions that are predictive rather than reactive. This data-driven culture not only sharpens the sales process but also aligns sales objectives with customer expectations, ensuring a more personalized and effective sales approach. The integration of sophisticated analytics tools allows for real-time insights and the ability to adapt strategies swiftly to market changes, giving a competitive edge in the dynamic sales landscape.

Sales Operations professionals bridge the gap between numbers and impact by crafting a truthful and compelling narrative for senior leaders. This narrative answers the "so what" question and distills an overwhelming amount of analytics into clear decisions and potential actions for leaders to take. Without a strong narrative, functional leaders who don't "live in the data" every day will struggle to digest the most important points and risk getting lead astray or lost in the noise.

If you want to rely on data and make data-driven discussions and decisions, first make sure you do data QC and ensure high data hygiene. Don't forget, garbage in, garbage out. If you make assumptions and conclusions on wrong data, you will make steps in the wrong direction.

More and more, Sales Ops and Rev Ops are becoming the FIRST layer of the GTM team to build the foundation after PMF is found and GTM fit has been identified. In times past, this org was an afterthought and used as the fix-all for data issues. Now, it's the foundation that's powering the entire GTM process and being correctly positioned at the *start* of the GTM foundation building. All revenue roads need to intersect at Rev Ops and Sales Ops to ensure not only personal collaboration and alignment, but also systematic and process collaboration.

Alignment and collaboration within sales operations are crucial for breaking down silos that can impede customer satisfaction and business growth. By fostering interdepartmental communication and cooperation, organizations can ensure that sales strategies are fully informed by insights from marketing trends, product development, and customer feedback, leading to more cohesive and effective sales efforts. This holistic approach not only improves the customer journey but also enhances the strategic decision-making process, ultimately driving better business outcomes.

In my experience, alignment starts with a shared vision for what "good" looks like. Often times, functions have differing visions and aspirations which in turn leads to differing metrics and KPIs. Sales Ops can support teams in establishing a shared vision in a few ways: 1) Working backwards to highlight mis-alignment between functional goals and the highest level OKRs. 2) Explaining the nuance behind common metrics and how they overlap to tell a story. This may uncover opportunities to consolidate reporting. 3) Facilitating data-driven discussions so that functional leaders can work through disagreements productively.

61% of executives feel their organization struggles to bridge the gap between strategy formulation and day-to-day implementation. You can avoid this by simply using a one-page sales strategy — a succinct, one-page document that communicates high-level themes and lists the most important goals, initiatives, and urgency drivers. Why is it so effective? Because it aligns everyone to agree on how to deliver your goals in the most concise way possible, and can also be shared to collaborate with all stakeholders to bring them up to speed.

Sales Ops professionals should stay as close to the customer as possible. Staying close to the customer helps Sales Ops understand how internal processes impact the customer experience. One way to stay close to the customer is to participate in customer calls. Shadowing sales reps and customer success is one avenue. Since schedules can be tricky, I have recently made a daily practice of listening to recordings of customer calls in our Conversational Intelligence tool during my commute.

The top 2 questions for salespeople to consider when reviewing your customer experience are; 1. Why do 33% of buyers prefer a seller-free sales experience? 2. How do you arrange sales to simplify complex purchasing decisions? Crack these and you're well on your way to discovering how to create a customer experience your customer expects. It's even more critical if you work in B2B sales, as Gartner predicts that 80% of B2B sales contacts between suppliers and buyers will take place through digital channels.

In my experience, organizational agility comes from strong foundations. Sales teams that are best positioned to respond and adapt to new opportunities get these "fundamentals of play" right: 1) Smart architectural decisions about how data flows between functional and reporting applications. 2) Streamlined, well-adopted tech stack with minimal bloat or "shelf-ware." 3) Clear and sufficient process that addresses every step in the customer journey without over-engineering low-impact moments or creating unnecessary distractions.

Prescription before diagnosis is malpractice! It's the same for your people's development. Investing first in a capability gap study is the most important step toward diagnosing what skills and development you require and gives you a snapshot of your current status against your needs to achieve your goals. It also can help give an idea of what a meaningful curriculum looks like and allows you to measure your progress and ROI over time. Then you can decide your competencies and capabilities that will best help your team perform.

Change management is being owned more and more frequently by Sales Ops and Rev Ops. Why? Because you need to have the strategic and leadership direction (Sales leaders, Marketing leaders, etc) to set the directionality, but you also need systematic processes to enforce and drive the change as well. (RevOps/SalesOps) - Rev Ops and Sales Ops have now been more and more of the driver behind strategic change management and rolling this out to ensure it's implemented in a sticky fashion.