You're a Sales Operations Manager. What new technologies should you be investing in?

When I think about investment in new technologies, I always follow the same process. First: Create a list of problems in your existing processes. Some examples might include: (1) underperformance on top of funnel; (2) inaccurate forecasting; (3) bad CRM hygiene. Second: Prioritize the list from most impactful to least impactful. Third: Look for AI-first solutions for the most impactful problems (sales space is exploding with those). Fourth: Book demos with those that show the most promise and during the demo be very specific about your problem and ask the provider to explain how exactly your product will solve it. Fifth: Run 1-3 months pilots and measure results. If you see improvements - double down. If not - iterate.

As a Sales Operations Manager, my tech investment focus includes AI predictive analytics for accurate forecasting, CRM automation for streamlined processes, virtual selling platforms with cloud architecture, sales enablement tools with AI/NLP, AI chatbots for automated customer interactions, and VR for immersive product demos. These innovations optimize sales efficiency and elevate competitiveness.

As a Sales Operations Manager, investing in new technologies should prioritize those that streamline sales processes, enhance data analysis capabilities, improve customer relationship management, and facilitate remote collaboration, such as advanced CRM systems with automation features, AI-powered sales analytics tools for predictive insights, integrated sales enablement platforms for content management and training, virtual meeting and communication platforms for remote sales teams, and mobile applications for on-the-go access to sales data and tools, ensuring that investments align with organizational goals.

In my perspective, a lot of AI/ML applications come to market as "proofs of concept" with very narrow use-cases. Many will require significant configuration, tooling, and even custom development work to be fit for an enterprise setting. My advice is to spend a lot of time upfront doing due diligence on AI/ML products to ensure they are both 1) ready for an enterprise setting and 2) ready to be operationalized to deliver value at scale. We often due not have the resources or knowledge in Sales Ops to buy and customize products that aren't ready for the enterprise. Another recommendation is to define the business problem before evaluating tools. Sometimes AI/ML apps can wow us so much we become distracted from the business outcomes.

Without a doubt tools and platforms that incorporate generative AI. Sales is full of unstructured data and LLMs have now opened the floodgates to analyse this data, support decision making in news ways and automate processes and tasks that were previously impossible to automate. Those that adopt early will have the opportunity to gain a competitive edge.

CRM and sales enablement system can help you manage and track your sales pipeline and activities, align your sales and marketing efforts, provide reps with the right content, training, and coaching, monitor and measure performances.

In a small company, it's hard to find content because it doesn't exist. In a big company, it's hard to find content because too much exists. A well-orchestrated Sales Enablement platform can multiply rep productivity by helping them locate the right content at the right time. Moreover, the data in these systems can inform prioritization and marketing efforts. I have also seen some success with recommendation systems that recommend content based on data in CRM and previous Wins. A Sales Enablement system is a platform investment for Sales Ops that achieves several outcomes at once. My recommendation is to have a dedicated owner for the platform - outside of your usual sales tech or CRM admin folks.

Team reports are an unfortunate (but necessary) part of performance analytics. Investing in software that streamlines this for your team is extremely valuable. I can't tell you how many broken group excel sheets I've had to fix over my career. It isn't user friendly, & unless you bulk restrict cells (massively time consuming) someone will inevitably break the formulas set up. Most people in sales also don't want to spend a full day punching in data, so making sure you take away as much of the admin time they spend will yield stronger sales results.

Investing in cutting-edge technologies is crucial to staying ahead in the competitive landscape. I use visualization and analytics tools such as Clari, Tableau, and Quicksights. These tools empower us to harness the wealth of data at our disposal and turn it into actionable insights and compelling stories. Leveraging these platforms, we can uncover hidden trends, identify better sales opportunities, and optimize our strategies for maximum impact. Additionally, these tools help us communicate our findings more effectively to stakeholders, fostering collaboration and driving data informed decision-making. With the right investments, we can propel our company to new areas of success.

With remote work becoming the norm (Thank goodness), Cloud & Mobile CRM/ERP/Data Storage tools ensure seamless access to sales data and enhance collaboration from anywhere. They also offer scalability to growing organizations, adaptability, and integration capabilities, crucial for our dynamic environment so we aren't forced to build every productivity enhancement from scratch. Also, prioritizing security and backup safeguards our data. By embracing cloud and mobile tech, we empower our sales team to thrive in today's digital landscape, regardless of where their careers grow.

Voice & video can radically enhance sales, Customer Success, and create a stronger company culture of accountability. By capturing and transcribing calls and meetings, you can analyze the 'intangibles' that make an interaction with someone great or terrible and optimize those conversations. Interactive content better enables reps to engage and persuade customers, enhancing each outreach. Plus, these tools support specific training and coaching directly from your top reps. Lastly, leveraging voice and video for product demos all teams to showcase your solutions in a compelling and impactful way. Driving conversions, revenue, and setting a higher standard for all teams on the platform.