PART 2 on how a new Sales Operations Leader navigates their first 12 months on the job. Learn the steps needed for success and also the tools to help along the way. Free job aids are available to download as well as a free copy of the ebook on the last slide.

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SALES OPERATIONS LEADER’S TOOLKIT

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Well done!
You made it through
Q1 & Q2.
Now,
finish the year
STRONG!

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Q3: SET THE DATA
ANCHOR PROJECT

4. To start a custom
Data Anchor Project,
follow these 6 steps

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Sales Operations leaders face
two common fundamental
issues:
1. Ensuring data quality
2. Making data
meaningful

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Step 2: Profile the Data
DATA PROFILING means understanding the sources of your data:
spreadsheets, sales aids, manual input and other systems from the sales force.
Take an inventory of your data that
includes the following information:
• Where does the data reside?
• What is its format?
• Is there duplication with other data
sources?
• Where and how is it collected?
• Which sources are the most reliable?
• What information do reps, mgrs., and
sales executives use?
• What information do they lack?
• Test to see if your metrics are valid for
Average Cycle Time, Average Deal Size
and Pipeline to Quota Ratio

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• Identify potential complications with the data
• Are the data fields mapped correctly?
• For example, what is meant by “Customer”
or “Account” in each data source, and are
these meanings the same from one source
to another?
• Ensure there is no duplicate information
between objects (Accounts, Opportunities, and
Contacts, etc…) and fields (State, City, etc…)
• Ensure the data efforts are driven by the
enterprise’s business needs for customer
insight, NOT by the availability of information.
• Begin with the desired customer insight and
work backward to understand what data must
be collected to enable useful analysis to be
performed.

8. • The amount of data collected is growing exponentially.
• The tools available are incapable of converting this enormous quantity
into useful information.
• The only way to effectively manage the flow of data is to carefully select
the relevant inputs.

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Step 3: Control the Data
DATA CONTROL ensures the right users have access to the right information, and
it also means blocking or limiting access as necessary.
Identify best practices to cleanse your data:
1. Fix data that’s highly visible and
frequently used, such as addresses and
emails. Remove any duplicate data.
2. Place a filter at all customer interaction
points, especially the Web.
3. Use validation rules to alert users when
data records are incomplete or don’t
conform to data quality standards.
4. Provide managers with automated
exception reports/dashboards.
5. A complete Customer Data Integration
solution includes: linking, grouping,
customer recognition and hygiene.

10. Step 4 – Integrate the Data
• Access your applications to determine which one will serve
as your master record for the synchronization process.
• For a true 360° view
of your customers,
you must integrate
your order entry and
fulfillment
applications with
your CRM.

11. Step 5 – Boost the Data
• To understand what data is valuable, survey your sales and
marketing users to see what data they rely on.
• Provide links to internal information about your customer’s
behavior and buying patterns.

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Step 6: Monitor the Data
Create reports &
dashboards to monitor
data quality.
Appoint a series of
“data quality stewards”
to oversee the entire
flow of information
Stewardship should be
placed as close as
possible to the initial
point of data capture.
Adopt an ongoing
quality program
Use Workflow,
Validation Rules, and
CRM tools to enforce
critical business
processes
You must have a
centralized process for
mass data loads and
data-cleansing

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BAD DATA IS BAD FOR BUSINESS
Your Data Anchor Project will help you
maintain high-quality data.
You can’t rely solely on technology.
Leverage the features of your CRM system.
Supplement them with watchfulness,
sound processes, and solutions from third
party providers and professional services
organizations like Sales Benchmark Index.

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Q4: DISENGAGE
AUTO-PILOT

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This is the time
for significant
process
improvements

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When deciding
which processes to
improve, consider
these 5 Areas:
Forecasting
Sales Aids
Sales Training
Sales Process
Sales Prospecting

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Process Improvement Best Practices
• Sequence your Improvement Effort into Phases.
• Sales Operations is a cohesive set of processes and technologies, not
a single, all-inclusive system.
• Anticipate outside Influences
• The events that have the most profound and negative impact on your
sales and operations planning are those outside of your control.
• Data You Have vs. Data You Need
• A Key to successful Sales Operations is clean, current, and accurate
data.
• Bridge the Organizational Divide
• Many Sales Ops Leaders are frustrated by internal tensions between
departments, particularly Sales and Marketing

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Refer to this list to
understand each
resource that you
may tap into.
Identify the people
who you will need
to engage and begin
to cultivate
relationships now.

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Oceans of Opportunity:
Year 2 and Beyond

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Your first year as leader of Sales Operations
was an educational experience
You demonstrated the ability to lead successful projects, achieve
process improvement goals, and sustain the gains.
As a key contributor on the
senior leadership team, your
sales mgrs have profited from
your initiatives.
The VP of Sales counts you as a
trusted advisor and is ready to
expand your role!

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As you prepare for Year Two, it’s time to
create a roadmap for the future.
Your first year work has created
a solid ROI. You can now
reasonably request the dollars
and human resources to tackle
more ambitious projects.
What new course
should you steer?
The answer lies in a new
SALES STRATEGY

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A Sales Strategy is an operating plan for
your sales force.
It is the balance and interaction
between the following building
blocks of sales force effectiveness:
• Account Segmentation
• Lead Management
• Sales Process
• Channel Management
• Sizing & Structure
• Sales Infrastructure
• Talent Management
• Territory Design
• Quota & Compensation
• Sales Performance
Management

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SEEK INSPIRATION
The ability to identify and define problems is
a skill unique to the Sales Operations role.
• Solicit input from sales reps via
an Expert Panel
• Look for bottlenecks,
redundancies and time wasters
• Where do errors and defects
repeatedly occur?

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SELECT THE RIGHT PROJECTS
As project ideas surface,
begin to evaluate them
The Quick Win Assessment Tool we used in Q1, is
useful for selecting the right project.

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• Include a business case in your plan
for the coming year – consider both
time and human capital
• Look at how previous projects won
funding approval and learn from their
best practices
• Whatever you choose will require a
positive ROI. Learn how your
organization calculates one.
Winning sponsorship for your programs also
means raising money to implement them

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Develop a calendar for the next 18 months
The dates should be specific in the early
months and general after 9 to 12 months
It’s difficult to be certain, but you must
start somewhere

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The Sponsor says ‘YES’
Once you have done your homework, and begin to
review these ideas with the VP of Sales, expect to be
asked the following questions:
• What is the impact of solving the problem?
• How much will it cost?
• How disruptive will this be?
• How soon will we see results?
• Are there other problems we should fix first?

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CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Like all change initiatives, the success of your projects
will be a function of how well the new behaviors are
adopted and ingrained.
The Effectiveness (E) of your initiative is the function of the Quality
(Q) of the work done multiplied by the Adoption (A)
If Adoption is zero, it destroys the value of the work done, even if
the quality of the work was excellent

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You have proven you are now ready to
replicate the successes you had in Year One,
but this time at a higher level
A strong adoption and
reinforcement process
will help you to sustain
the gains and propel you
forward to more
success!

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Learn More
If you don’t have a content management process or need help
optimizing your current one,
Contact us to hear the rest of the story...
Email - info@salesbenchmarkindex.com
Phone - 1-888-556-7338
Web: http://www.salesbenchmarkindex.com
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