Resources

The most recent update to our annual Sales Operations Issues study includes input from sales operations professionals from 125 firms, with median annual revenue of US$400 million. Highlights include analysis of sales operations departments' accountabilities, roles, and most important issues, respondents' assessment of their current performance in key functional areas,...Read more

Companies typically apply operations strategy to the supply chain, establishing clear principles and processes for operating, directed at specific goals such as reducing costs and speeding up delivery times. The leaders of consulting firm Sales Economics, Inc., explain that applying the same kind of strategy to the sales organization can...Read more

Business-to-business sales has changed from being an isolated function with little cross-functional influence to becoming an integrated part of long-term customer management and from an operational practice to a strategically focused part of business strategy. This suggests a need to change the unit of analysis from the activities and attributes...Read more

Social media has changed the way customers buy, and redrawn relationships between buyers and sellers. In response, sales operations departments are refocusing support investments, and aligning social media strategy with their sales organizations. In this Sales Management Association webcast, we’ll review how sales forces are harnessing social media to find,...Read more

Sales managers can have an outsized impact on the sales organization’s performance. Why then, do so many companies invest so little in sales manager training? Firms that skimp on sales manager training forgo a critical opportunity to impact overall sales force effectiveness. In this Sales Management Association webcast we outline...Read more

Sales organizations are constantly innovating. In this webcast, we review three recent practices generating attention from leading sales organizations and solutions providers. These include sales playbooks, portals, and sales enablement platforms. Presented by Callidus/iCentera’s Craig Nelson, Vice President of Sales Enablement, this webcast provides specific examples, documents best practices, advises...Read more

Effective quota-setting programs are essential for growth planning, strategy, enabling productivity, and measuring results. Drawing from Better Sales Comp Consultants' recently-concluded research on sales operations’ quota-setting practices, this webcast features insights on what’s working for sales operations practitioners. Presenters include BSCC's Ted Briggs and Clinton Gott, and Fred Sass, Director of Product Marketing at Varicent Software....Read more

Many sales organizations embrace coaching as an essential sales management role. With good reason: coaching's impact on sales force effectiveness and salesperson development has a tangible impact matched by few other management activities. Yet even those organizations that make sales coaching a priority sometimes struggle with how best to measure...Read more