One of the reasons I enjoy working in Sales Operations is that you have the honor of being the liaison between Sales and other departments. You often lead or participate in cross-functional projects and gain a strong understanding of what marketing, product, IT and other areas do and what they need from sales. You get to have your hands in just about everything!
If you play this part well, it will benefit the entire company. Internal customer service will improve, productivity will increase and ultimately business results will improve.
If you don’t take this responsibility seriously, you become part of “the problem”. You add to the silo building and dysfunction often found in (some, not all ) organizations.
What can you do to become a better liaison and representative for sales? Here are 5 tips:
1) You need to speak their language.
The language of marketing is filled with words like strategy, planning, data, campaign, budget and modeling. The IT folks make mention of infrastructure, systems, back-ups, server storage and contingency plans. HR wants to hear about people, research, facts, policies, and documentation. By speaking their language, you gain credibility and strengthen relationships.
Build The Team! Break Down The Silos!
2) You need to adjust to their work style.
This may not apply to all companies, but I have noticed that IT folks tend to come in very early and leave before 5PM, when there is not a crisis or major upgrade scheduled. If you meet with HR about a problem, they will ask you for all of the details (who, what, where, when), so come prepared. Finance folks (surprise) want the numbers, not anecdotes or opinions. Make an effort to adjust your style to align with their’s, whenever appropriate.
3) You need to keep other departments “in on things”.
At my last two companies, Monster.com and Deluxe, instant messaging was used as a very effective, internal communications tool. If something happened in another department, you could learn about it almost instantaneously through IMing. Second most popular, was email- and both companies had a “Blackberry in meetings” culture.
Everyone likes to be in on things and Sales Ops usually hears about many things first. Whenever you hear about something that is not confidential, but is of interest to other departments, let them know. Send a quick FYI, IM or email. Let them be one of the first departments to hear the good things and bad things. And, I assure you that they’ll return the favor.
4) You need to be a Sales Department advocate.
Have you heard any of these quotes from external departments: “Sales is spoiled.” “Sales always gets what they want” “Sales reps are overpaid.” I have. The sales teams often get a bad reputation in other organizations because, let’s face it, they are a demanding bunch. That is why they are salespeople and that is what makes them successful.
As a Sales Operations leader you need to support the sales team and help build empathy for the hard work that they do. Selling is not an easy job, especially in this economy. Help remind your colleagues of this. Encourage them to spend time in sales and see what happens first hand.
5) You need to be a Sales Department buffer.
As I just mentioned, sales employees can be demanding- some more than others. If you observe a situation brewing between someone in sales and another area within your company, offer to get involved and help. Instead of an angry sales rep. calling a customer service supervisor, offer to make the call. You can often act as the “voice of reason” and objectivity, which usually leads to faster problem resolution.
Have some other tips? Please add them to the comments section.
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