Research Services

Sales Operations Strategies

B-to-b sales is not getting any easier. A more informed buyer is challenging salespeople to better align their sales process to the buying process. Sales operations must create and analyze sales data in real time to predict changes in the market and show sales leadership how to adjust in order to stay competitive. Understanding how best-practice sales organizations analyze and trend their business in order to provide quality thought leadership is necessary to support the critical decisions that sales leaders must make.

Sales Operations Strategies™ (SOS) from SiriusDecisions provides the best practice research, benchmarking data, analytic models and thought leadership necessary to leverage and enhance your existing sales strategy and increase efficiency. SOS delivers objective data and intelligence to compare and contrast your own efforts to peer organizations, and provides thought-provoking research on industry trends, cutting-edge tactics and measurement strategies.

OPERATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Compare key benchmark metrics such as pipeline ratios and sales expense with peer companies from the SiriusIndex of Fortune 500s and SMBs
Learn how best practice sales organizations use intelligent data analysis to improve sales processes and forecast accuracy
Visualize and communicate your sales operations challenges with frameworks, models and issue spectrums that allow you to determine the most appropriate course of action
Understand the latest tools and technologies that can support the administrative components within a sales cycle

REPRESENTATIVE COVERAGE AREAS

Sales Operations – Learn how sales operations can be a proactive sales enabler rather than just a numbers cruncher
Sales Planning – Understand the key areas of strategic planning that best-in-class organizations use
Sales Process – Create a best-in-class sales process that is aligned to the buying process and drives more effective opportunity management
Sales and Marketing Integration – Understand the alignment strategies that best practice organizations are using to systematically enhance lead flow and improve client messaging
Sales Technologies – Learn which technology and service providers are automating key procedures to maximize selling time

REPRESENTATIVE MODELS

Sales and Marketing Framework – Models the 12 required sub-functions in today’s b-to-b environment that play a significant role in the generation of reputation, demand creation and sales optimization
Sales Operations Assessment Model/Productivity Map – Tools and processes to assess the impact of and identify opportunities for sales operations
Sales Pipeline Dynamics – Framework to improve the validity of revenue-based pipeline/forecast models and develop a productivity-based perspective that drives improvements to the quality and velocity of sales opportunities
Sales Technology Value – Framework that assesses the cost and value of currently deployed sales technology applications with the process to improve current capabilities and prioritize incremental sales technology investments
Inside Sales Framework – Provides models of the six sub-functions of inside sales that are essential to effective lead development and demand management

DELIVERABLES

Incorporating SOS into your workflow is easy. Interact with SiriusDecisions research analysts in the manner that suits your needs. You may speak with our analysts by phone, send an inquiry via e-mail or participate in interactive webcasts and in-person forums with analysts and peers. You will also have access to published research, presentations and rich media-based content on demand via the client portal.

Research:

Research Briefs: Monthly research notes that frame executive-level sales and marketing issues in a concise layout. Three to four briefs are delivered to you each month, and are archived on the research portal.
SiriusPerspectives: A monthly newsletter in a concise layout that provides a high-level overview of a sales and marketing topic dealing with demand creation, sales optimization or reputation development.
Vendor Profiles: Reviews of emerging suppliers who may be beneficial to your demand creation efforts. SiriusDecisions also plots suppliers on our vendor matrices, allowing you to analyze and narrow your choices.
Core Strategy Reports: Provides key observations and commentary on SiriusDecisions presentations introducing critical models, frameworks and strategies. Tackles more complex sales and marketing issues, and introduces new areas of research in a white paper format.
SiriusTools: Frameworks, models and issues spectrums that allow you to more easily visualize and communicate your challenges, and to determine the most appropriate courses of action.
Rich Media: Webcast archives in rich media format that can be replayed at your convenience, shared with team members or used for training purposes.

Analyst Inquiry: Unlimited analyst inquiry privileges are offered as part of SOS membership; you can schedule analyst time via phone or email. Discussions often focus on best practices, data, analytic tools or vendor reviews.

SiriusDecisions Sales Benchmark: The SiriusIndex of b-to-b companies captures multiple data elements across a vast set of organizations and serves as the foundation of our proprietary benchmark. Included in your SiriusDecisions membership is the opportunity to input your demographics, sales budget, pipeline data and process information through our benchmark survey for an in-depth comparison to your peer set in the SiriusIndex database.

Events: Peer interaction is a valuable way to understand how others are solving similar issues, and to build your network. SOS membership includes bimonthly Webcasts and quarterly half-day research forums, as well as discounted pricing on all SiriusDecisions conferences.

Upcoming Webcast: How can you create measurement that matters? Learn more at our June 4th Webcast.

Below, please find a partial list of recently published SOS research.

Brief
Account-Based Models: Is Sales Ready?

Moving to an account-based model may seem like a natural progression for a sales organization as its customer base matures. The change, however, requires a well-planned strategic transition. In this brief, we outline a decision process to help b-to-b sales organizations determine whether they are prepared for the transition to an account-based model.

Brief
The Sirius Indicator: Sales Analytics Tool Vendors

In this brief, using the six dimensions of the Sirius Indicator, we discuss the major categories to consider when evaluating and scoring sales analytics tool vendors.

Brief
Sales Force Automation: Post-Deployment

After the initial deployment of a sales force automation (SFA) system, sales operations is the “master craftsman” responsible for maintaining it, often with help from IT and marketing operations. In this brief, we outline three sets of guidelines for maximizing the post-deployment effectiveness of an SFA system.

Brief
Advanced Analytics Roles in B-to-B

Advanced analytics – the use of statistical and mathematical methods to understand and predict customer and prospect behavior – requires a specialized team. In this brief, we describe four roles that support an advanced analytics initiative.

Brief
Dashboard Guidelines: Sales Operations

Within b-to-b organizations, sales operations is responsible for creating dashboards that measure the performance of sales, but the operations function itself should not be exempt from the same type of scrutiny. In this brief, we present a three-phase approach to creating a sales operations dashboard.

Brief
Lean Principles and B-to-B Sales

In this brief, we consider lean principles to identify common areas of waste within the sales organization, identify solutions and dispel misperceptions.

Brief
Reversing the Rearchitected Waterfall

In this brief, we explain how to use rearchitected demand waterfall conversion rates to model demand performance and budget requirements over a 12-month period.

Brief
Sales Force Automation: Vendor Selection

In this brief, the conclusion of a five-part series on preparing for an SFA implementation, we outline the elements of the vendor selection phase.

Brief
Has Your Organization Outgrown Its Sales Asset Management Tool?

There are clear signs that indicate when an organization’s sales asset management tool – especially a homegrown solution – is no longer meeting the needs of users. In this brief, we focus on how to recognize these warning signs, assess the current sales asset management situation and re-evaluate the usefulness of the asset management tool.

Brief
Sales Force Automation: Technology Requirements

In this brief, we outline a step-by-step process for gathering technology requirements for the selection and implementation of a sales force automation system.

Brief
More Demand Creation Metrics That Matter

Tracking performance metrics at each stage of the SiriusDecisions Demand Waterfall can help an organization improve the efficiency of its demand creation process by isolating specific trouble spots. In this brief, we describe waterfall metrics that organizations should use.

Brief
A Marketer's Guide to Defining Lead Quality With Sales

In this brief, we examine the factors that must be considered in order for sales and marketing to agree on a definition of lead quality.

Brief
Sales Force Automation: Process Definition

In this brief, the third in a five-part series on preparing for sales force automation (SFA), we outline the elements of the process definition phase.

Brief
Onboarding: The Role of Sales Operations

In this brief, we define the four roles – planner, presenter, analyst and student – that sales operations should play in the onboarding process for new sales hires.

Brief
Demand Waterfall Stage Velocity

In this brief, we describe the concept of waterfall stage velocity and how it’s measured, detail why it’s so critical and specify several waterfall stage velocity dependencies.

Brief
Sales Force Automation: Project Communication

In this brief, the second in a five-part series on preparing for a sales force automation implementation, we outline the elements of effective project communication.

Brief
Recurring Revenue Compensation Made Simple

In this brief, we define the data points needed to calculate recurring revenue, share formulas for recurring revenue compensation, and offer best practices for instituting a recurring revenue compensation plan.

Brief
Conducting a Field Content Collection Week

Lack of knowledge about field-created content represents a lost opportunity to leverage the talent within sales teams, and to improve sales content and enablement programs. In this brief, we describe how to fill this knowledge gap with regular field content collection weeks.

Brief
Developing a Sales Data Management Strategy

In this brief, we outline the critical elements to create an effective sales data management strategy, which is essential to ensure that the data needed by sales operations is available, accurate and complete.

Brief
Sales Force Automation: Project Management

In this brief, the first in a five-part series on preparing for the deployment of a sales force automation system, we outline the elements of the project management phase.