Today's sales environment is defined by a complex mix of elements, namely, artificial intelligence, social selling, and ever-changing data privacy laws. Amidst all the noise, it can be hard to tune in to the real reason why your sales may be dropping—unless you partner with a sales operations consultant.
These professionals provide expert insight into your revenue department and offer data-driven strategies for improvement. Put simply, a sales operations consultant can help you craft a more effective sales pipeline, boost team communication, and optimize your tech stack to keep up with modern market demands.
Core responsibilities of a sales operations consultant
The role of a sales operations consultant is twofold: Identify areas of improvement, then implement practical, effective solutions in those areas. But how exactly do they accomplish these goals?
Analysis, system customization, sales planning, and sales reporting.
Analyzing and improving sales processes
A top priority for a sales ops consultant is assessing your current workflows to find opportunities for optimization. To that end, consultants may dig into your lead generation, prospect management, and deal-closing processes to pinpoint stages that cause delays and suggest streamlining measures.
Not only can this provide your team with a strong sales roadmap to follow, but it can also improve team selling communication and, in the long run, boost your bottom line.
Customizing your CRM to match your sales process
Customer Relationship Management systems (CRMs) are essential for tracking sales progress and managing client relationships—but businesses often struggle to make their CRMs work effectively for them.
Sales operations consultants draw on their blend of technical and strategic knowledge to customize CRM platforms like HubSpot to match your workflow and fit your business’s unique sales process.
Depending on your CRM platform, customization can include:
Adjusting data fields to match specific industry needs
Setting up automated alerts (for instance, when someone requests a demo)
Automating repetitive workflows
Implementing APIs
Regardless of their specifics, all customizations are aimed at making your CRM an even more powerful asset for sales tracking and decision-making.
Formulating sales strategies and plans
Once your consultant has analyzed your processes and implemented CRM customizations, they’ll continue to work with you to formulate new sales strategies that:
Leverage your CRM’s new customization data
Take advantage of automations
Align with future sales goals and forecasts
Forecasting and reporting sales
An experienced consultant turns sales forecasting from guesswork into science. They leverage data analytics and industry trends to predict where your next big sales opportunities are.
If your business is launching a new product, for instance, a sales operation consultant might dig into historical data to anticipate sales volumes, helping you allocate resources appropriately.
Aligning sales strategy with business objectives
Sales operations consultants also ensure your sales strategy doesn’t exist in a vacuum. In other words, they align your marketing, sales, and other key departments and keep them in good communication. Why?
Companies often see increases in revenue when silos between departments are eliminated—especially when it comes to sales and marketing departments.
For this reason, your consultant might:
Install new CRM workflows that ping key team members to keep everyone informed and aligned on sales or other important updates.
Set up modern communication channels, such as Slack, to streamline reporting and sharing team news.
Coordinate campaigns between marketing and sales teams to facilitate stronger collaboration.
All of this can contribute to more unified efforts that complement your long-term business goals—ensuring that every future sale moves your company in the right direction.
Technology stack evaluation and customization
Sales operations consultants will also take a deep dive into the specific technologies and tools your sales team uses daily. They’ll evaluate the effectiveness of your current tech stack to learn how each tool impacts your sales process. These tools might include:
Your CRM system
Marketing automation tools
Sales enablement platforms
The goal is to ensure that each piece of technology is not just functioning but optimized to support and enhance your sales processes. For instance, if your CRM isn’t effectively tracking customer interactions or sales progress, a consultant might suggest integrations or add-ons to improve its functionality.
They may also identify redundancies where multiple tools serve the same purpose, suggesting consolidations for efficiency.
Ongoing team training and handbook development
Implementing new tools and strategies is only half the battle. Sales operations consultants also focus on making sure that your team is well-trained to adapt to these changes. They’ll develop comprehensive training programs and handbooks that guide your team through new processes and technologies, facilitating a smooth transition and fostering a culture of continuous learning.
Picking the right sales operations consultant
Given their many responsibilities, it should come as no surprise that choosing the right sales operations consultant for your business is crucial. Sure, you need someone who is tech-native and sales strategy savvy. But you also need someone who understands the unique challenges and opportunities your business faces.
Partner with Skydog Ops for better revenue operations
The very best sales operations consultants are analytical, data-driven, and collaborative. They value genuine results more than fluff metrics, and they take the time to learn about your exact needs so that they can identify the most effective solutions for your business.
At Skydog Ops, our sales operations consulting services start with developing a deep understanding of your business before tailoring strategies and systems that amplify your unique sales process. Schedule a call today to learn how we can help you achieve your sales objectives and drive sustainable revenue growth.