Primary Function
Sales Operations optimizes the entire deal capture and closure process, from territory design and quota setting through forecasting, pipeline management, CRM administration, sales enablement, and compensation management.
This is the operational arm most directly responsible for revenue generation. When Sales Operations functions well, sales teams close more deals faster with higher win rates and greater predictability.
Core Processes
Territory Planning & Quota Management
Strategic account distribution, capacity planning, and quota allocation that balances fairness with market opportunity while ensuring adequate coverage.
Key Activities:
- Geographic and account-based territory design
- Named account assignments
- Quota setting and allocation
- Territory rebalancing and optimization
Sales Forecasting & Pipeline Analysis
Systematic forecasting processes, pipeline health monitoring, and deal progression analysis that enables accurate revenue prediction and early risk identification.
Key Activities:
- Weekly/monthly forecast collection and consolidation
- Pipeline coverage analysis
- Deal stage progression tracking
- Win/loss analysis and pattern identification
Sales Technology & CRM Management
Implementation, configuration, and ongoing administration of sales technology stack with focus on data quality, process automation, and user adoption.
Key Activities:
- CRM configuration and customization
- Sales tool integration and automation
- Data quality management
- User access and permission management
Sales Enablement & Training
Programs and systems that ensure sales teams have the knowledge, skills, content, and tools needed to sell effectively.
Key Activities:
- Onboarding and ramp programs
- Sales methodology and process training
- Sales content management
- Competitive intelligence and battlecards
Sales Compensation Management
Design, implementation, and administration of compensation plans that drive desired behaviors and fairly reward performance.
Key Activities:
- Compensation plan design and modeling
- Commission calculation and payment
- SPIFFs and accelerators
- Quota attainment and payout tracking
Performance Analytics & Optimization
Measurement, analysis, and continuous improvement of sales performance across all metrics and activities.
Key Activities:
- Sales productivity analysis
- Sales cycle and velocity metrics
- Rep performance evaluation
- Process effectiveness measurement
What Excellence Looks Like
Forecast Accuracy
Consistently accurate revenue forecasts within 5-10% variance from actuals, enabling confident business planning and resource allocation.
Pipeline Health
Systematic pipeline generation and management with 3-4x coverage ratios, clean stage progression, and predictable conversion rates.
Territory Balance
Fair territory distribution with comparable opportunity and attainment rates across segments, minimizing complaints and turnover.
Sales Productivity
Reps spend 60%+ time selling (not on admin tasks), new reps ramp to full productivity in 3-6 months, quota attainment averages 85%+.
CRM Adoption
95%+ data completeness and accuracy in CRM, sales team views CRM as helpful (not bureaucratic burden), automation reduces manual work.
Compensation Clarity
Reps understand how they're compensated, payments are accurate and timely, comp plans drive desired behaviors without gaming.
Common Dysfunction Patterns
The Forecast Theater
Weekly forecast calls consume hours but accuracy remains poor. Reps sandbag, managers inflate, executives distrust the numbers. Forecasting becomes performative rather than predictive.
Impact: Inability to plan resources, missed investor expectations, reactive decision-making.
The Territory Wars
Territory assignments are political rather than strategic. Top performers get best accounts, creating success cycles. Struggling reps get leftovers, creating failure cycles. Territory planning consumes months of negotiation.
Impact: Unfair comp outcomes, rep turnover, uncovered market segments.
The CRM Garbage Dump
CRM is treated as reporting requirement, not sales tool. Data is incomplete, inaccurate, outdated. Reports are unreliable. Sales team views CRM as administrative burden.
Impact: Can't measure what matters, poor handoffs, lost opportunities, inability to optimize.
The Compensation Confusion
Comp plans are complex, change frequently, calculated incorrectly, paid late. Reps don't understand how they're measured. Gaming and disputes are common.
Impact: Demotivated reps, wrong behaviors, legal risk, finance conflicts.
The Enablement Gap
New reps are thrown into territories with minimal training. No consistent onboarding. No sales methodology. Content is scattered across shared drives. Competitive intel is outdated.
Impact: Long ramp times, inconsistent execution, lost deals, high early turnover.
Coordination with Other Arms
Sales Operations cannot function in isolation. Critical coordination points include:
→ Marketing Operations
Lead handoff processes, lead qualification criteria, lead routing rules, marketing attribution, campaign ROI measurement.
Common failure: Sales rejects leads as unqualified, Marketing blames Sales for not following up, no closed-loop reporting.
→ Customer Success Operations
Expansion opportunity handoff, renewal forecasting, customer health data, account transitions, cross-sell/upsell processes.
Common failure: Success identifies expansion but has no systematic way to hand back to Sales. Opportunities lost.
→ Order-to-Cash Operations
Quote generation, deal approval workflows, contract terms, order processing, revenue recognition rules.
Common failure: Sales promises terms Finance can't support. Deals get delayed in approval. Customers confused by billing.
→ Pricing & Finance Operations
Pricing guidelines, discount approval, deal margin analysis, quota setting aligned with budget, forecast to plan reconciliation.
Common failure: Sales discounts erode margins. Finance changes prices without informing Sales. Quotas disconnected from budget.
→ Professional Services Operations
Implementation capacity, project scoping, statement of work creation, delivery timelines, services revenue forecasting.
Common failure: Sales over-promises implementation speed. Services can't deliver. Customer satisfaction suffers.
Assess Your Sales Operations
Our diagnostic evaluates Sales Operations effectiveness across:
- Territory design and quota allocation fairness
- Forecast accuracy and pipeline health
- CRM data quality and adoption
- Sales enablement and ramp time
- Compensation clarity and administration
- Coordination with other operational arms
Get Your Sales Operations Health Score
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