What Is a Sales Operations Manager? How to Become One, Salary, Skills.

Sales operations managers help sales teams become more productive and efficient by integrating technologies into sales processes. Here’s what to know about a sales operations manager’s needed skills, salary and how to become one.

What Is a Sales Operations Manager?

Sales operations managers streamline sales processes with sales technologies and automations.

What Do Sales Operations Managers Do?

Sales operations managers integrate technologies into sales workflows to ensure sales teams have the resources needed to perform at a high level while meeting sales objectives.

Sales Operations Manager Responsibilities

• Evaluate sales processes and pinpoint areas that need improvement. 
• Integrate technologies and automations into sales workflows. 
• Work with sales managers, sales executives and other sales team members.
• Help set goals for sales teams and make projections based on performance results. 
• Manage a team of sales operations specialists.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities of a Sales Operations Manager

• Review sales workflows and processes, locating certain tasks that technologies can simplify or automate. 
• Analyze data on team and individual performances, determining who is meeting goals and offering suggestions to sales leaders on compensation plans.
• Work with sales operations specialists to maintain technology standards and ensure all tools are functioning properly. 
• Meet with sales managers, vice president of sales, director of sales and other executives to discuss sales team’s progress and projections. 
• Explain customer relationship management (CRM) systems, automation tools and other technologies to sales team members.

Sales Operations Managers Within a Company

Sales operations managers are the leaders of sales operations teams and oversee the work of sales operations specialists and analysts. They may collaborate on initiatives with sales managers while reporting to the VP of sales or director of sales.

Importance of Sales Operations Managers

Sales operations managers are responsible for finding ways to simplify and streamline sales processes. Without these leaders, sales personnel may struggle to meet their objectives due to inefficient workflows. The success of sales teams and a company’s revenue depend on the work of sales operations managers.

What Skills Are Needed to Be a Sales Operations Manager?

Qualifications to Be a Sales Operations Manager

• Background in sales, business, marketing or a related field. 
• Prior experience working in sales and sales operations. 
• Proven success in a management or leadership role. 
• In-depth knowledge of the latest sales technologies. 

Sales Operations Manager Prerequisites

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, accounting or a related field.
• Master’s degree in business administration or a related field (not required, but highly recommended for career advancement). 
• At least three years of relevant work experience. 
• At least a year of experience in sales operations.

Sales Operations Manager Hard Skills

• Extensive knowledge of sales processes and workflows. 
• Skilled in collecting and analyzing sales data. 
• Ability to build sales forecasts based on performance data and other factors. 
• Management experience, especially in the sales field. 
• Familiar with CRMs, data visualization tools and other sales technologies.

Sales Operations Manager Soft Skills

• Decision-making skills for determining sales technologies to adopt.  
• Leadership skills for collaborating with sales executives and holding sales reps accountable for meeting goals. 
• Analytical thinking that promotes making data-informed decisions. 
• Competitive mentality for finding ways to speed up processes and push sales teams to raise their performance levels. 
• Long-term thinking for understanding how current performance data affects the revenue outlook for a sales team and company as a whole.

Tools and Programs Sales Operations Managers Use

• Sales CRMs like HubSpot, Salesforce and ClickUp. 
• Sales automation tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, DocuSign and Gong.
• Sales intelligence platforms like ZoomInfo SalesOS, Apollo.io and Groove. 
• Sales dashboard software like Pipedrive, Databox and Klipfolio. 
• Online meeting platforms like Zoom, Dialpad and Microsoft Teams.

How to Become a Sales Operations Manager

Sales Operations Manager Education and Experience

Sales operations managers often complete a bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, finance or a related field. Senior sales operations managers also possess a master’s in business administration or a related field. To break into the industry, professionals can start in an entry-level role like inside sales representative. They may then move on to become sales executives and then sales managers before transitioning into sales operations specialist roles. Professionals may also transition directly from an entry-level sales role to a sales operations specialist position.

Sales Operations Manager Certificates and Courses

• Sales training programs and courses for increasing sales knowledge. 
• Leadership training programs for boosting management capabilities.
• Professionals sales operations certifications for CRMs like Salesforce. 
• Sales management certifications like this training program.

Sales Operations Manager Career Path

After completing their education, sales operations managers often begin their careers in entry-level roles like inside sales rep. They may move up to sales executive and then sales manager. However, some professionals may transition into a sales operations specialist or analyst role directly from an entry-level sales role. Sales operations managers can then pursue a senior sales operations manager role or higher-level role like VP of sales and director of sales.

Sales Operations Manager Salary and Job Outlook

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of sales managers is set to increase by 5 percent between 2021 and 2031. 

The full compensation package for a sales operations manager depends on a variety of factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s experience and geographic location. See below for detailed information on the average sales operations manager salary.