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Sales operations is a set of business activities and processes that help a sales organization run effectively, efficiently and in support of business strategies and objectives. Sales operations may also be referred to as
sales Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in ...
, sales support, or business operations.


Categories

The set of sales operations activities vary from company to company but often include these five categories:< Sales force enablement * Sales process development * Sales process adoption and compliance * Sales development * Sales training * Sales force communications management Business analytics * Sales metrics * Sales forecasting Sales administration * Proposal/contract development * Vendor selection and management * Planning process stewardship Attainment planning * Incentive sales compensation plan design * GTM strategy alignment with roles and components * Territory analysis and definition * Goal setting Sales operations mandate and design * Chief of staff to the sales organization * Stewardship of sales force capacity * Initiative change management * Sales operations team design * Sales operations talent management The sales operations team members are often liaisons for sales to other parts of the organisation such as finance,
marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
,
legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...
, QA and IT departments. They represent the needs of sales in meetings and cross-functional projects. More and more companies are forming sales operations departments within their organizations and, per the sales operations excellence center, sales operations is an established process and considered to be vital contributor to business operations and accounting functions. Sales operation analysts as a department usually have sales analysts who work directly under them, supplying them with the data needed to make decisions. These decisions can transform a fragmented and stilted model into a customer-adaptive enterprise. Nowadays, many businesses use internet tools to improve sales function.


Sales target

A sales target is the minimum sales goal for a set time span. A sales target may be a minimum amount of value (monetary) or product sold (volume). Sales targets may also be for sales activities, such as number of calls per day.
Management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...
usually sets the sales targets and the
sales territory A sales territory is the customer group or geographical area for which an individual salesperson or a sales team holds responsibility. Territories can be defined on the basis of geography, sales potential, history, or a combination of factors. Comp ...
. The time span could be set for the day, week, month,
fiscal quarter A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ju ...
or year.


Sales territory

A
sales territory A sales territory is the customer group or geographical area for which an individual salesperson or a sales team holds responsibility. Territories can be defined on the basis of geography, sales potential, history, or a combination of factors. Comp ...
is usually the customer group or geographical area assigned to an individual salesperson or a sales team. The geographical area may also be assigned to a
franchisee Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busine ...
,
distributor A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark plug ...
, or
agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...
. A territory may also be assigned by industry verticals, such as all retailers or all wholesalers in a geographical area. A sales territory may be as large as a
continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas t ...
,
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...
,
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
or
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
, or as small as a precinct, suburb,
town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
or
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
. Generally, a sales manager will assign a sales territory based on the territories of the sales resources reporting to him/her.


Sales forecasting

Sales
forecasting Forecasting is the process of making predictions based on past and present data. Later these can be compared (resolved) against what happens. For example, a company might estimate their revenue in the next year, then compare it against the actual ...
uses past sales figures to predict the short-term or long-term future performance to enable sound
financial plan In general usage, a financial plan is a comprehensive evaluation of an individual's current pay and future financial state by using current known variables to predict future income, asset values and withdrawal plans. This often includes a bud ...
ning. Historical sales and/or economic data is often used to improve the forecast of sales. For shops and stores,
market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers: know about them, starting with who they are. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness. Mar ...
may yield the following indicators for deriving initial forecasts:Three Methods Of Sales Forecasting - Sales Forecasting By Multiple Methods Is Most Accurate
/ref> * average sales volume per unit area for similar shops in similar locations of similar size * number of consumers or consumer households in appropriate vicinity of the store and their annual expenses on the product in question


See also

{{Wiktionary, sale *
Choice architecture Choice architecture is the design of different ways in which choices can be presented to decision makers, and the impact of that presentation on decision-making. For example, each of the following: * the number of choices presented * the manner i ...
*
Customer relationship management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study big data, large amounts of information. CRM systems data collectio ...
*
Customer service Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services. Each industry requires different levels of customer service, but in the end, the idea of a well-performed service is that ...
* Demand forecasting * Point of sale * Retailing *
Sales (accounting) In bookkeeping, accounting, and financial accounting, net sales are operating revenues earned by a company for selling its products or rendering its services. Also referred to as revenue, they are reported directly on the income statement as ''Sa ...
*
Sales incentive plan An incentive program is a formal scheme used to promote or encourage specific actions or behavior by a specific group of people during a defined period of time. Incentive programs are particularly used in business management to motivate employees ...
*
Sales management Sales management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical application of sales techniques and the management of a firm's sales operations. It is an important business function as net sales through the sale of products and ...
*
Sales process engineering Sales process engineering is intended to design better ways of selling and make salespeople's efforts more productive. It has been described as "the systematic application of scientific and mathematical principles to achieve the practical goals ...
*
Sales promotion Sales promotion is one of the elements of the promotional mix. The primary elements in the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/public relations. Sales promotion uses both media and non-media marketin ...
*
Sales territory A sales territory is the customer group or geographical area for which an individual salesperson or a sales team holds responsibility. Territories can be defined on the basis of geography, sales potential, history, or a combination of factors. Comp ...
* Sales variance *
Selling Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
*
Trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
* Transaction


References

Business terms Sales Selling techniques