The Information-Driven Nature of Modern Sales Operations

There was a time when sales operations were driven by personalities, offices, teams, and regional trends. Today, those factors almost seem like a fairy tale from a fantasy book. Sales logistics today are heavily data-driven and constantly changing.

That means teams and sales leaders need to start the day by putting them back on track with everything that happened and changed overnight in terms of market shifts, logistics challenges, market movements, account updates, and team formulas.

All of those elements and more require the ability to see an aggregate of fluid information quickly, easily, and accurately. Otherwise, most firms will simply not be able to compete effectively anymore in a modern global market. 

Connecting the Holistic Approach to Internal Sales Support

A key advantage sales leaders have is the ability to stay coordinated with operations across different disciplines of a company and its partners. That involves both programmatic issues as well as financial.

It is key in making sure sales teams don’t over-commit but can also jump and leap forward when opportunities become momentarily available, knowing full resources are available for the strategic move to happen quickly and powerfully.

No one wants to be “that” sales team who landed a big account and then lost it because basic commitments couldn’t be fulfilled only a few weeks or months later on delivery. 

Real-Time Dashboard Perspectives are Needed

S&OP analysis provides the foundation and information infrastructure for market players to move quickly and in a nimble fashion as internal and external fluctuations occur. That flexibility, provided by integrated information sharing from everyone, including sales planning to inventory to production to accounting and labor resources.

It also prevents operational waste, marketing inefficiencies, and runaway production or delivery costs by trying to meet commitment targets that suddenly change unexpectedly or don’t materialize. 

Don’t Be the Bureaucracy Victim

A common problem with larger organizations is that they eventually begin to function in a decentralized fashion, even if the management is officially a centralized company.

There is a point of being too spread out that ultimately makes it impossible to run everything centrally and remain efficient. The alternative is a horrible bureaucracy that slows everything down and eventually kills a company altogether.

Because decentralization is inevitable at a certain organizational size, S&OP analysis becomes a daily, critical tool to retain consistency and coordination across multiple lines. When every area is running on a sales strategy as a unified team, a tremendous amount of cost avoidance occurs and maximization of value-added functions becomes the norm. 

Sidelining Will Happen with Hesitancy

Companies that move forward today without integrated S&OP analysis tools in place are simply working blind. And it can be prevented, which is even more troublesome. In markets that now run 24/7 globally, there is no room for sloppy presence and uninformed selling.

Such businesses are simply being sidelined by digitally savvy players leveraging their existing data in a smart manner to support sales efforts. With all that is possible with technology, not applying S&OP analysis regularly would be like driving without a seatbelt at high speed – sooner or later it will be a fatal mistake.