What Does a Sales Operations Specialist Do? (And How to Become One)

Sales teams include professionals, from those responsible for direct sales to customer service reps, sales managers, and others. One key member of a sales team is the sales operations, or sales op, specialist. In this role, you help coordinate sales activities, methods, and strategies to ensure time is spent on valuable and effective work. Sales operations specialists help direct sales professionals to streamline their processes and meet business objectives and goals.

Discover what a sales operations specialist does, the average salary, and different career options for sales operations professionals.

What does a sales operations specialist do?

Sales operations specialists support the sales team by designing, implementing, and improving the processes involved with daily sales operations. As a sales operations specialist, you are responsible for ensuring the sales team has the resources and tools to complete their tasks and meet a business’s goals. This typically means you analyze data and metrics from sales activities and then translate that information to more streamlined and effective processes and databases for the sales team to use. Sales operations specialists are also responsible for automating repetitive tasks for the direct sales team, freeing up their time for increased client engagement.

Sales operations specialists tend to work within four different areas:

• Strategy: Optimizing sales processes, data analysis, forecasting, goal setting, territory planning

• Technology: Adapting and implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) platform, communication management, app and database management, automating tasks

• Operations: Product training, contracts, hiring, onboarding, managing knowledge databases

• Performance: Lead management, creating compensation plans, identifying KPIs

Depending on your interests, you may find a sales operations specialist role that works within all four of these categories or one that specializes in a particular skill set.

Typical tasks

The specific tasks you might expect in a sales operations specialist role vary based on the needs and goals of your employer, but some typical responsibilities include:

• Auditing and executing contracts

• Managing CRM like Salesforce and PeopleSoft

• Analyzing performance data

• Tracking the sales pipeline

• Identifying areas of improvement

• Automating repetitive tasks

• Monitoring data integrity

• Helping align sales and marketing goals

• Training and supporting the sales team on processes

Importance of sales operations

Sales operations help transform a sales team’s efforts from reactive to proactive—saving time and money and increasing output. Sales ops create effective workflows and processes that allow direct sales professionals to spend their time engaging with clients and closing deals. Sales operations analyze and organize data and then use that data to implement more efficient business operations.

Sales vs. sales operations

Sales teams interact directly with clients and potential customers, engaging them at various points of the sales funnel and moving them from initial interest to closed deals. Sales operations personnel do not interact with direct sales but support the sales team through analytics, coordinating resources and workflows, and optimizing processes to help the sales team close more deals faster and more efficiently. These two facets of sales work together to create a more productive and effective team overall.

Read more: What Is Sales Management: Definition, Scope, Objectives, Careers

Salary and job outlook

According to Glassdoor, sales operations specialists in the US earn an average annual salary of $64,901 [1]. Keep in mind your salary may be influenced by factors like location, industry, years of experience, and education level.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects approximately 1.8 million job opportunities for sales professionals from 2022 to 2032 [2]. 

Common career paths for sales operations specialists

If you have a love of analytics, collaborating with others, and the sales environment, a sales operations specialist role can be a great way to enter the field. This role is often labeled as entry-level and offers the opportunity to advance further once you’ve gained experience within the industry.

Education and experience

To become a sales operations specialist, you’ll need to have a strong technology and analytics background. Many people gain these foundational skills through a four-year degree. In fact, according to Zippia, 65 percent of all sales operations specialists have a bachelor’s degree [3]. Common majors include business or marketing to learn about the key skills for this role. 

In addition, many businesses prefer several years of experience. While gaining this experience typically occurs when studying for a degree, you can also look for opportunities to learn in your current profession, such as asking to shadow a sales professional. Some companies consider experience gained in adjacent sales roles, as well.

Core skills

Some skills to help you find success in a sales operations specialist role include:

Technical

• Knowledge of SQL

• Experience with CRM software like Salesforce

• Familiarity with marketing databases

• Data entry

Workplace

• Communication skills

• Analytical thinking

• Problem-solving skills

• Collaboration and teamwork

Certifications

Certifications in sales, specific skill sets, or software are great ways to demonstrate skill and expertise and set yourself apart in a competitive field. They may help advance your career because they show employers you are knowledgeable and an asset to your team.

A popular sales certification that may benefit you as a sales op specialist is the Salesforce Certified Administrator certification, offered by Trailhead, which helps you better understand how to use Salesforce and its features.

Read more: What Is a Salesforce Certification? Discover the Certifications Offered + How to Get One

Related roles

A sales operations specialist role is a great first step that helps you grow into related roles, such as:

1. Sales operations analyst

Average annual US salary (Glassdoor): $79,116 [4]

As a sales operations analyst, you will focus on collecting, analyzing, and interpreting a business’s sales data to help improve sales processes. You will perform market research to create positive customer experiences and streamline workflows. In this role, you may also write reports that track marketing campaign performance and use that to recommend new strategies.

2. Sales operations manager

Average annual US salary (Glassdoor): $91,639 [5]

As a sales operations manager, you will be a leader responsible for overseeing and managing a sales team. In this role, you will develop new strategies, set targets and goals, and ensure customers are happy with their employees’ performances. You may also manage inventory and sales processes to ensure productivity.

3. Sales operations director

Average annual US salary (Glassdoor): $115,456 [6]

As a sales operations director, you will be a professional responsible for overseeing the entire sales operations department. In this role, your main focus is increasing sales, which often includes creating high-level strategy, identifying areas that require improvement, and affecting change through business decisions. You may need to have a master’s degree for the role.

Getting started with Coursera

The role of a sales op specialist may be a good fit for you if you have strong organizational and communication skills. If you have a passion for efficiency and strategy, you may consider pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business or marketing to gain experience learning about sales and operations.

Sharpen your sales operations skills and learn the fundamentals needed for a sales operations specialist role on Coursera. You’ll find options like the Salesforce Sales Operations Professional Certificate or Reports, Dashboards, and Customer Success in Salesforce. Use these courses to help you find success in the sales operations field, specifically using the platform Salesforce.