What is a Sales Operations Manager (SOM)?
If you’ve ever found yourself wondering… “What’s the difference between an SOM and an SEM?” We get it. There’s confusion and overlap between various sales titles used at different organizations. What’s more, titles are often changing and adapting to industry trends.
The fast-growing, competitive nature of the SaaS industry has created an environment where new titles are needed to accommodate for completely new positions. What’s more, (slightly) different titles – à la Sales Development Rep vs. Business Development Rep – are created to sound more relevant, modern, and in line with company values and culture.
If you’re new to all this sales jargon, look no further! We’ve got you covered. Keep reading to find out exactly what a sales operations manager does, average salary for SOMs, career outlook, and available SOM jobs.
In sales, the acronym SOM usually stands for Sales Operations Manager. SOMs work with the sales team to streamline the sales process within their organization, so that the sales team can operate smoothly and efficiently.
Sales Operations Manager Job Description
In the world of SaaS, sales operations managers have the important responsibility of streamlining the sales process within their organization, often through enhancing automation and managing CRM data.
What does a Sales Operations Manager do?
The main role of a sales operations manager is to build custom solutions and solve complex problems for their organization’s sales team – whether that means identifying areas of the sales funnel to improve upon, or troubleshooting between departments. SOMs have a cross-functional position, as they work closely with members from various departments, including sales, marketing, product, and even HR.
Sales operations managers generally hold advanced degrees and/or have years of experience in the industry specific to the product or service they sell, enabling them to have an in-depth understanding of what their sales team needs to be successful.
Because they keep a close eye on the ever-changing needs of their business clients and industry-specific trends, SOMs can act as a liaison between the sales team and other departments in their organization.
Sales Operations Manager Salary
The average sales operations manager base salary is $81,287 annually in the US, with an additional commission or performance-based pay of up to $20,000 per year (source: HubSpot). This brings the average total pay for a sales operations manager to $101,287 per year in the US.
SOM Career Outlook
With the abundance of automation, software, and online marketing tools available on the market today, it may be worth wondering if sales positions will still be growing in a few years.
If you’re looking to grow your career in the sales industry, don’t worry – as the market outlook for sales operations managers is positive! 14% growth is projected for sales operations opportunities through 2028 across the US (source: Zippia).
Sales Operations Manager Jobs
Looking for available SOM jobs? Here are a few resources to help your search:
- Sales Operations Manager Jobs on LinkedIn
- Sales Operations Manager Jobs on Indeed
- Sales Operations Manager Jobs on Glassdoor
Which sales role is right for me?
The right sales role for you depends on your experience and expertise, but sales can be a good industry to get your start if you are entering the job market for the first time!
Some key characteristics of great sales and customer support professionals include:
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Great communicators
- Passion for what they are selling
- Willingness to roll up their sleeves and get the job done
- No fear calling and following-up with potential clients
- Positive attitude
- Creative and passionate about helping others
- Ability to multi-task across different platforms and forms of communication
- Ability to work well under pressure and with a team
Does this sound like you? Kixie is hiring, and we’d love to hear from you! We are looking for jovial, hard-working colleagues to share our journey as we change the landscape of business telephony.
