Top 5 Trends That Will Impact Sales Operations in 2025
Top 5 Trends That Will Impact Sales Operations in 2025 RevOps 10 min The sales operations function went through dynamic changes this past year. Economic uncertainties in 2023 killed the “growth at all costs” model. In 2025, budgets will be tighter, talent scarce and selling more challenging. All these challenges make one thing clear – Delighting customers at every turn is what matters. If we walk backwards from this larger goal, it requires a maniacal focus on the customer. What do customers really need? How can they be assisted? How can they be helped with making confident purchase decisions without seeming pushy? To achieve this, sales teams have to meet customers where they are, at the right time. And act as their trusted advisors. Having complete visibility into the customer journey from lead to cash (to renewal and expansion) is critical to survive what lies ahead. The new mantra for sales operations in 2025 will be to “build a seamless customer journey.” This article will cover the top sales operations trends that 2025 can expect. It’s vastly different from the trends we saw last year. Which is a testament to the fact how fast things are changing in the B2B sales world. What is Sales Operations or SalesOps? Sales Operations refers to the function, role, activities or processes within a sales organization that help sales reps sell faster and better. This department is responsible for reducing frictions within the sales process. It enables reps to achieve higher win rates in a predictable and repeatable manner. The sales operations function strategizes on ways that can help sales reps focus on tasks that contribute to revenue. This includes implementing sales training, investing in tools and technology that eliminate roadblocks in selling, or creating processes that optimize the sales process for all reps. The ultimate goal of a sales operations function is to create a sales engine that runs smoothly. The sales operations function has a direct impact on business revenue. This department continues to be a strategic component of an organization’s structure. Top Trends To Expect in Sales Operations in 2025 B2B sales has been evolving at a rapidly fast pace, making traditional processes of operations obsolete. Some of the biggest challenges facing sales operations today include: 72% of B2B buyers demand a rep-free experience. 47% sellers say their sales tech stack does not boost their productivity or improves results. Close to half of operations professionals say that processes within their companies are only moderately data-driven or not data-driven at all. The confidence of operations professionals dipped over the last two years. As companies hold back on investments because of the downturn, sales leaders will have to devise new ways to survive and sustain in 2024. This puts sales operations in a unique position to help organizations navigate these new challenges. By embracing innovation and pivoting at the right time, sales operations leaders can provide some much needed relief in the tough months that await. They can do this by staying on top of these trends that demand attention: 1. Reduce Technology Overwhelm Among Sellers 2023 was the year of AI. The space of sales technology was already an exhausted field, and artificial intelligence tools just got added to the mix in 2023. But too many tools also cause overwhelm among salespeople. As high as 49% of sellers feel overwhelmed by the tech they are required to use for their jobs. This reduces the likelihood to attain quota by 43%. More tools in the tech stack add the burden of deployment, management and adoption. The goal for sales leaders is to evaluate what they have, consolidate wherever they can and optimize their tech stacks to improve productivity and execution across every role. Bloated tech stacks can also create many problems in disguise and add to a lot of hidden costs such as cost of integrating, tool fatigue, cost of siloed data and much more. Which is why 2025 will be the year of tech stack consolidation. Tech stack consolidation is the process of reducing the number of tools in a company’s tech stack by merging functionalities into lesser and more exhaustive platforms. The goal of consolidation is not to knock down all of the investments in point solutions that already exist. It demands a structured approach in analyzing which tools offer real value for sales teams. And eliminate tools that don’t add any merit to their day to day workflows. Sales leaders will have to do a cross-functional exercise to identify what their top use cases are for sales operations. And lay down a complete technology roadmap against these use cases. Teams that use tech stack that enable the full sales motion, from creating pipeline to closing deals are more likely to meet their revenue goals. A lean and fully capable sales tech stack is a reality as companies look to consolidate vendors while retaining the features and capability of their previous array of point solutions. If you are also looking to consolidate your sales tech stack in 2025, here’s an evaluation framework to get started on. 2. Strategic Multithreading Will Become a Competitive Differentiator B2B buying has changed drastically over the last few years. Relying on decade old strategies to close deals do not appeal to the modern buyer. Especially when buying is no longer a linear process or a one person event. From an average of 6.8 decision makers in every B2B purchase, the number has now gone up to 14. And most of these contacts never make it to the CRM. As they can be from other departments within the company calling the shots in the background. This is where strategic multithreading comes into the picture. Knowing exactly how many people are involved in a deal and having complete visibility into their needs, aspirations and expectations are vital for sales people to know. This kind of relationship intelligence enables reps to form relationships with multiple stakeholders on the buying committee of an account. And they have to do it in a strategic manner. Having access to the list of contacts that might be influencing a deal will be a saviour for sales