Sales Ops software: the strategy (and tools) to boost and scale your B2B prospecting and sales process

Sales Ops software is a bit like the strategic brain behind your sales teams. 🧠

Salespeople are usually out in the field, but Sales Ops is in charge. They don’t sell, but they make sales happen more, better, and faster. 💸

Do you manage sales, ops, or growth? Sales Ops is what helps you see clearly, work faster, and sell better. 😇

Ready? Let us show you how to get your sales ops in order. ⤵️

What is Sales Operations?

So, as you can see, Sales Ops is the one pulling the strings. 🎎

They don’t sign contracts, but they make sure that everything runs smoothly for those who do (tools in place, smooth processes, reliable data, clear reporting, etc.).

He also acts as the link between tools, figures, and teams. He structures the sales team so that everyone can focus solely on their job and doesn’t have to copy and paste into the CRM at midnight (which can happen in a panic 😅).

But if you want to go into more detail, here are his tasks:

• He implements the right tools and onboards his team onto them.
• He automates what can be automated, simply.
• He deciphers KPIs and discusses them with marketers and salespeople.
• He gives management visibility with dashboards.
• They save everyone valuable time.

Where does Sales Operations Manager fit into the organization?

Spoiler alert: pretty much everywhere. That’s exactly why it’s essential for your team 😅.

He works closely with the teams:

• Sales.
• Marketing.
• Data.
• Tech.
• Management.

It’s simple: whenever we talk about pipelines, CRM, conversion, or reporting, he’s bound to know what we’re talking about. 👀

And if you want to know in detail what they do with these teams:

• Sales ⭢ understands their daily pain points and improves the process.
• Marketing ⭢ Ensures that leads are properly transmitted, qualified, and followed up on.
• Tech or Data ⭢ liaises with these teams to ensure the reliability of information.
• Management ⭢ provides clear and actionable reports.

In short, they don’t directly manage the other teams, but they make sure they work together with the right sales ops software and the right figures. 🔢

What is the difference between Sales Ops and Sales & Operations planning ?

Although they sound similar, Sales Ops and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) cover very different scopes in an organization. 👇🏼

Aspect	Sales Ops	S&OP (Sales & Operations Planning)
Goal.	Improve sales efficiency and execution.	Align demand, supply, and financial planning.
Scope.	CRM, processes, reporting, tools, team performance.	Forecasting, supply chain, inventory, production.
Team.	Sales, RevOps, Growth, Marketing.	Operations, Finance, Supply Chain, Execs.
Tools.	CRM, automation, reporting, enablement.	Forecasting, ERP, supply planning software.
Output.	Better conversion, reduced cycle time, clear KPIs.	Balanced supply & demand, optimized production, cost savings.

If you’re trying to scale a B2B sales organization and improve pipeline conversion, focus on Sales Ops.
If you’re in manufacturing or logistics, and need supply/demand balance, look into Sales & Operations Planning software. 🤖

Why does Sales Ops software make a difference for your sales teams?

Let’s be honest, salespeople want to sell, not struggle with a CRM or search for hidden reports on page 3 of a dubious Google Sheet. 🤨

This is exactly where Op Sale comes in. It takes away everything that isn’t selling. It:

• 🔵 Frees up time.
• 🔵 Simplifies processes.
• 🔵 Makes information visible so you can close deals faster (and better).

Let’s take a simple example:

Your sales rep spends 30 minutes a day preparing follow-ups, searching for the right contacts, checking the CRM to see if the prospect has already been contacted, and scheduling an email sequence.
The result is 2.5 hours lost per week, or 10 hours per month (not counting sales).

Sales Ops automates this part, sets up a multi-channel sequence (LinkedIn + Email with a tool like Waalaxy), qualifies leads in advance, and synchronizes everything with the CRM. 🪄

And if you still think this job isn’t useful, read this table and we’ll talk about it later. 👀

Situation	Without Sales Ops	With Sales Ops
Organization of the sales process.	Each sales rep does their own thing.	Harmonized and shared process.
Lead management.	Unqualified leads, poorly tracked.	Upstream qualification, automated follow-up.
CRM.	Out of date, poorly used.	Cleaned up, structured, actually used.
Performance tracking.	Manual reporting, unclear.	Clear KPIs, in real time.
Preparation of prospecting sequences.	Long, manual.	Automated with dedicated tools.
Sales/Marketing alignment.	Frequent misunderstandings, lack of sharing.	Shared data, consistent lead tracking.
Visibility for management.	Incomplete or contradictory data.	Reliable and actionable reporting.

Sales Operations Planning: 5 steps to Scale Smart

Well, with everything we’ve told you, you should now understand that Ops Sales is important.

Now you must be thinking, “Where do I start to implement this? 🤔”

Luckily, we’re giving you the five steps to creating a solid strategy on a silver platter. ⬇️

Step 1 of sales operations planning: Audit your existing situation

Before you want to change anything, you need to know where you stand. 🛣️

So, a good audit involves asking yourself the following questions:

• What tools are currently used (and adopted)?
• Where is time being wasted?
• Which tasks could be automated?
• Is the data reliable, accessible, and centralized?
• Who does what in the sales cycle,and who should be doing it?

The goal of this step is to identify friction points, repetitive tasks that are mentally taxing, and areas where the salesperson is wasting time instead of selling. 🛍️

Step 2 for sales and operation process: Put the right KPIs in the right place

A pastry without measurement doesn’t work. Well, here it’s the same: no strategy without measurement, and no measurement without the right indicators. 📏

So let’s take a look at the commercial performance indicators that need to be defined from the outset:

• Conversion rate per funnel stage.
• Lead qualification rate (MQL ⭢ SQL).
• Average sales cycle.
• Average value per deal.
• CRM adoption per user.
• Pipeline coverage.
• Difference between forecast and actual figures.
• Sales efficiency per employee.

Step 3 of sales operation: Choose the right tools

You can have the best salespeople in the world, but if they use a lot of tools without ever linking them together, you’re headed for disaster…

Here is a small example depending on your type of business. 👇🏼

Type of business	Recommended stack
SME.	Hubspot + Waalaxy + Notion + Google Sheets (yes, seriously).
Scale-up.	HubSpot/Salesforce + Waalaxy + Zapier + Aircall.
Enterprise.	Salesforce + Power BI / Looker + Gong + Outreach + Segment.

Why Waalaxy? Because it will help you:

• 🟣 Automate your prospecting.
• 🟣 Qualify your leads.
• 🟣 Sort and organize your messages.
• 🟣 Save considerable time.

Step 4 of sales and operations planning software: Automate what you can

When we talk about automation, we’re not just talking about running robots around.
Rather, it’s about identifying low-value, repetitive tasks and delegating them to machines. 🤖

We recommend automating: ⤵️

• LinkedIn prospecting + Email.
• Lead qualification.
• Enrichment of contact records.
• Sequence tracking.
• Sending recurring reports.

Step 5: Train, test, adjust (and repeat)

This last step is crucial. You can have the best tool in the world, but if no one uses it, it’s useless. 😶‍🌫️

To do this, you need a plan of attack:

• You form teams.
• You create internal “champions” (tool referents).
• You collect feedback.
• You correct, improve, and relaunch.

Best Sales Ops software tools

Now, we’re going to recommend four tools that will make your life easier. 🧘🏻

1) Sales automation tools: Waalaxy, the tool to generate, qualify, and scale your B2B prospecting

Waalaxy is the tool that will allow you to automate, structure, and track lead generation on LinkedIn and Email. 👽

Here’s what you can do with it:

• Creation of automated multi-channel sequences (LinkedIn + Email).
• Integrated lead scoring qualification.
• Prospecting performance tracking (open rate, response rate, appointments, etc.).
• Advanced segmentation (behavioral filters, targeted campaigns).
• Seamless integration with CRMs (Hubspot, Pipedrive, Salesforce via Zapier or API).

Okay, but what type of business is this tool designed for? 🤔

Type of organization	Recommendation
Small business/Independent.	Ideal tool for prospecting: simple, effective, autonomous.
SMEs.	Allows you to standardize prospecting, launch several campaigns in parallel, and track performance.
Scale-up.	Key component of the top of the funnel: allows you to industrialize lead generation while personalizing it.
Enterprise.	To be integrated into an SDR or Growth team to manage volume, while connecting to CRM and BI.

And if you’re still hesitating to adopt Waalaxy as a tool, here are a few arguments I’ve been saving up:

• Database enriched with over 500 million profiles, available as soon as you sign up.
• Automatic triple verification of emails with 99% deliverability.
• Strict compliance with GDPR: Waalaxy incorporates smart quotas to simulate human behavior.
• Responsive human support (even for freemium users).
• Interface and support available in 11 languages.

So, convinced? 😏

2) Sales operation tool Hubspot: the CRM to structure your sales

Hubspot is a cloud-based CRM that combines several modules (sales, marketing, customer service, CMS, etc.).

The tool allows you to:

• Track the sales pipeline in real time.
• Define sales stages.
• Connect marketing and sales data.
• Create reports without relying on a developer or analyst.
• Manage sales rep onboarding with built-in mini-guides.

The tool is recommended for. ⤵️

Organization	Why?
Small businesses.	Perfect for quickly structuring a sales cycle from A to Z.
Scale-ups.	Flexible enough to keep pace with growth (Pro/Enterprise version).
Enterprise.	Suitable for autonomous BUs/small teams and limited in cases of high complexity or heavy integration.

3) Sales analytics tools PowerBI: the dashboard that speaks to everyone

Power BI is Microsoft’s business intelligence tool. It allows you to connect multiple data sources (CRM, Excel, ERP, Google Analytics), cross-reference them, and visualize them via dashboards.

Why is it useful? 🤔

If you are asked to produce a table showing performance by channel, salesperson, and month, you will be very glad you have it 😅.

If you want the details:

• Centralize Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, and other data.
• Create customized reports for each level (sales operations, managers, executive management).
• Track pipeline progress and identify potential bottlenecks.
• Measure prospecting actions.

The tool is recommended for. ⤵️

Organization	Why?
SMEs.	Interesting when you want to easily combine CRM and data marketing.
Scale-up.	Essential for managing performance by channel/team/segment.
Enterprise.	Essential BI standard for managing large-scale sales.

4) Sales forectasting Clari: allows you to anticipate

Finally, Clari is a smart sales forecasting tools and revenue.

It usually connects to your existing tools to give you a real-time view of your pipeline, detect risks, and help forecast results. 📊

It allows you to:

• View the pipeline in real time by sales representative, segment, and closing date.
• Identify risky deals (no follow-up, stagnation).
• Align forecasts between sales teams and management.
• Save operational time on weekly reviews.

Clari (sales forecasting software) is recommended for. ⤵️

Organization	Why?
Scale-up.	” Ideal for moving from management based on gut feeling “to a real data-driven strategy.
Business.	Essential for making forecasts more reliable and avoiding unpleasant surprises.
SMEs/VSEs.	Not a priority if your sales process is simple or manual.

How to successfully adopt Sales operations software?

Choosing a tool is one thing. Adopting it is another story 😅.
And if you work in a Sales, Ops, or RevOps team, you know what I’m talking about.

Three months later, no one is using it anymore…

Why? Because most projects fail to adopt the tool properly.

But don’t worry, here are our 5 tips for successfully adopting a sales tool!

1) Set clear objectives and use cases

Before choosing an AI tool for sales, define what you expect from it:

• Save 30% of the time spent on lead qualification.
• Reduce the sales cycle by 15 days.
• Improve CRM adoption (target completion rate of 90%).
• Obtain reliable sales forecasts for 30, 60, or 90 days.
• Improve coordination between Sales and Marketing.

2) Test on a handful of your team

There’s no point in showing your new tool to all your teams right away.
We recommend starting with a test phase involving a small group of people. 🫂

For example: 👇🏼

• 🟣 A single sales team.
• 🟣 One specific campaign.
• 🟣 A single prospecting channel (LinkedIn, email, etc.).
• 🟣 A specific case (automatic follow-up of cold leads with Waalaxy).

Don’t sit around twiddling your thumbs while you wait:

• 🔵 Observe how they use the tool.
• 🔵 Take all the feedback.
• 🔵 Analyze the initial results.
• 🔵 Adjust the settings if necessary.

3) Identify internal champions

The best way to adopt a product is to give it to the elite. 👀

To do this, choose:

• 1️⃣ One or two “champion” profiles in the sales team.
• 2️⃣ Someone who is proactive and curious.
• 3️⃣ A member of the Ops or Growth team.

4) Create a simple onboarding process

Okay, even if the tool is adopted, it now needs to be made quick and easy to use. 😇

I promise, it’s not complicated. Here’s how to do it: ⤵️

• A clear onboarding guide.
• A few demonstration videos.
• A checklist of initial actions to take.
• Concrete examples.
• A communication channel (Slack, Notion, dedicated email, etc.).

KPIs for evaluating the impact of Sales performance

A good strategy is nothing without numbers. 💭

That’s why here is a list of the best KPIs to track in order to measure the impact of Sales Ops. ⤵️

Type of KPI	Target	Examples of KPIs	What Sales Ops can learn from it
Productivity.	Save time and boost field efficiency.	– Number of actions/day (emails, calls, LinkedIn). – Time spent on each task. – % of time dedicated to sales.	Identify tasks to automate, reduce time wasted on administrative tasks.
Data quality.	Ensure a clean and reliable CRM.	– Completion rate of records. – Volume of duplicates. – Tool synchronization.	Clean up databases, make CRM more reliable, improve the Sales & Marketing experience.
Sales performance.	Track the impact on sales.	– Conversion rates (lead → appointment, appointment → deal). – Average sales cycle. – Average value per deal.	Optimize the marketing funnel, detect bottlenecks, prioritize hot leads.
Predictability & control.	Anticipate rather than react to results.	– Gap between forecast and actual. – Volume of at-risk deals. – No-show rate.	Make forecasts more reliable, prioritize urgent deals, reassure management.
Adopt tools.	Verify actual use of tools.	– Weekly/monthly usage rate. – User feedback. – CRM completion rate.	Adapt training, improve UX, adjust the stack according to usage.

How about a recap?

We often think that salespeople choose everything, but in reality, it’s Sales Ops that pulls the strings. 🧶

They connect teams, make tools talk to each other, clean up data, automate without overloading, and transform your sales processes into a growth machine. 📈

Warning:

• 🔵 It does not replace your sales team, it assists them.
• 🔵 It does not sell for you, it gives you the means to sell better.

With the right tools (such as Waalaxy, to generate, qualify, and follow up on your leads and prospects), you have the opportunity to scale quickly. 🚀

Whether you are a new SME or a rapidly growing scale-up, we recommend that you start your strategy with Sales Ops right away. 💡

Frequently asked questions

Wait, don’t leave so quickly, we still have a few resources to share with you. 💬

What to look for Sales Ops Software?

Choosing the right sales operations software can seriously boost your teams’s productivity or create friction if it’s poorly matched. 👀

Here’s what to look for based on your business maturity :

• Easy integrations with your existing CRM, marketing tools, and BI dashboards.
• Automation capabilities (lead routing, sequences, and task assignments).
• User-friendly UX so reps actually use it.
• Reporting & dashboards that provide real-time visibility.
• Scalability fits a growing team without breaking.

What is the difference between sales ops and revenue ops?

This question comes up a lot. Here’s the breakdown. ⤵️

Aspect	Sales Ops	Revenue Ops (RevOps)
Focus.	Enable sales efficiency.	Align all revenue functions (Sales, Marketing, CS).
Scope.	Sales tooling, processes, KPIs.	Full customer lifecycle (from lead to renewal).
KPIs.	Pipeline coverage, win rates, CRM adoption.	CAC, CLTV, NRR, funnel efficiency.
Collaborates with.	Sales, Marketing, Growth.	Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Finance.
Example tools.	Waalaxy, Salesforce, Hubspot, Power BI.	Same + subscription billing tools (e.g. Chargebee), CS platforms (e.g., Gainsight).

When does a company need SalesOps?

A company needs SalesOps when:

• Your salespeople spend more time on administrative tasks than on selling.
• Your leads get lost between marketing and sales.
• Your tools don’t communicate with each other.
• You feel that your processes are slowing down growth.

What does OPS stand for in sales?

You can measure the impact of SalesOps by looking at the right performance indicators. 📊

Here are a few examples:

• Time saved by sales representatives on non-sales tasks.
• Improved CRM completion rate.
• Shortened sales cycle.
• Increased conversion rate at each stage of the funnel.
• Reliability of sales forecasts.

I think that’s everything you need to know about Sales Ops software for now. See you soon! 👋