Hear from Sales Strategy & Operations Lead, Emily, on her experience and what it’s like working at Codat.
Briefly describe your role and how it impacts Codat’s mission.
I lead Sales Strategy and Operations, and my focus is to ensure all revenue teams are functioning efficiently and have the tools necessary to complete their jobs. I look after things like revenue targets, forecasting, territory planning, our sales tech stack, training, and more.
What led you to pursue this career path, and what about Codat specifically intrigued you?
I’ve always been a bit of a spreadsheet nerd and really enjoy good analysis. So when I realized I wasn’t cut out to be a traditional AE, Sales Operations seemed like a great way to apply my analytics and organizational skills while staying close to customer conversations and positively affecting a company’s revenue stream.
Codat was an extremely exciting opportunity for me due to the team’s early success in the UK and the green territory to expand into North America and beyond. Having a constantly growing Sales team means more data for me and my team to dig into and new and exciting challenges popping up all the time.
We know that Codat is in a niche space. What makes your role here unique from similar positions at other organizations?
We’re still very much a small, scrappy start-up, so I work with many different departments like Engineering, Data, and our Founders, to complete large projects without much red tape. We invest in best-in-class technology for our employees, which allows me and my team to become experts as we enable our organization to use each tool optimally. The trips to London once a quarter aren’t so bad either 😊!
You oversee Sales Strategy and Operations, break down the complexities of your role, and how you support the greater commercial business unit.
I think of Sales Strategy & Operations as four key pillars: People, Process, Technology, and Data/Reporting. First, we want to have the right salespeople working the correct deals and focused on the best territories to grow a book of business. Then, we need fully optimized sales processes and tech tools to make their jobs easier and give our prospects and customers a great experience at every step. Finally, we need to report and analyze our sales data to identify our ideal customer profile, shorten our sales cycle, increase our deal size, and make our revenue engine run smoother and faster.
What are some of the biggest challenges in your role?
Time management. Sales Strategy & Ops is still a small function at Codat, and there are endless projects to tackle. Stopping every once in a while to reflect on all the improvements we’ve made in the past few months and our plans for the next 12-18 is so important to keep us motivated and moving in the right direction!
If someone wanted to follow the same career path, where should they start?
Look to join a company early when you’re the first Sales Ops hire or part of a small, growing team. Having to cover many different responsibilities allows you to learn quickly and work with many stakeholders. Become masterful in key technology tools like CRM and Sales Engagement platforms, where you can immediately add value to teams with user tips and shortcuts.
What is the ideal background for someone on the sales team here at Codat?
We love consultative, thoughtful salespeople at Codat. When selling an API solution, it’s not one-size-fits-all, so the most successful people here are willing to ask thoughtful questions of our prospects and get on the same side of the table to build the right solution for their needs. Our Solution Engineers are obviously a key part of unlocking that value as well.
What personal and professional goals do you have for 2022?
Personal: Read 36 books, increasing from 21 last year (like a true Sales Ops nerd, I love a measurable goal).
Professional: Expand and mature Sales Operations and Enablement at Codat to support all our business needs – in London, New York, Australia, and beyond. We started both functions in 2021 and tackled a lot of low-hanging fruit. This year is about fixing the “hard” problems and building for scale as we prepare for more massive growth.
What are your favorite lunch spots near the office?
Daily Provision’s chicken milanese sandwich 4 lyfe!! Cava when I want to feel “healthy.”
What podcasts or books have you been hooked on lately?
I’m such a book nerd. “The Checklist Manifesto” by Atul Gawande is one of my favorites and is a methodology I use daily in my work life. I’m currently reading “Radical Candor” by Kim Scott to sharpen my #girlboss skills. And for something non-work-related, I just finished “Wish You Were Here” by Jodi Picoult, and it was a thrilling COVID read. 10/10 recommend.
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