Sales operations leaders have downright essential jobs, being responsible for developing and managing an effective sales process based on their customer’s buyer journey. They need to help their sales reps excel and find ways to improve their productivity so that they only have to focus on selling.
Sales operations, therefore, is a massive role, and it’s one that often requires a lot of experience and knowledge.
Looking for new ways to excel in sales and improve your sales team performance, or are you even considering a role as a sales operations leader? Check out these 13 sales operations leaders to follow in 2023.
And as a bonus: Many of these sales ops leaders shared what lessons they learned and how they disrupted their industry by going against the grain (and achieved better results in the process) during our recent Hot Takes Live.
Sales Operations Leaders to Follow
1. Clay Miner
The first on our list of Sales Operations leaders is Clay Miner, the Global Vice President of Sales and Value Engineering at Pendo.io, where he’s been working in sales engineering since 2018.
Miner has a strong history of developing, implementing, and selling enterprise-grade software. Still, his diverse background serves him well with a fresh perspective and a new way to solve problems. He also has experience as a mechanical engineer and has worked as a consultant for larger businesses across different industries as well as being active in early startups.
One of his defining beliefs is the idea that you’re not just selling a product but that you’re selling organizational change. Trust is a vital part of this, which means you need to be good at listening. He will touch on this during his upcoming Hot Take Live, so make sure you catch the full interview!
2. Brian Gerrard
Brian Gerrard is the Sales Director at Outreach, a sales execution platform, which makes him exceptionally qualified as a sales operations leader you should consider following.
Gerrard joined Outreach as the fifteenth employee and helped it scale from 5-9 figures in annual recurring revenue, which is no easy task.
He values integrity and respect, especially when it comes to a brand’s customers. He also knows that success depends heavily on really understanding people’s needs, which is a crucial part of business analysis when establishing a sales program.
Brian Gerrard is generous with his learned experience, often appearing as a guest for interviews or podcasts. Check out this podcast featuring Gerrard.
3. Tarmo van der Goot
Tarmo van der Goot is the Vice President of Sales of EMEA at Chargebee.
He’s been working at Chargebee since 2020, during which time he’s risen from the Director of Sales to the Senior Director of Sales and all the way to VP of Sales in just a few years. He’s been working as a sales manager since 2012 across different companies, and he’s brought a strong skillset and a dedicated work ethic to help elevate the sales teams’ performance.
He’ll be one of our speakers at our upcoming Hot Take Live event, where he’ll share why discovery isn’t dead… you’re just thinking about it wrong.
Hot Takes Live Replay
Catch the replay of Hot Takes Live, where 48 of the top SaaS leaders across Marketing, Sales, and RevOps revealed some of their most unpopular opinions about their niche.
These leaders shared what lessons they learned and how they disrupted their industry by going against the grain (and achieved better results in the process).
4. Cooper Krauss
Cooper Krauss is the Global Director of Sales Development at Degreed, which is a learning and skills development platform for both individuals and businesses.
Krauss is a SaaS sales leader that works hard to help sales teams identify inefficiencies and broken processes so that he can also help them resolve said issues quickly.
He thinks that the future of sales involves those who lean into personal branding, community, and content marketing, all of which can help create standout sales reps and experiences for customers.
He’s all about simple processes and data-driven decision-making that can enhance—if not revolutionize—the customer experience.
He’s also trained sales teams to facilitate cold calls and emails that actually work, overcome objections, and close deals.
Krauss writes great content about sales operations, some of which can be seen here.
5. Irina Soriano
Irina Soriano is the Vice President of Enablement at Seismic. She’s also a keynote speaker and author that regularly writes and talks about branding.
Soriano is a “life brand” expert, which she defines as “our current and future digital fingerprints.” She is passionate about teaching younger generations about life-brands to build more confidence through their careers, and she manages a large team of 20+ practitioners across aisles, marketing, customer success, and partner departments at Seismic.
Soriano is incredibly active on LinkedIn, so make sure you follow her here.
6. Johan Benoualid
Johan Benoualid is the General Manager of EMEA and APAC for Akeneo, which is a SaaS tool designed to help businesses improve the customer experience for increased sales.
Benoualid has been working at Akeneo for the past five years, but he’s been working as a sales manager for over 10 years. He specializes in topics like digital business, digital transformation, branding, system integration, and (of course) sales operations.
Benoualid will be one of our upcoming speakers at the Hot Take Live event, so make sure you register now!
Hot Takes Live Replay
Catch the replay of Hot Takes Live, where 48 of the top SaaS leaders across Marketing, Sales, and RevOps revealed some of their most unpopular opinions about their niche.
These leaders shared what lessons they learned and how they disrupted their industry by going against the grain (and achieved better results in the process).
7. Andrea Staderini
Andrea Staderini is the Head of Sales at Blis, which is an audience-first advertising platform. He’s also an entrepreneur and a visiting professor at Roma Tre University.
Staderini, like some other sales operations leaders on this list, has a diverse background. He’s got 20 years of experience spanning a digital TV executive career before becoming a digital entrepreneur, giving him extensive skills in digital and marketing fields.
You can follow Andrea on LinkedIn here.
8. Collin S. Smith
Collin S. Smith is the Head of Commercial Strategy and Operations at Viz.ai.
As he states on his LinkedIn, Smith’s mission is to solve human problems with scalable technology, so it only makes sense he works in the AI field.
His expertise spans across B2B enterprise models, revenue growth, global commercial strategies, digital health, artificial intelligence, SaaS, and software technology, giving him an incredible skill set that makes his job as the head of commercial operations much more impactful.
Smith will be one of our speakers at the upcoming Hot Takes Live event, so don’t miss what he has to share!
9. Vin Matano
Vin Matano the Senior Account Executive at DemandBase, which is an account-based marketing platform.
Matano is all about preventing sales and marketing teams from spamming their prospects, knowing this is the last thing that will actually drive sales.
He started selling during college and now works to help B2B marketers and sales reps reach their account-based marketing goals. He’s also a content creator determined to help salespeople reach their goals more effectively… and that includes selling the right way without spamming people.
Matano is active on LinkedIn and shares outstanding insights on the platform. Make sure you follow him here. You should also check out his podcast, Project Growth.
Hot Takes Live Replay
Catch the replay of Hot Takes Live, where 48 of the top SaaS leaders across Marketing, Sales, and RevOps revealed some of their most unpopular opinions about their niche.
These leaders shared what lessons they learned and how they disrupted their industry by going against the grain (and achieved better results in the process).
10. Jimmy Ku
Jimmy Ku is the Head of Growth, Developed Markets at Flutterwave.
Throughout his entire career, Ku has prioritized finding ways to deliver the highest degree of value possible.
In addition to his work at Flutterwave, he’s talked to over 1,300+ startup founders, offering 30-minute growth and fundraising guidance sessions. With his help, startups have raised over $540M in additional funding, largely from Seris A and Series B rounds.
He’s also a venture partner for 10X Capital, an angel investor, and an advisor to a number of different companies.
Ku is one of our upcoming speakers, so make sure you don’t miss his Hot Take!
11. Donti Twine
Donti Twine works at Kaseya (IT management software) as the Director, Sales Specialist.
Twine lives and breathes technology sales. As he puts it, it’s not just a job, “it’s a calling.”
He works with clients and employers to best understand and solve their most difficult obstacles, working to drive breakthroughs by listening and learning and incorporating operational strategies that he knows work based on previous experience. He’s invested in training others and sharing his knowledge, making him an outstanding sales leader to follow.
Make sure you keep an eye on Twine’s upcoming Hot Take Live!
Hot Takes Live Replay
Catch the replay of Hot Takes Live, where 48 of the top SaaS leaders across Marketing, Sales, and RevOps revealed some of their most unpopular opinions about their niche.
These leaders shared what lessons they learned and how they disrupted their industry by going against the grain (and achieved better results in the process).
12. Nicholas Ghitti
Nicholas Ghitti is the Chief Revenue Officer at Trace Finance, and he’s a self-proclaimed problem solver and people leader. He has a track record of successfully helping SaaS and Fintech companies grow through sales, as well as helping B2B brands grow their businesses into new markets, regions, and audiences.
He’s spent the last ten years creating high-performing sales and business development teams from scratch for big-name tech brands like VTEX and EBANX. Smart processes, up-to-date methodologies, and well-chosen tech play a crucial role in his sales strategies.
He believes that anyone can excel in sales if they put their mind to it, so make sure you don’t miss his tips about how to turn your sales team into a data-generating team.
13. Luca Ranaldi
Luca Ranaldi is the Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer at Spring Health. He’s a senior tech executive with almost twenty years of experience.
In that time, he’s scaled four B2B and B2C companies in multiple industries across multiple continents, achieving ultra-rapid growth in both business size and revenue. He’s worked with teams of all sizes, ranging from start-ups to companies with hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
He’s passionate about user-centered innovation to create great products that customers want and using that to revolutionize industries.
He’s all about leading with a growth mindset, and in addition to his full-time job, he also has his own Startup and Scaleup advising services. You can contact him through his LinkedIn.
Best Sales Operations Leaders: Final Thoughts
Sales operations is such a big topic, but all 13 of our sales operations leaders have great insights that we can all benefit from. Some of these experts are going to be sharing their spiciest hot takes in our upcoming event, but many have podcasts, articles, or LinkedIn activity you can follow to learn more.
Ready to hear what some of the best sales operations leaders in 2023 have to say? Catch the replay of Hot Takes Live, where 48 of the top SaaS leaders across Marketing, Sales, and RevOps revealed some of their most unpopular opinions about their niche.