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Buyer Persona: Manufacturing Sales Operations Director

Version: 1.0 Last Updated: 2025-09-23 Status: Active

1. Persona Overview

Name: Robert Thompson

Role: Sales Operations Director / VP of Commercial Operations Industry: Manufacturing, Distribution, Industrial Equipment Company Size: 200-1000 employees Age: 42-55 Reports to: Chief Revenue Officer/CEO

Company Profile

  • Type: B2B manufacturer or distributor
  • Annual Revenue: $50M - $500M
  • Sales Team: 20-50 reps across regions
  • Business Model: Direct sales, channel partners, distributors

2. Background & Context

Professional Background

  • 15-20 years in manufacturing/industrial sales
  • Engineering or operations background
  • Deep understanding of supply chain
  • Manages complex B2B sales cycles

Current Situation

  • Managing multi-tier distribution channels
  • Complex pricing based on volume, geography, contracts
  • Long sales cycles (6-18 months) with multiple stakeholders
  • Need to coordinate with production and inventory

3. Goals & Objectives

Primary Goals

  1. Streamline quote-to-cash process reducing cycle time by 40%
  2. Improve channel partner management and performance visibility
  3. Enable configure-price-quote (CPQ) capabilities
  4. Integrate sales with ERP for inventory visibility

KPIs They Care About

  • Quote-to-order conversion rate
  • Average deal size and margin
  • Channel partner performance
  • Inventory turnover impact
  • Customer reorder rates
  • Sales forecast accuracy vs production planning

4. Pain Points & Challenges

Critical Pain Points

  1. Complex Pricing and Quoting
  2. Multiple pricing tiers and volume discounts
  3. Custom quotes for engineered solutions
  4. Contract pricing management

  5. No automated approval workflows

  6. Channel Management Complexity

  7. Direct sales, distributors, and partners in one system
  8. No visibility into channel pipeline
  9. Manual commission calculations

  10. Difficulty tracking deal registration

  11. ERP Integration Challenges

  12. Sales team can't see real-time inventory
  13. Manual order entry into ERP
  14. No link between forecasts and production planning

  15. Delayed order confirmations to customers

  16. Product Configuration Issues

  17. Complex product configurations with dependencies
  18. No guided selling for reps
  19. Engineering changes not reflected in CRM
  20. Custom product specifications tracking

5. Technology & Tools

Current Stack

  • Legacy CRM or industry-specific tool
  • SAP/Oracle/Microsoft ERP
  • CAD systems for engineering
  • EDI for large customers
  • Spreadsheets for pricing
  • Basic CPQ tool or manual quotes

Technical Proficiency

  • Comfort Level: Medium
  • Practical, results-focused
  • Values proven solutions
  • Concerned about change management

6. How Vettrix CRM Solves Their Problems

Key Value Propositions

  1. Advanced Product and Pricing Management
  2. Custom modules for products, pricing tiers, contracts
  3. Rule-based pricing engines
  4. Automated approval workflows

  5. Version control for quotes

  6. Multi-Channel Sales Management

  7. Separate workflows for direct vs channel
  8. Partner portal capabilities
  9. Deal registration and protection

  10. Channel performance analytics

  11. Deep ERP Integration

  12. Real-time inventory visibility
  13. Automated order transfer
  14. Production forecast integration

  15. Credit limit checking

  16. Flexible CPQ Capabilities

  17. Product configuration rules
  18. Guided selling workflows
  19. Engineering spec attachments
  20. BOM (Bill of Materials) management

7. Buying Behavior

Decision Process

  • Timeline: 6-9 months
  • Budget Authority: $60K-150K annually
  • Key Stakeholders: CEO, CFO, VP Sales, IT Director

Evaluation Criteria

  1. ERP integration capabilities (30%)
  2. Handling pricing complexity (25%)
  3. Industry-specific features (20%)
  4. Implementation time and risk (15%)
  5. Total cost of ownership (10%)

Objections to Overcome

  • "We need industry-specific functionality"
  • "How does this integrate with our SAP system?"
  • "Can it handle our complex pricing matrix?"
  • "Will our channel partners use it?"

8. Messaging That Resonates

Power Phrases

  • "Connect sales to operations seamlessly"
  • "Quote complex products in minutes, not hours"
  • "Real-time inventory visibility for accurate promises"
  • "Manage direct and channel sales in one platform"

Proof Points Needed

  • Manufacturing customer success stories
  • SAP integration examples
  • CPQ capabilities demonstration
  • ROI from faster quote-to-cash

Competitive Differentiation

  • More flexible than industry-specific solutions
  • Better manufacturing focus than generic CRMs
  • Stronger ERP integration than competitors
  • Can handle both simple and complex products

9. Discovery Questions

  1. "How long does it take to generate a complex quote today?"
  2. "Can your sales team see real-time inventory when quoting?"
  3. "How do you manage different pricing for different channels?"
  4. "What percentage of quotes require custom engineering?"
  5. "How integrated is your sales forecast with production planning?"
  6. "What's your current quote-to-order conversion rate?"

10. Success Metrics

What Success Looks Like (9 months)

  • 50% reduction in quote generation time
  • 20% improvement in quote-to-order conversion
  • 100% order accuracy (no manual re-entry)
  • 30% improvement in forecast accuracy
  • Complete visibility into channel pipeline

Expected ROI

  • $2M+ revenue from faster quote turnaround
  • 25% reduction in order processing costs
  • 15% improvement in on-time delivery
  • 30% reduction in pricing errors
  • 10% increase in channel partner productivity

11. Industry-Specific Considerations

Must-Have Features

  • Multi-currency and multi-language support
  • Warehouse and location management
  • Lot and serial number tracking
  • Compliance and certification tracking
  • RFQ (Request for Quote) management

Nice-to-Have Features

  • IoT integration for connected products
  • Service contract management
  • Warranty tracking
  • Trade show lead capture
  • Customer portal for reorders

Integration Requirements

  • ERP (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft)
  • Shipping and logistics systems
  • EDI for major customers
  • CAD/PLM systems
  • Business intelligence tools