Vice President of Sales Operations

Higginbotham•Lehi, UT

About The Position

Position Summary: The Vice President of Sales Operations is a senior leadership role accountable for building and scaling the sales team and performance engine that drives top-line growth across the firm and its direct-to-insured brands, as well as channel sales opportunities. This role designs and executes a phone-first, script-driven sales culture that emphasizes disciplined prospecting, rapid qualification, short-cycle consultative selling, and consistent close practices. The VP partners closely with Marketing Automation Engineering, Digital Marketing, Product/Program Management, and underwriting/program leadership to align messaging, offers, and funnel mechanics. Key responsibilities include sales operating strategy, territory and quota architecture, pipeline health, forecasting and performance management, KPI dashboards, and the execution of QBRs and recurring sales performance reviews. The VP also co-owns event logistics with Marketing and supports strategic business development initiatives. Supervisory Responsibilities: Leads and manages Producers, Brokers, BDRs, SDRs, and Sales Operations personnel. Oversee hiring, onboarding, coaching, and ongoing performance management. Ensures adherence to sales processes, operating cadence, activity expectations, and KPI accountability. Provides coaching to reinforce high-activity and high-quality phone-based selling. Essential Tasks: Leadership & Strategy Define the sales vision, targets, segmentation strategy, lead distribution, and performance incentives aligned to program objectives and carrier commitments. Collaborate with executive leadership on compensation structures balancing fixed performance bonuses and MBOs. Implement and enforce a disciplined operating cadence, pipeline reviews, forecasts, QBRs, and annual planning. Align cross-functional teams (Program Management, Underwriting, Service/Operations) for cohesive go-to-market execution. Direct to Insured (DTI) Sales Execution Build and refine sales scripts, objection-handling frameworks, discovery processes, and closing techniques. Institutionalize phone-first prospecting through daily dial goals, voicemail/SMS frameworks, rapid lead response SLAs, and time-to-quote targets. Promote short-cycle consultative selling, including immediate qualification, defined quote paths, bundling/cross-sell prompts, and decisive next steps. Partner with Marketing to develop battlecards, one-pagers, and competitive reference materials. Funnel Design & Conversion Co-own the full funnel with Marketing Automation Engineering (MAE) and Digital Marketing, including lead scoring, routing, UTMs, speed-to-lead, and conversion processes. Maintain CRM data integrity across Salesforce and Zoho. Conduct funnel diagnostics and execute split tests to optimize conversion. Publish weekly cohort and campaign performance reports and drive pipeline grooming. Forecasting, Reporting & Reviews Own forecasting and quota management; communicate risk, upside, and capacity planning scenarios. Lead QBRs and recurring sales performance meetings. Standardize executive and carrier dashboards for written premium, retention, hit/bind ratios, cycle time, and productivity metrics. Events, Outreach & Field Enablement Co-manage events with Marketing: show selection, budgets, pre-show outreach, on-site scripting and staffing, lead capture methods, and post-show follow-up SLAs. Provide teams with playbooks, talk tracks, checklists, and objection matrices tailored to each program and audience. Compliance, Licensing & Quality Partner with Compliance/Operations to ensure adherence to licensing requirements, surplus lines rules, TCPA guidelines, SMS/email consent procedures, and documentation standards. Monitor sales quality, including disclosure accuracy, E&O safeguards, and clean handoffs. Strategic Business Development Support Support Program Management with business cases, program launches, and carrier presentations, providing voice-of-customer insights and early pipeline validation. Participate in partner and prospect meetings; contribute to multi-year growth planning across carriers, channels, and affinity groups. Operating Cadence & Rituals Daily: Structured call blocks, morning stand-ups, real-time call coaching, SLA and speed-to-lead monitoring, and rapid issue resolution. Weekly: Performance reviews, cohort and conversion analysis, and coordinated funnel/campaign tune-ups with Marketing Automation and Digital teams. Monthly: performance review, cohort analysis, campaign/funnel tune-ups with MAE/Digital. Quarterly: Internal and partner QBRs, territory and quota recalibration, enablement refresh cycles, and assessment of strategic initiatives. Annually: Comprehensive business planning, compensation and territory design, headcount/hiring roadmap development, and multi-program growth planning.

Requirements

10+ years in sales leadership (P&C insurance—programs/MGAs preferred), including direct-to-insured channels.
Proven experience building phone-centric sales teams with strong script discipline and short-cycle consultative closes.
Expertise with CRM, dialer/telephony, lead routing/scoring, and dashboard development.
Strong hiring, coaching, and performance management skills.
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or related field (or equivalent experience).

Nice To Haves

Property & Casualty insurance license strongly preferred or obtain within 3 months of hire.
Relevant sales methodology certifications (Challenger, SPIN, Sandler) a plus.

Responsibilities

Define the sales vision, targets, segmentation strategy, lead distribution, and performance incentives aligned to program objectives and carrier commitments.
Collaborate with executive leadership on compensation structures balancing fixed performance bonuses and MBOs.
Implement and enforce a disciplined operating cadence, pipeline reviews, forecasts, QBRs, and annual planning.
Align cross-functional teams (Program Management, Underwriting, Service/Operations) for cohesive go-to-market execution.
Build and refine sales scripts, objection-handling frameworks, discovery processes, and closing techniques.
Institutionalize phone-first prospecting through daily dial goals, voicemail/SMS frameworks, rapid lead response SLAs, and time-to-quote targets.
Promote short-cycle consultative selling, including immediate qualification, defined quote paths, bundling/cross-sell prompts, and decisive next steps.
Partner with Marketing to develop battlecards, one-pagers, and competitive reference materials.
Co-own the full funnel with Marketing Automation Engineering (MAE) and Digital Marketing, including lead scoring, routing, UTMs, speed-to-lead, and conversion processes.
Maintain CRM data integrity across Salesforce and Zoho.
Conduct funnel diagnostics and execute split tests to optimize conversion.
Publish weekly cohort and campaign performance reports and drive pipeline grooming.
Own forecasting and quota management; communicate risk, upside, and capacity planning scenarios.
Lead QBRs and recurring sales performance meetings.
Standardize executive and carrier dashboards for written premium, retention, hit/bind ratios, cycle time, and productivity metrics.
Co-manage events with Marketing: show selection, budgets, pre-show outreach, on-site scripting and staffing, lead capture methods, and post-show follow-up SLAs.
Provide teams with playbooks, talk tracks, checklists, and objection matrices tailored to each program and audience.
Partner with Compliance/Operations to ensure adherence to licensing requirements, surplus lines rules, TCPA guidelines, SMS/email consent procedures, and documentation standards.
Monitor sales quality, including disclosure accuracy, E&O safeguards, and clean handoffs.
Support Program Management with business cases, program launches, and carrier presentations, providing voice-of-customer insights and early pipeline validation.
Participate in partner and prospect meetings; contribute to multi-year growth planning across carriers, channels, and affinity groups.