EPISODE SUMMARY
In this industry, the competition is tough. Companies are always finding ways to stand out. One way to do this is to make processes efficient. It would help improve almost all aspects of the business, leading them to achieve their goals. Some may focus on sales or marketing but little did they know that they should also be paying attention to their operations.
In this episode of SaaS-Story in the Making, B2B SaaS Sales Coach and host Matt Wolach and OpsAnalitica’s Founder, Tommy Yionoulis, talk about the importance of operations. Yionoulis has years of experience in hospitality management, people management, and software, which he combined in making OpsAnalitica. He shares crucial lessons and experiences in building his business to help SaaS founders scale theirs.
PODCAST-AT-A-GLANCE
Podcast: SaaS-Story in the Making
Episode: Episode No. 219, “How Improving Operations Can Make Your Company Stand Out”
Host: Matt Wolach, a B2B SaaS sales coach, Entrepreneur, and Investor
Guest: Tommy Yionoulis, Founder of OpsAnalitica
TOP TIPS FROM THIS EPISODE
Make the Change
Every company has its own story. More often than not, it starts with a personal pain that they want to solve. And this is how OpsAnalitica began. Yionoulis did not start building software, and he was a restaurateur, he did comedy and studied business. Along with these things, he has learned a lot about people, managing them, and even solving their pain.
Yionoulis had struggled with reporting 5000 audits in his previous job. It is almost impossible, so he made a more efficient approach. Using a form creator, he made a connected web form that can easily be converted to excel to review and track audits. And this was a major change in the company’s operations, which positively impacted.
The past change Yionoulis made for that company has led them to have a more productive approach to auditing. In return, it was the start of Yionoulis’ work towards improving companies’ operations through automation. Making this change proved that refining the company’s internal processes can help with other aspects’ success which, in this case, also made Yionoulis realize the pain he intended to solve for other businesses.
Be a People Manager
Working with different kinds of people gives you the skill of learning how to understand them better and to make them work together efficiently. It is a highly transferable skill applied in every business or industry. Because learning how to be a people manager enables you to handle anyone in any situation.
Yionoulis said, “if you’re good at being a Hospitality Manager, you can do anything. Because hospitality is hard, it forces you to be a great people manager.” Having to understand people at this level not only enables you to learn how to manage them but also to know which aspects you can improve. It is part of the reason why you should learn how to improve your operations. Because knowing well how your team functions gives you a macro level of sight on how they can improve as well. And soon, allows you to have the data to constantly track your team’s performance for further improvement.
Don’t Market Yourself Off A Cliff
Companies have different areas they want to use to scale. Some may focus on effective marketing strategies while others look into improving their sales process. On the other hand, Yionoulis believes that having great operations can surely help your software company on the same level. But this does not always mean making huge changes, rather, improving a lot of almost unnoticeable aspects that can create a strong impact on the business.
Yionoulis calls marketing without operations “marketing yourself off a cliff.” It is about being focused on showcasing your brand without making changes to your company’s issues. He also said, “it’s never been a huge, massive problem. It’s all these little death-by-1000-cut problems. In a restaurant scene, it is about accommodating customers well or ensuring that comfort rooms are clean. You have to solve these issues to improve your overall process and have your team work efficiently without them worrying about other things.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Operations Excellence Revolution
One of Yionoulis’ observations in the marketplace was that businesses are too focused on sales. When in fact, polishing your operations can make you stand out more. However, this cannot solely be done by learning how to manage people well and put them in the right places. With the rising competition and easy accessibility to SaaS, utilizing your operations using the software can make it easier for your company.
In using the right platform for your business, you can obtain data on the performance of your team. Yionoulis said, “they can hold their teams more accountable for doing all the little things that they need to do every day. But more importantly, can identify issues and crowdsource fixes to those issues because they’re collecting all of this data.”
The information can massively help in knowing how operations can be further improved. Knowing these fixes not only can help you solve issues but also find ways in differentiating your approach. Thus, being able to rise from the crowd. Your operations should be revolutionized through knowing the basics, understanding your team, and constant improvement with time.
TOP QUOTES
Tommy Yionoulis
[24:42] “They can hold their teams more accountable for doing all the little things that they need to do every day. But more importantly, can identify issues and crowdsource fixes to those issues because they’re collecting all of this data.”
[26:26] “It’s never been a huge, massive problem. It’s all these little death by a thousand-cut problem… And 99% of them have been identified by somebody who already has an issue, just someone didn’t cover it right. And so when you can be ensuring that people are covering off on that stuff. And when you do find a problem, you can identify a crowdsourcing solution and fix it quickly.”
Matt Wolach
[28:15] “It’s so important to make sure the details are in line.”
LEARN MORE
To learn more about Tommy Yionoulis and OpsAnalytica, visit: https://opsanalitica.com/
You can also find Tommy Yionoulis on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommyy/
For more about how host Matt Wolach helps software companies achieve maximum growth, visit https://mattwolach.com/.
