In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Daniel Scharff is joined by Alicia Nelson, Sales and Customer Operations Manager at So Good So You, and Emily Curran of SPS Commerce to explore the essential role of Sales Operations in driving operational efficiency and scalability for growing CPG brands.
Alicia provides a detailed look into how her team manages day-to-day execution—coordinating orders, logistics, and customer communications—and how cross-functional collaboration is critical to delivering products on time and in full. She also discusses the evolution of her role as the company scaled, the systems that support their operations (including Fishbowl and EDI solutions from SPS Commerce), and the strategic importance of effective communication across teams and partners.
Emily shares additional perspective from her work with brands of all sizes, highlighting best practices in implementing EDI, the value of automation, and how to build scalable processes that adapt to increasing complexity.
This episode offers valuable insights for founders, operators, and sales teams looking to establish or refine their sales operations infrastructure as they grow.
🎧 Listen now to learn how to build a resilient and responsive Sales Ops function that supports sustainable growth.
Listen in as they share about:
- Sales Operations Role & Importance
- Daily Responsibilities of Sales Ops
- Importance of EDI and Systems
- When to Establish Sales Ops
- Skills Needed in Sales Ops
- KPIs and Success Metrics
- Balancing Automation with Human Expertise
Episode Links:
Website: https://www.spscommerce.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-curran-05170825/
Website: https://sogoodsoyou.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-nelson-278b1ba
Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.
Show Links:
- Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to “Transcript” at the top)
- Join the Startup CPG Slack community (20K+ members and growing!)
- Follow @startupcpg
- Visit host Daniel's Linkedin
- Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
- Episode music by Super Fantastics
