Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a written or recorded set of steps that shows anyone in the team exactly how to complete a recurring task. It works like a recipe: follow the instructions in the same order every time and the outcome stays consistent—no guess-work, no “who usually does this?” chat. An SOP can be a checklist in Notion, a Google Doc with screenshots, or even a short Loom recording. The format matters less than two rules: it must be easy to find and simple to follow.

1. Fewer mistakes, smoother delivery

Marketing campaigns break when a UTM tag is mistyped or a last-minute price in a proposal is wrong. In sales, missing a follow-up call can cost a deal; in service delivery, forgetting to set analytics access delays onboarding. SOPs remove these errors by turning best practice into a habit. When every teammate walks through the same steps—brief approval, link check, peer review—the margin for human slip shrinks dramatically. Over time, clients notice the difference: fewer reworks, cleaner data, and projects that start on time.

2. Faster onboarding and shared knowledge

B2B agencies and consultancies suffer when knowledge sits in one person’s head. A clear SOP means a new hire can shadow the process once, then follow the checklist on their own. Better still, if a colleague is on holiday, anyone can step in because the method is documented. The result is resilience; capacity no longer falls apart when one expert is off-line. As the library of SOPs grows, it becomes an internal wiki of “how we work round here”, shortening ramp-up time for every new joiner.

3. More brain-space for creative work

Growth teams win by experimenting—new positioning, fresh offers, smarter nurture flows. They lose when they spend half the day chasing status or remembering tiny admin details. SOPs push routine tasks onto autopilot, freeing cognitive bandwidth for strategy and ideation. Knowing that reporting, lead hand-offs, or client onboarding will run exactly as written means you can concentrate on solving the next growth puzzle instead of reinventing yesterday’s wheel.

Creating SOPs does not require a consultancy-sized manual on day one. Start small and iterate.

1. Pick one high-frequency task - Choose a process you repeat weekly—publishing a blog post, raising a proposal, sending the monthly performance report. The more often you do it, the faster an SOP pays off.‍
2. Record a first draft while you work Open Loom, press record, and talk through what you are doing on screen. Explain why each step matters: “Here I add UTM parameters so we can trace conversions,” or “I name the PDF ‘ClientName-Proposal-2025-05’ so everyone can search for it later.” The recording becomes version 0.1 of your SOP—done in real time, zero extra meetings.
3. ‍Transcribe into a short checklist Use the Loom transcript or jot bullet points in Notion. Keep it simple: title, responsible role, step-by-step actions, quality check, and where to store the output. Avoid jargon; write it so a new starter understands without asking follow-up questions.
4. Run it once, then refineAt the next opportunity, follow the checklist yourself. When you hit an ambiguity (“Where is that template?”), fix the wording. After two or three cycles it will feel second nature—and you have an SOP worth sharing.
5. Store centrally and tag clearly
6. Place the file or link in a shared “SOP library” folder with consistent naming, e.g. “Marketing-Blog-Publish-v1”. Add tags for team and frequency so colleagues can filter quickly.
   

Applying SOPs in different B2B functions

Marketing

Create an SOP for launching a paid-search campaign: audience research, keyword mapping, ad copy approval, UTM build, tracking test, and post-launch audit. When every campaign follows the same path, spend efficiency rises and reporting is apples-to-apples.

Sales

Document the lead hand-off: MQL hits score threshold, SDR calls within two hours, notes go into the CRM, status flips to “SQL”. No more “I thought you owned that prospect” conversations—just a visible, repeatable flow.

Service delivery

Write an onboarding SOP that starts the moment a contract closes: welcome email, access checklist, kick-off call agenda, and folder structure set-up. Clients experience a seamless handover, and project managers never scramble for passwords on day one.

Final tips for lasting SOPs

• Keep them living documents—review quarterly, prune obsolete steps, and add screenshots when tools change.
• Link, don’t duplicate—store templates and examples in one place and link from the SOP to avoid version chaos.
• Make ownership explicit—every SOP needs a name next to “Maintainer”. If no one owns it, it will decay.
• Limit detail to what matters—an SOP isn’t a textbook; include only the decisions and actions required to deliver the outcome.
  

By building a lightweight, evolving library of SOPs, B2B marketing, sales, and delivery teams cut errors, ramp people faster, and free up creative energy—all essential ingredients for predictable, scalable growth.