Sales Enablement and How it Benefits Your Company
What is Sales Enablement?
Sales enablement is the act of implementing strategies, tools, and processes that continually increase the productivity and effectiveness of any sales team. Using calculated and ongoing processes of supplying sales teams with the content, technology, and training they need to effectively engage buyers.
Engaging buyers has changed and will continue to change as technology evolves. Sales Enablement isn’t as much about “sales” as it is about the “buyer” and how you’re able to articulate to them the value your product or service provides. Competition is at its highest due to lower entry barriers and more empowered buyers, the buyer you’re looking for is as informed as ever with information at their fingertips at every second of the day. Those buyers are easily influenced by more people than ever and have new options to choose from every day.
HighSpot states the following,
“74 percent of buyers choose to move forward with the sales rep that’s the first to share value and insight.”
74%! How can any company afford not to have an emphasis on Sales Enablement with that type of stat? It’s now more imperative than ever that your sales reps have the right information in front of them at the right time and they know how to use it.
How a Sales Enablement Program Benefits Your Company
The most successful companies understand that Sales Enablement improves sales productivity, helps increase customer alignment, and retention, which in turn drives revenue. By equipping your sales teams with fitting knowledge, tools, and processes to maximize every sales opportunity.
Sales Enablement is a fairly new concept that many companies are just beginning to understand and embrace. It can easily get confused with Sales Training or Sales Operations. All of these aspects play a vital role in your company but they do have their differences. Implementing a Sales Enablement focus in your organization can help you in the following areas:
CLARIFY YOUR TRAINING CONTENT AND SALES ASSETS
Impactful sales assets should be created and updated regularly. It’s also important to ensure you and your team are using cohesive information. Sales Enablement is about gathering all the needed tools and resources (such as product, company and competitor knowledge, sales assets, technology platforms, scripts, and email templates) and deliver them to your team in an easily digestible way.
HELPING YOUR SALES TEAM IN THE LONG-TERM
Most organizations are not able to provide ongoing training which leads to team members not being equipped with enough knowledge to succeed in the long-term. The right sales enablement strategy, coupled with the right technology, can help ensure your team’s education is successful in the long-term.
GOING BEYOND YOUR SALES TEAM
Everyone who interacts with your customers needs content and training that align with your overarching sales strategy. This includes Marketing, Customer Success, and other support teams. This allows everyone in your organization to become an expert on what you’re doing. By providing the necessary information when it comes to product and messaging updates, employees will be able to accurately position and differentiate your products and/or services as they change.
GO BACK TO THE BASICS
Things like, pre-outreach planning, task-setting, cold-calling skills, consultative skills, asking the right questions, and avoiding objections. By putting a focus on these basic skills your sales team will have the foundation to succeed for many years to come and you can pass these learnings along as your team grow