Sales enablement is one of selling’s best-kept secrets. The standard definition is simple — developing and distributing the resources and tools that help salespeople succeed. It’s an enticing concept, but it doesn’t always reflect how important an enablement strategy really is.
Sales enablement is the guiding force for your sales team. It connects each representative with the resources and help they need to excel, at just the right time. The effects are present across the sales cycle, making it an imperative tool to employ in your sales and marketing strategies.
Why sales teams need sales enablement
Standard B2B selling is full of guesswork. Sales representatives receive training and access to sales materials that can help them get a “yes” from leads, and management coaching provides some help. Still, success or failure always comes down to one-on-one interactions with prospects.
No manager can be everywhere at once, but the right sales enablement strategy can. It’s a must-have for efficient, targeted selling in today’s data-driven environment.
Shorter sales cycles
It takes at least four months for most B2B sales teams to land a new customer. Most of that time occurs between touchpoints as agents search for collateral and develop sales pitches.
Sales enablement reduces that lag time by connecting agents with the right resources just when they’re needed. It can direct representatives to information about important product technicalities so they can highlight key features. Representatives typically receive access to client-facing materials like videos, infographics, pricing breakdowns, and case studies, enabling prospects to visualize how products can meet their needs.
A good sales enablement strategy conceptualizes and strategizes on this material so your sales team can make the best possible use of it. The resources are made available on-demand and potentially even highlighted for use with a particular prospect. With lead-specific resources at hand, salespeople can focus on the important takeaways and close sales faster.
More sustainable revenue growth
Sales enablement is all about helping salespeople respond to a prospect’s needs as they come up. This makes it a sustainable strategy for increasing revenue in the long term.
Sales enablement uses smart analysis to identify the most effective selling techniques at all levels. It uses smart reporting to identify and answer common sales objections, so team leaders and sales agents don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time.
Sales enablement strategies use data to track customer engagements to know which of your efforts are most effective. This reveals trends like:
- Where the most prospects are dropping off
- What touchpoints close the most deals
- Which mistakes are happening most often
- Which time windows are best for customer engagement
This information lets you choose interventions that get results.
Better alignment between sales and marketing teams
Sales and marketing teams work toward the same goal, yet they often get caught up in disagreements. They may have different ideas about which leads to pursue and what content will be most useful. Sales enablement breaks down those conflicts by providing a unified answer.
A sales enablement strategy uses performance data to identify which content types and messages are most successful. Marketing teams can use this information to build more effective content. The sales team then receives that content in an accessible format that’s easy to share with leads.
More efficient measurement of sales performance
A successful sales team constantly examines their results and adjusts their selling strategy accordingly. Sales enablement makes this easier by establishing a structure for process review and results reporting.
Without a sales enablement strategy, teams and even individual representatives seek out results individually. That may only happen when it’s time for performance reviews or sales have started to drop off. Meanwhile, multiple deals can drop through the cracks due to unidentified mistakes.
Sales enablement makes data analysis part of the standard sales process. The enablement team generates regular reports and interprets the results to find out what could improve performance. This regular review helps teams to break error cycles and improve processes that don’t work.
Is sales enablement right for your team?
Any new strategy takes time and resources to implement, and sales enablement is no exception; a smart sales leader assesses the benefits and drawbacks of a new strategy before deciding.
When making a decision, start by considering your representatives’ performance and where they could stand to improve. Even if things are going well, there’s always room for improvement.
Did you know that organizations with enablement strategies close 49% of forecasted deals? Those without such strategies close less than 43%. That’s because a sales team without an enablement strategy is more likely to:
- Lose sales due to inefficiency
- Deliver inconsistent and imprecise training
- Perform below its potential
The introduction of a sales enablement strategy can reduce these errors quickly. More than three in four organizations that introduce sales enablement see a 6% to 20% increase in sales.
If your sales or marketing team wants to sell more effectively and efficiently, sales enablement is the right choice.
When do you need sales enablement?
Sales enablement is the kind of level-up strategy that can generate results for any team, at any time. Forget the “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” approach. Sales enablement can take you to the next level even when things are going well, but not perfectly.
Consider your goals and what you would like to achieve. Sales enablement is important because it empowers representatives to conduct a more effective sales process and achieve better sales results.
It’s the right time to try sales enablement if you’d like to get better results in:
- Measuring sales performance consistently. The only way to measure success is to have a steady stream of data. Sales enablement makes that possible.
- Meeting sales goals. Enablement can deliver the data that lets you identify where teams fall short. It also streamlines the process of delivering the training and content that improves performance.
- Using and understanding sales tools. A sales enablement strategy lets your team take advantage of all the resources at their disposal.
- Standardizing brand messaging. Universal resource availability is the only way to create a consistent experience for prospects. The more consistent your messaging, the more confident prospects will feel about buying from you.
Anywhere there’s room for improvement, sales enablement can help.
Getting started: Finding your sales enablement software
Implementing a new sales strategy isn’t always easy, but the right resources can provide a smooth transition. Boost your sales enablement strategy from day one with a cloud communication toolkit like Aloware.
Aloware is a powerful contact center software for any team looking to implement sales enablement. It’s filled with information delivery and reporting features to keep your representatives on track. Plus, it integrates seamlessly with popular CRMs like HubSpot and Zoho for the simplest, smoothest transition.
Book a demo today and find out how Aloware can support your sales enablement transformation. Your next-level results are waiting.
