Alex is a newly hired Tech Sales Representative at a software development company that offers outsourcing services. He is skilled and quite expensive, so the company expects him to deliver results shortly.
But… his onboarding process started and ENDed with several informal meetings with colleagues (from HR, Sales, Delivery departments). There was no training on offerings, ICPs (Ideal Customer Profiles), or CRM guidance.
Then Alex struggled with the company’s sales cycle, which wasn’t formalized and documented. He didn’t know when to engage technical experts or how to escalate pricing approvals, which caused delays in closing deals.
When preparing for calls, he couldn’t find up-to-date presentations, case studies and proposal templates. There were also tons of different Spreadsheets and Documents with controversial information. Alex had to create necessary materials from scratch, spending hours of his time, thus, delaying his outreach. He noticed that his colleagues also created similar materials, duplicating efforts.
Thanks to his previous rather extensive experience, Alex coped with those challenges. Later, he noticed that Account Managers and Sales Reps had valuable insights about the company client’s base, but that information was not captured in a centralized system.
During pipeline reviews, Alex couldn’t analyze deal progress fast as there wasn’t standardized CRM usage or dashboard.
Outcomes? Missed numbers, underperformed quota, and managers or C-level call to recruiters to replace Alex. But they are far off from the original goal.
A bad system beats a good salesperson every time.
Salespeople often miss their quotas not because of a talent gap but because they lack the structural support required to succeed in the role.
I am going to cover the area of sales enablement:
- how to create the function from scratch
- align the department with other teams
- how to avoid working in silos
- how to help frontline sales and account managers hit their $ revenue targets.
What is Sales Enablement?
Forrester defines sales enablement as “a strategic, ongoing process that equips client-facing employees to consistently and systematically have a valuable conversation with the right customer stakeholders at each stage of the customer’s problem-solving life cycle”.
It involves providing sales professionals with the right content, training, technology, and support throughout the sales process to match the buyer journey and customer expectations.
Why do I need it?
“I’m neither Accenture nor Epam. Do you really think I need it? Let’s just hire more sellers.“
Companies that had already established the Sales Enablement function showed great performance.
So, if you have started considering sales enablement as something you need to test, here is the guide on establishing the function in your company.
Step 1: Conduct Thorough Research
Purpose: Understanding of the market, customers, and internal capabilities.
Key Question: What insights do we need to create a sales enablement strategy that addresses the needs of the sales team and customers?
Components of Effective Research:
- Engage Stakeholders: Collaborate with sales managers, C-level executives, and existing clients to uncover gaps and improvement areas.
- Audit Internal Resources: Assess your current sales collateral, training programs, and certification processes.
- Understand Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Clearly define the characteristics of your target audience.
- Develop Buyer Personas: Identify the decision-makers, their pain points, and how they interact with your product or service.
- Analyze Customer Decision Processes: Investigate how your top customers choose your product or service over competitors.
Step 2: Develop a Sales Enablement Plan
- Purpose: The sales enablement plan defines the goals and focus areas of the sales enablement team.
- Key Question: How do we make the sales team better at their jobs?
- Components of a Good Plan:
- Clear objectives for the sales enablement team.
- Specific focus areas, such as creating sales tools, onboarding, and coaching programs.
- Metrics for measuring the effectiveness of sales enablement initiatives.
- Flexibility to adapt to changing market needs and seller requirements.
Step 3: Content Development
- Goal: Provide relevant content that is contextual to the salesperson’s situation and the buyer’s stage in the sales process.
- Execution: Develop content that addresses the specific needs and pain points of buyers at different stages. Ensure the sales team can easily access and provide feedback on this content.
Step 4: Create Sales Playbooks
- Purpose: Sales playbooks provide sales reps with actionable, bite-sized content to navigate every stage of the sales process.
Steps to Develop a Playbook:
- Map the sales process to the buying process.
- Conduct a content audit to identify gaps.
- Develop sales tools to fill identified gaps.
- Create a playbook with digestible content.
- Continuously iterate based on Sales Rep feedback.
Step 5: Sales Enablement Software
- Objective: Deploy the right technology to deliver content and tools to the sales team effectively.
- Execution:
- Implement Sales Enablement platform
- Use learning management systems (LMS) for training.
For example, I established the Sales Enablement function at SPD Technology, a software development company. It streamlined the preparation process for custom client presentations, reducing turnaround time from 3–4 business days to just a few hours.
Step 6: Train your SalesForce
- Focus: Consolidate all training programs under one leader to ensure consistency and effectiveness.
- Strategy:
- Identify the necessary skills, competencies, and knowledge for the sales team.
- Create a continuous education program, not just onboarding.
- Tailor training programs to different levels of sales experience and competencies.
Step 7: Certification
- Purpose: Ensure training is effective and knowledge is retained.
- Benefits:
- Educates and reinforces training.
- Speeds up adoption and implementation.
- Provides visibility into the effectiveness of the enablement program.
- Drives consistency and repeatability.
- Execution: Implement a multi-tier certification program to identify gaps and ensure continuous improvement.
Step 8. Rewards
Input: The employee’s effort, achievements, and performance.
Process:
- The rewards system evaluates the employee’s contributions and performance.
- Based on predefined criteria, the system assigns appropriate rewards or recognition.
- Rewards can be monetary (bonuses, raises) or non-monetary (certificates, public acknowledgment).
Output: Reward assignment or recognition for the employee.
Decision Point: If performance is below expectations, further training or development may be recommended.
Step 9. Measurement
Input: Data on employee performance, training effectiveness, and rewards outcomes.
Process:
- Collect and analyze data on various performance metrics.
- Use this data to assess the effectiveness of training and rewards systems.
- Identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments to the program.
Output: Reports on performance metrics, training effectiveness, and reward outcomes.
Decision Point: If the program does not meet objectives, make adjustments based on the collected data.
Wrapping Up
Your company should be “easy to sell for” and the sales enablement function plays a crucial role here. Equip your salesforce with the right resources, tools, and collateral, and training that will enable them to sell more. You get more revenue, brand ambassadors, and loyal customers, looks like it is worth it.
