Now that you know how important a sales enablement strategy is to your company its time to learn some of the key parts of the plan. Like a game playbook, there are several important aspects to your success. Some of the most important focuses are the content type, tool accessibility, selling the material to the sales team, leadership, and how to measure what works and what doesn’t.
The sales culture has changed dramatically over the last ten years, and companies need the right tools to maximize their selling skills. With marketing playing a much larger role, it is crucial for both factions to work together to increase effectiveness. Let’s walk through these focuses and show how you can use these techniques to improve sales.
Content
By creating valuable content, your sales representatives are able to distinguish themselves and be seen as trusted authorities. Leads are nurtured with content that speaks to their unique needs; this helps to build relationships, which lead to sales! Four ways that sales enablement can help your content are:
- Templates: by reusing templates, you can save time and be consistent
- “Battlecards”: looking for educational material which sets you apart from the competitor
- Customer Experience: case studies and customer experience speaks to potential buyers
- Diversify: you need to be wherever your leads are, so spread your content around
Don’t neglect to perform a “content audit” at least annually. Look for under performing pieces of content as well as gaps in information which your leads are craving. Be sure your sales team can show you what their customers want!
Training
Your sales representatives want to be successful, but with so much on their plate, they need to understand how they can use all the content you have provided them. Ensure they understand the product, the industry and the technology used to attract and nurture leads. Hold periodic training seminars, as well as Q & A sessions when new products, services, or features are added. Provide support as they learn the customer relationship manager (CRM), and make sure someone is available whenever a new question comes up. Mentor a new sales team member from the beginning, following a training process.
Technology
Technological tools go hand-in-hand with training; technology, like your CRM, marketing automation, and even product videos, are just tools to supplement their selling abilities. These assets support their skills, and data gives them the confidence to engage leads in conversations. Remember, though, that although these tools are designed for your sales team, you need to fully understand how to implement them to support them. Don’t overwhelm your sales team with loads of software and platforms; they need those resources to be easy to access and share with potential customers. Make sure they understand the metrics and how data is analyzed; this way they can help move your strategy forward by understanding what does and doesn’t work. You can guarantee the adoption of technology only by training your sales team.
Execution
Take all of the tools you have put together above into a fluid process. Create a recruiting and hiring program, as well as performance reviews and a budgeting plan, all based on this strategy.
Installing Your Sales Enablement Strategy
Now that you have a sales enablement strategy, you need to get the ball rolling. Here are some steps to take in setting up your process:
- Know your objectives and remember your SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely) goals. What are your outcomes and what are you measuring?
- Get input from all stakeholders. Members of sales, marketing, and customer service all have opinions on how to maximize the sales enablement process, and their buy-in is crucial.
- Don’t forget your buyer persona. Keep reviewing your buyer’s problems, challenges, and triggers.
- Map your entire sales process, focusing on what works best for the customer, and not your team. Be prepared for a variety of scenarios which can cause a swerve in the buyer path.
- Do you measure the results against your objectives? If it is not effective, work together to make necessary changes. Be prepared to revise content, improve technology and training after metrics are reviewed.
Sales Enablement—A Team Effort
By working together, you can develop the content, provide the training, and measure the results your sales team needs to shine. If your company is small, you may have only one person in charge of sales enablement. If your company has more than 50 salespeople, you may feel like a team would work best. No matter your organization’s size, you can create and implement a sales enablement strategy that works for you!
About Digital Impact Agency
Digital Impact Agency is a creative firm specializing in interactive media and inbound marketing strategies for manufacturing and technology companies, professional service firms (architectural, engineering, construction, legal and consulting), nonprofits and enterprise companies. We are a team of innovative entrepreneurs focused on creating the most strategic and effective communication channels for our clients.
