Introduction to Sales Enablement, the strategy that will set you apart from your competitors!

In the large family of sales processes, focus on Sales Enablement.

But Sales Enablement... kesako 🤔?

At a time when consumer habits and aspirations are evolving towards greater autonomy in their purchasing journey, but also greater distrust of traditional sales methods, it's only natural to question traditional strategies.

Sales Enablement provides an effective, structured response to this problem. The aim? Raise the skills of the sales team through content, training and tools.

But like any innovative concept, Sales Enablement is subject to a multitude of definitions, and its scope varies from one expert to another. That's why we've put together this article to help you understand the basics of Sales Enablement.

Once you've mastered this concept, your salespeople will be ready to move up a gear, to the benefit of your growth 🚀.

See all software Sales Enablement

What is Sales Enablement?

Full definition of Sales Enablement

Sales Enablement refers to an idea that's fairly new in the professional world . As a result, there are several definitions on the web.

However, it can be summed up as follows: a strategy for providing sales people with the resources they need to engage and interact with their customers throughout the sales process. In short, it's about giving them the tools they need to improve their skills, and thus their performance.

To achieve this, Sales Enablement focuses on 3 main areas:

• the creation and management of sales content, with the aim of making sales communications more impactful with target customers;
• ongoing training of teams, to improve their mastery of products, sales techniques and understanding of customer relations mechanisms;
• the implementation of technologies designed to boost business productivity and efficiency.

👉 To complete the picture, here's a definition from Gartner that perfectly sums up what's behind the concept of Sales Enablement:

Sales enablement is the set of activities, systems, processes and information that support and promote sales interactions with customers and prospects, based on knowledge sharing.

Gartner

💡 Note: Sales Enablement operates more within B2B operations due to the often greater complexity of sales cycles as well as the products or services sold in this field.

What are the prerequisites for Sales Enablement?

To get a better idea of Sales Enablement, it's important to understand the prerequisites, the fundamental pillars on which it rests, namely:

• 🙋 People (more precisely, teams),
• 🤖 Technologies (mainly software).

Perfect synergy between company departments

Sales Enablement requires the implementation of a clearly defined process that helps create perfect synergy between different company departments, in particular between sales and marketing.

Marketers are responsible for creating and updating sales content, whether it's :

• sales brochure,
• product sheet,
• case studies
• customer testimonials, etc.

They also ensure that these resources are :

• easily accessible, at any time and in any place, such as during a meeting with a customer ;
• relevant and attractive, both in content and form.

💡 Good to know: Sales Enablement also implies fluid relations with the HR department, which takes charge of the GPEC (Gestion Prévisionnelle des Emplois et des Compétences) component, in particular the implementation of training actions.

Technological solutions to support sales teams

Sales Enablement also relies on technologies, mainly software.

The aim of such systems is to automate time-consuming, low value-added tasks (such as producing visit reports) as far as possible, so that sales staff can concentrate on truly strategic missions.

At the same time, these platforms support collective intelligence, by centralizing all the resources that make up the company's knowledge base.

☝️ But Sales Enablement applications don't just do that! They also help to improve interactions between consumers and salespeople, by providing them with visual presentations on which to base their sales pitch when talking to a customer.

What is Sales Enablement not?

By now, you've got a clearer idea of what Sales Enablement is... but it may also remind you of other concepts, such as :

• Sales Operations,
• Sales Training,
• Content Marketing.

While they're all related in one way or another, they do differ.

The differences between Sales Enablement and Sales Operations

Although these terms seem similar, they refer to distinct aspects of the sales function.

Indeed, since Sales Enablement aims to provide sales teams with sales support tools, it includes components such as training and content. Its focus could therefore be described as " more strategic ". It aims to understand what makes salespeople more effective, with a view to deploying actions accordingly.

Sales Operations, on the other hand, focuses more on the operational processes required to support salespeople. They therefore encompass activities such as :

• sales planning
• administrative tasks (drawing up contracts, etc.),
• performance analysis.

In short, it's more about day-to-day management.

Differences between Sales Enablement and Sales Training

Sales Training focuses specifically on training and developing the skills of sales teams: sales techniques, product and market knowledge, communication with customers, etc. Sales Enablement is therefore different from Sales Training.

Sales Enablement therefore differs from Sales Training in that the latter is a component of the former, which has a much broader scope.

Differences between Sales Enablement and Content Marketing

Both approaches involve content.

On the Sales Enablement side, we find all the resources mobilized by sales reps to improve their performance.

Content marketing, on the other hand, is about creating and distributing useful content to a target audience in order to attract and engage them. The aim is to develop a relationship of trust, educate prospects and convert them.

☝️ Although distinct, content marketing and sales enablement often work in tandem, with the resources created by the market helping to equip sales teams.

Summary table

Why is Sales Enablement so important? The 6 benefits of this strategy

# 1 Adapt to new consumer demands

Today, traditional sales techniques no longer work.

Especially as consumers are now capable of finding out about and accessing the offer that suits them best on their own.

According to a Forrester study, B2B customers spend 65% to 90% of their purchasing journey alone.

At the same time, between the weight of the competitive environment and the need to obtain the approval of several stakeholders, B2B cycles are getting longer.

👉 In such a context, it's urgent for sales teams to stand out from the crowd by delivering real added value. They must re-enchant the customer experience by :

• offering the right content, to the right people, at the right time ;
• responding more effectively to different needs, thanks to the knowledge acquired through training (better understanding of the market, consumer aspirations, products, etc.).

# 2 Easier access to the right resources

According to Jeff Ernst, 90% of the marketing content produced for sales people is not used by them.

As a result, sales teams spend several hours a week searching for or producing a document base to carry out their missions. In the end, they waste a lot of time working with resources that turn out to be of lesser quality...

Thanks to Sales Enablement procedures and tools, all content is centralized in one place. Marketing feeds and updates it as soon as necessary to maintain this alignment with the organization's needs.

💡 Worth noting: marketers' skills are also mobilized to enhance the company's brand image through :

• adherence to pre-established graphic guidelines,
• using impactful wording and/or storytelling,
• highlighting elements linked to the organization's culture and values.

# 3 Save time and increase efficiency

Salespeople are there first and foremost... to sell!

Yet most of them waste too much time on low-impact activities, such as entering data into CRMs, managing emails or organizing sales meetings.

Fortunately, with a good Sales Enablement strategy, they can more easily achieve their objectives, for two main reasons:

• thanks to the use of appropriate software, a large proportion of these redundant tasks can be automated;
• the process framework and training actions deployed enable salespeople to be more efficient, quite simply.

#4 Be more competitive with the competition

In B2B, competitive pressure is growing daily. Salespeople can no longer content themselves with simply meeting customers' needs. They have to create value!

By making training content available, Sales Enablement helps to accelerate the sales team's skills development, helping them to feel more in tune with the new realities of the business.

This simplified access to key resources is particularly useful during the onboarding phase of a new employee, when they need to quickly acquire the necessary knowledge of how their new organization works.

☝️ But let's not forget that today, competition is also rife in the recruitment field, and that difficulties in finding qualified profiles are not the sole preserve of the IT sector. The commercial sector is no exception!

Modernizing corporate practices by adopting a Sales Enablement approach also means attracting promising talent looking for a stimulating and innovative working environment.

# 5 Advancing sales and marketing hand in hand

As you will have gathered, this is one of the founding and differentiating characteristics of Sales Enablement.

And with good reason: every company stands to gain from seeing sales and marketing departments move forward hand in hand, to best meet customer needs. In fact, each of the two entities has its own specific expertise to bring to bear at a particular point in the sales cycle.

According to Seismic, the success rate increases by 15% when the two poles are perfectly aligned.

Yet, in fact, this is rarely the case 🫤.

With Sales Enablement, market and sales work together to establish clear communication channels and collaborative processes for sharing resources. This perfect idyll contributes to the achievement of their objective, which ultimately remains the same: to convert and increase loyalty!

# 6 Increase company revenues

After all, that's the most important thing 🤑!

Between their efficiency and productivity gains, their skills upgrades and even the use of adapted content, sales reps benefit from all the sales support they need to optimize their processes.

And the result is a tenfold increase in sales at the end of the month!

The roles of Sales Enablement

Who is ultimately responsible for Sales Enablement within the company?

As with the very definition of Sales Enablement, the way in which it is put into practice has yet to be fully formalized. Each expert has his or her own interpretation.

Nonetheless, the following areas are commonly identified:

• the sales department
• the marketing department,
• a department dedicated to Sales Enablement,
• HR department.

💡 Note: the roles of each differ from one organization to another, depending on factors such as its size, activity or internal structure.

To help you find your way around, we recommend you use the RACI model, a project management tool designed to clarify who does what, with the aim of better coordinating collaborators. It is based on 4 different levels of responsibility:

• Responsible (who does the work),
• Accountable (those who are ultimately responsible),
• Consulted (those who are consulted before a decision or action is taken),
• Informed (those who are informed after a decision or action).

The sales department

The sales department occupies a crucial position in the Sales Enablement process, since it is the one who integrates all the associated operations into its day-to-day activities.

What's more, because of its direct contact with customers, it is in the best position to provide the field feedback essential to the development of resources and training plans adapted to reality.

👉 Why should the sales department be responsible for Sales Enablement?

• sales success is a direct indicator of Sales Enablement effectiveness;
• has in-depth knowledge of market challenges;
• it has an intrinsic motivation to increase the company's sales performance.

The marketing department

For its part, the marketing department is responsible for developing the appropriate content to increase sales effectiveness, at every stage of the sales journey.

Among other things, it relies on Sales Enablement applications to distribute these resources more easily, and to facilitate updates.

👉 Why should marketing be responsible for Sales Enablement?

• It has a thorough understanding of company messages, buyer personas and market trends;
• has the skills to develop truly impactful content;
• knows how to analyze data and measure performance in order to improve the strategy deployed.

A dedicated Sales Enablement department

More and more companies decide to set up a department 100% dedicated to Sales Enablement. This department is responsible for coordinating the previously established content with the customer engagement strategy.

One of the main advantages of creating a dedicated team is its neutrality. As it is neither the responsibility of sales nor marketing, it promotes alignment between the two.

👉 Why entrust responsibility for Sales Enablement to a specific department?

• it balances the needs and priorities of all impacted entities without being biased in favor of one or the other;
• it has more bandwidth to develop its Sales Enablement expertise;
• he has the time, resources and mandate to focus entirely on these issues.

Summary table

What about human resources?

And yes, since Sales Enablement includes a big training component, human resources also enter the dance 💃.

It's a good idea to involve them in the loop. This way, HR naturally takes into account the desiderata of marketing and sales teams in their GPEC approach.

💡 Good to know: having a good understanding of what all these sales enablement notions entail simplifies recruitment:

• dedicated profiles (Sales Enablement Manager, for example),
• sales and marketing profiles, who may be attracted by the fact that the company is implementing Sales Enablement initiatives.

What does a Sales Enablement Manager do?

As teams specifically dedicated to sales enablement expand, we're seeing the emergence of a new profession: the Sales Enablement Manager.

👉 The Sales Enablement Manager has several missions:

• Facilitate communication between sales teams and other departments, such as marketing or product support.
  
  
• Identify and implement improvements to sales processes.
  
  
• Develop training programs, in collaboration with the HR department, to improve sales people's skills.
  
  
• Coordinate the production of relevant sales materials such as product sheets, case studies and other presentations.
  
  
• Deploy technological tools that contribute to the development of the Sales Enablement strategy.
  
  
• Analyze sales data to identify areas for improvement in Sales Enablement operations.
  
  
• Collect and analyze feedback from sales teams to fine-tune Sales Enablement resources and programs.

Sales Enablement tools

What tools can you use to develop Sales Enablement in your company?

Sales Enablement goes hand in hand with the use of technology, and software in particular.

The first thing you might think of is CRM. But CRMs quickly reach their limits, as they are primarily designed for customer relationship management. As a result, they rarely include all the key functions, such as those dedicated to training.

Fortunately, there are platforms specifically developed for Sales Enablement. Thanks to their functional coverage, they can handle a wide range of sales enablement tasks:

• centralization and organization of all content ;
• the provision of training modules and induction courses for new sales staff;
• tracking salespeople's performance and analyzing the effectiveness of the resources provided;
• automation of certain recurring tasks, so that sales teams can concentrate more on selling;
• integration of CRM systems, necessary for smooth processes;
• collaboration between the organization's various departments, etc.

💡 Good to know: most of these software packages also offer mobile access, simplifying the work of sales reps on the move.

How do you choose your Sales Enablement software?

Determine your company's situation

There are enough Sales Enablement solutions on the market today to make you wonder how to choose yours.

To get a clearer picture, ask yourself the right questions, starting with "what are my needs and objectives?".

💡 Namely: this reflection induces you to determine your company's degree of Sales Enablement maturity. For example, Seismic has identified 4 different levels, namely:

• Delayed: the Sales Enablement processes in place are mainly geared towards the sales department, which uses few specific technologies (rather CRM).
  
  
• Novice: operations are more closely integrated with marketing. Reports and analyses are regularly produced.
  
  
• Effective: Sales Enablement has become a strategic priority for the various departments involved. All are working on more advanced technologies.
  
  
• Visionary: sales enablement procedures enjoy strong support from top management, who no longer hesitate to allocate the financial and human resources needed to ensure their smooth operation. The tool stack used is robust. Data is exploited with the aim of spreading best practices throughout the company.

Ask yourself the right questions

Knowing where your organization stands in terms of maturity will make it easier to answer these questions:

• What functionalities are essential (content management, training, performance analysis, etc.) to my future software?
  💡 We recommend, of course, that you survey the employees concerned to find out exactly what their needs are and understand the project framework.
  
  
• What other tools and systems does the solution need to integrate with?
  
  
• Does the envisaged platform seem intuitive enough to encourage its adoption by employees?
  
  
• What level of customization is required to ensure full compliance with existing processes?
  
  
• What about the availability of technical support ? Is the support offered during the deployment phase sufficient to ensure that teams get to grips with the software?
  
  
• Does the pricing promise a good return on investment?
  
  
• Will the solution be able to evolve in concert with the company and its Sales Enablement strategy?

💡 Worth knowing: you can request a demonstration from the editors, or use a trial version. This way, you can evaluate the potential of a tool before making your decision.

🛠️ Software example :

Seismic offers a platform 100% dedicated to managing the entire sales enablement process. Powered by artificial intelligence, it automates the production and management of sales content, integrates training and coaching modules, and supports you in developing and planning your strategy. And thanks to its Enablement Intelligence module, you'll always have access to up-to-date data and analysis to ensure the effectiveness of your actions.

How to implement your Sales Enablement strategy?

Now you've got a clearer picture of this nebulous concept of Sales Enablement 👀... and you've realized that your organization can't do without it if it REALLY wants to perform!

To take the plunge for good, here's a summary of the various steps to follow if you're planning to deploy such a strategy effectively 👉.

1. Identify the various players involved in the project, clearly defining their roles and responsibilities.
   💡 We recommend choosing a project manager (sales manager, marketing manager, Sales Enablement Manager, etc.) early on, who will be responsible for orchestrating all operations.
   
   
2. Evaluate your company's needs and set clear, measurable objectives to drive your Sales Enablement strategy.
   
   
3. Select your software and configure it in line with your processes.
   
   
4. Ensure the perfect alignment of sales and marketing. To achieve this:
   1. encourage open and regular communication between the two departments;
   2. set common objectives.
      
      
5. Deploy Sales Enablement operations, including content creation and delivery to interested stakeholders, as well as training.
   
   
6. Establish mechanisms for monitoring Sales Enablement progress (precise, measurable KPIs, such as conversion rates).
   
   
7. Gather feedback from your teams on a regular basis, and commit to a process of continuous improvement. If necessary, adjust your strategy accordingly.

See all software Sales Enablement

What does Sales Enablement mean?

Sales Enablement is THE new value driver for sales teams.

By providing them with all the sales support they need, it will take them to the next level in terms of performance 🚀. And above all, your sales people will succeed in seducing increasingly picky consumers.

But like any promising strategy, it involves deconstructing certain mechanisms, in order to start afresh. In this case, one of the fundamentals of Sales Enablement remains the perfect synergy between sales and marketing, without which success will be impossible.

At the same time, your success in this venture depends on the use of technological solutions. While it's possible to rely on your existing stack, 100% dedicated software, centralizing all the functionalities essential to Sales Enablement, really makes the difference. What's more, they are increasingly based on artificial intelligence, to take personalization, automation and prediction even further. The future of sales is already with us... and it's bringing surprising results 🤩.