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Sales enablement is a new and exciting area in the field of sales. It’s not just about improving revenue but also about driving customer satisfaction. To fully understand this concept, we must first look back at how technology has driven our current way of doing business:
· The Industrial Revolution – Increases production capability
· Information Age – increases information flow; data sharing across all industries
· Digital Era- digitized products means companies don’t have to store physical items anymore which allows for faster, more convenient transactions
The “sales enablement training” is a guide that covers the basics of sales enablement. It includes tips for creating a sales enablement plan, and it also provides examples of different types of sales enablement plans.
The process of eliminating hurdles and impediments to pushing sales possibilities ahead, as well as giving the proper resources to maximize sales, such as equipping your staff with sales tools, is referred to as sales enablement. It’s critical in obtaining your staff the tools they need to market effectively. Identifying bottlenecks that your team needs assistance with and developing or acquiring solutions to help them overcome them provides you a competitive edge in your field.
What is Sales Enablement and How Does It Work?
Sales enablement is the act of fine-tuning a sales process by constantly analyzing what works—and what doesn’t—for small firms. A sales enablement plan is more formal in big firms, and it involves sales and marketing managers to do a requirements assessment to determine which tools sales teams need to sell more successfully and profitably.
For a small group, the approach might be less formal. Simply by discussing pain concerns with their staff, a small company owner may discover that they want more product training, customer-facing marketing materials, or scenario-based sales plan templates. They may also discover that they want extra software in order to generate, manage, and finish more agreements.
Once the choice has been taken, it is up to the firm owner or those in charge of sales management to provide these resources to the sales team and guarantee that they are used. They will also be in charge of assessing the efficacy of each instrument in order to determine whether or not it should be used again.
A sales enablement plan ensures that a sales force has a clear message about its unique selling offer, effective responses to typical objections, and tools to assist them monitor their transactions. As a result, although this method works for organizations of all sizes, it’s especially well-suited to non-transactional sales or sales cycles that need longer-term engagement.
In three easy steps, you can create a sales enablement plan.
Depending on your organization, product, and sales cycle, the approach for enhancing your sales process via sales enablement will differ. Although the specifics and stages may vary, the sales enablement plan consists of three main components. Additional information on the three phases in the sales enablement process is provided below:
1. Perform a needs analysis
This does not have to be a formal or weeks-long activity. Ask your salespeople what tools they wish they had to become more productive and sell more if you are a small firm with just a few salespeople. Determine their pain areas and look for parallels in failed transactions. Speak with management and send out needs assessment questionnaires to aggregate responses for bigger firms.
2. Create a list of possible solutions.
Come up with options that could solve the difficulties you discovered based on the requirements assessment. Give everyone on your team a chance to give ideas or recommendations. As though they were spending their own money, ask them what they would like if money was not an issue. Your salespeople and supervisors will often tell you precisely what they’re lacking.
You could think about the following options:
- White papers: White papers are used by salespeople in various areas, such as technology and manufacturing, to initiate or prolong talks about a solution your organization may provide. It will develop trust and encourage prospects to get closer to a purchase decision if it is worded correctly.
- Webinars: Using webinars to create connections with prospects is a terrific, low-pressure method. You may use them to show your audience how your product or service has helped others with comparable company problems.
- Virtual product demos: A virtual product demo is a great method to demonstrate how your product or service works to a prospect or client. It works best with software, but if you and your prospect have enough camera technology, it may also be done with real things.
- Sales training is the most direct sales enablement tool since it allows you to educate your sales force new things about your goods or modify existing habits into more productive ones that lead to more sales.
- Outsourced quality leads are time and energy savers for your sales staff. They can concentrate on creating connections with qualified leads who are interested and completing transactions when they don’t have to bother about prospecting for leads.
- Email monitoring software allows you to determine which emails are the most successful and to send more of them. It also helps your sales staff be more effective by letting them know how and when they may react to client and prospect communications.
- Contact management software aids the sales team in managing and prioritizing leads and contacts so that they may concentrate on those who are most likely to purchase.
3. Implementing or launching solutions
It’s time to roll out your solutions by putting them into the hands of your sales staff once you’ve generated or acquired them. This might include providing them with their own flyers (or electronic versions of them), as well as their customer relationship manager’s login details and training materials (CRM).
Depending on your business type, you may have extra phases in your sales enablement process, but you should have the three core processes outlined above to start. Use them as a starting point and tailor them to your own requirements.
Examples of Sales Enablement Tools & Resources
Create or purchase solutions after you’ve come up with them. This might be anything from putting out a price table for competitors to investing in customer relationship management (CRM) software. If you’re making your own tools, start with what you already have on hand.
Assign the assignment to team members who are knowledgeable in producing the tools you want and have the necessary bandwidth. Form a small team of customer-facing stakeholders to assist you analyze and choose the best choice if you’re contemplating acquiring sales enablement tools.
Here are some of the greatest small company sales enablement tools:
1. Use a pipedrive
Pipedrive is a customer relationship management (CRM) application that includes a feature-rich, visual pipeline that helps sales teams to keep track of conversations with prospects and customers. It also provides comprehensive data and analytics to assist you in increasing your sales income.
Monthly plans start at $12.50 per user, payable yearly. Visit our Pipedrive review page to learn more.
The visual pipeline of Pipedrive (Source: Pipedrive)
2. Zoom
Zoom is a video conferencing software that allows you to communicate with prospects, customers, and internal team members from anywhere. It is suitable for both group presentations and team meetings since it may be used for one-on-one or group meetings. It’s also simple to share your screen, whether on a laptop or on a mobile device, which makes it ideal for presenting.
The free plan enables up to 100 people to participate for free for up to 40 minutes. Paid plans for your whole team start at $149 per year. Check out our list of the best video conferencing tools for small companies if you’re searching for something else.
Zoom interface for screen sharing (Source: Zoom)
3. Canva
Canva is a desktop and mobile app that allows salespeople to generate interesting presentations, graphics, and marketing materials without having to be very tech-savvy. Canva tools assist sales people in following up with prospects and guiding them toward a purchase decision.
Thousands of designs and stock photographs are available for free, while subscription options with social media scheduling and team capabilities start at $12.99 per month, invoiced monthly.
Canva is a desktop design tool (Source: Canva)
4. New chitchat
Freshchat is a piece of software that allows you to embed a real-time chat window directly on your website. This enables you to engage leads while they are on your website, ensuring that you do not miss out on a lead who is obviously interested.
Up to 10,000 monthly website visits are included in the free plan. Paid options begin at $15 per user each month, payable yearly, and include extras like free bot sessions, scripted replies, user segmentation, and a priority inbox.
Freshchat has a user-friendly UI.
5. Wistia
Wistia is video hosting and marketing software that lets you engage your audience by allowing you to create video sales presentations, follow-ups, marketing materials, and podcasts, as well as a hosting platform that allows you to manage everything from a single location. It includes interactive video capabilities like call-to-action alerts and email gateways, as well as a bespoke player that you can brand.
Wistia is a free subscription that allows you to upload up to three videos or podcasts, have one public link, and have up to 250 channel subscribers. Paid options start at $99 per month and include extras like customizing the Wistia video player and access to many video and podcast channels.
Wisita sponsored video example (Source: Wistia)
Are you looking for more resources for your team? Take a look at our in-depth post on the top 13 sales enablement tools.
Who Should Use a Sales Enablement Strategy?
Businesses with complicated goods or extended sales cycles should have a comprehensive sales enablement plan. These firms often need extensive customer-facing and sales product training, as well as several follow-up calls or points of contact. As a consequence, sales enablement may help a wide range of firms and individuals in various professions.
Sales enablement is beneficial to the following professionals:
- Salespeople: Salespeople benefit the most directly from sales enablement since activities like product training and marketing material creation make it simpler for sales representatives to complete transactions.
- Sales enablement is beneficial to business owners who sell sophisticated goods or items with lengthy sales cycles because it allows them to equip their sales staff with the resources they need to be more effective.
- Sales managers: When their teams have the necessary resources, team leaders or those assigned to supervise all sales at specific accounts or territory find it simpler to execute their work. They may concentrate on honing essential sales talents rather than making up for a lack of sales tools or customer-facing material.
- Marketing managers: Sales enablement benefits marketing managers by allowing them to do a requirements assessment to determine what sorts of customer-facing and sales-facing materials they should provide.
Conclusion
While sales enablement tactics differ, it may be employed by both small and big businesses. Once you’ve identified the gaps in your sales team’s expertise, resources, and tools, you can work on generating and acquiring them, as well as adopting new methods. As a result, you’ll see an improvement in productivity, sales income, and sales efficiency.
The “sales enablement role” is a person that helps the sales team to close more deals. They are usually involved in activities such as prospecting, qualifying, and closing.
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