SAVO, a sales enablement solution, defines sales enablement as the alignment of strategic revenue initiatives to sales execution.
In a blog post for SiriusDecision, Jim Ninivaggi reported the results form a survey that was conducted asking various companies what sales enablement means for their company. Essentially, the sales enablement approach aids in training and preparing reps for effectively engaging in sales and optimizing results. Although the universal definition has proven to be difficult to formulate, common goals and components seem to be encompassed by companies who utilize sales enablement.
When companies were surveyed about what exactly sales enablement means to their employees, the responses varied among the following: providing guidelines for using sales assets, sharing enablement best practices, building sales assets, and developing product training. A majority of the companies, however, agree that sales enablement contributes to various sales effectiveness areas. The function is typically measured by reporting the affect enablement has on various roles in marketing and sales, including conversion rates and time to productivity for new hires.
A main component of sales enablement is training. Preparing and enabling client-facing employees to consistently and systematically approach their sales strategy for a particular company is key and a major factor in being able to boost return of investment. Many employees play a role that interacts with customers and therefore all play a crucial role in sales enablement – anywhere from marketers, sales operations, communications, customer service reps, business development teams, and more.
A second component is enabling the field force – human resources, sales operations, marketing operations, product marketing, etc. – to organize their delivery to the field so reps can effortlessly understand them. All of these areas build enablement elements and help organization orchestrate strategies for approaching sales and development.
Of course, content creation and utilizing the latest and greatest technology are key elements that aid in sales enablement. Building a cohesive strategy that aligns with technology, content, and sales expertise will help to solve critical selling needs and, overall, boost revenue returns.
