Virtual training

Why Is Sales Enablement Training So Important?

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Dec 22, 2020 - 3 min read
Why Is Sales Enablement Training So Important
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You’ve likely heard the term “sales enablement” before but probably didn’t think too much about its role in modern business and how it impacts your bottom line. Why should you care about sales enablement, and why should you invest in internal training for it?

Let’s talk about the definition of “sales enablement,” why businesses consider it so much, and what best practices exist for implementing sales enablement training into your organization’s workflow.

What Is Sales Enablement?

Sales enablement is the act of providing your sales team with the information and tools it needs to push sales and generally perform better. This process is completed by engaging the customer throughout the sales cycle.

One major step towards sales enablement is producing quality resources that are easy to understand and applicable across the entire company. Sales enablement is also:

  • A process focused primarily on the customer, involving an understanding of the buyer’s perspective.
  • Information is given to the sales team for internal use, such as research and tools.
  • Tracking how well the provided resources are being used to optimize the return on investment.
  • Recording metrics like sales cycle lengths, staff performance, and sales quotas.
  • A joint effort between the sales and marketing teams.

But producing helpful resources is not the only aspect of sales enablement. Businesses also need training and development programs so that participants get the most value out of the materials. The tech industry relies heavily on sales enablement, hence the high adoption rate of technology sales training.

Why Is It So Important?

Why do companies put so much effort into sales enablement and spend funding on virtual training software? The answer lies in how this type of training helps a large portion of your sales team achieve its goals more effectively. The solution here is both scalable and repeatable if done right.

Through sales enablement, you can improve performance across the board for your sales and marketing staff.

Sales Enablement Best Practices

Now that you’re developing a sales enablement strategy, let’s talk about some best practices to get you going on the right foot.

  • Define specific objectives. While your training program ultimately helps the sales team engage with the customer and push conversions better, find out what specific goals you hope to reach. For example, do you want to raise staff knowledge about your company’s products and services? Or should you focus on other factors like presentation skills and teamwork?
  • Generate useful content. Whether it’s a PDF guide or a webinar, make your resources applicable to the entire sales team. This practice will ensure your training program stays scalable and flexible.
  • Make it buyer-centric. Let the sales team know what your target demographic is, including its pain points and preferences.
  • Track your progress. Ensure your efforts are not going to waste by seeing how well the sales team is utilizing your resources. Track key performance indicators to demonstrate the effectiveness of your training.
  • Continue to improve. Because markets and demand constantly change, sales enablement is not a “set it and forget it” consideration. Make training a continual effort (preferably once a month) so that everyone doesn’t forget what was taught.

Don’t forget to decide how you will administer sales enablement training. One of the best ways is through a virtual IT training platform.

Choose the Right Platform

The success of your program hinges on the sales enablement training software you use, so why not use the one trusted by businesses of all sizes.

CloudShare offers virtual labs for almost every use case, whether it’s training, proof of concepts, or sandboxing. Our platform has everything you need to build a powerful sales enablement training environment.

Are you interested in seeing CloudShare in action? Book a demo with one of our virtual training specialists today.