Glossary

Sales Enablement Technology

Sales enablement has seen explosive growth in the business sector. Adoption rates have risen 343% between 2017 and 2021. This widespread enthusiasm has translated into new tactics and tools businesses are picking up to empower their sales enablement strategies.

But even the most well-planned-out sales enablement strategy isn’t perfect until you have the right sales enablement tools on hand. Choosing the technologies your sales enablement teams will rely on can be challenging. So many options are on the market, and ever-changing customer expectations mean that you’ll always be on your toes.

Let’s go over sales enablement software and how to choose the products and solutions that will empower your company’s sales strategy for years to come.

What Do Sales Enablement Solutions Do?

A sales enablement platform provides a centralized dashboard for your sales teams to take control of the entire sales funnel. Everything from marketing content to sales analytics is at your fingertips.

For example, you can instantly collect statistics on your content usage to see what’s grabbing your audience’s attention and what needs more work. Cross-referencing and tracking this data is what makes sales enablement successful.

What Advantages Can I Expect From Sales Enablement Products?

Empowering sales teams with specialized tools gives them a significant advantage in a competitive market.

It Provides Sales Representatives with Critical Information

Sales enablement tools provide reliable data and automation for critical processes, both of which help sales representatives make smarter business decisions and gain new skills related to sales enablement.

For instance, they can determine which contacts to prioritize by studying what audiences are most likely to convert. Don’t let your representatives go in blind; use sales enablement tools to your advantage.

It Helps Communicate Your Value Proposition

When clients reach out to your sales team, they expect to learn about your value proposition. What internal business cases can your product or service provide them?

Sales enablement tools help generate the type of content that communicates that value clearly, whether it’s:

• Marketing videos
• Info sheets
• Statistics
• Frequently asked questions
• Conversational points

It Facilitates Meaningful Conversations with Your Audience

In a B2B setting, sales teams must contact the key decision-makers in the client business. Doing so maximizes the chance of landing a conversion and optimizes time spent talking with contacts.

Sales enablement applications engage representatives with these decision-makers more often. They also record call analytics to see which leads need more time spent on them. Remember that conversions sometimes fall through the cracks if you don’t follow up on your sales leads enough.

It Enables Company-Wide Collaboration

Sales is no longer an exclusive responsibility of a dedicated team; it should come to everybody’s attention.

From the buyer journey to marketing activities to customer success, a sales enablement platform keeps your efforts accessible to anybody in the organization. This way, you’re more likely to receive new ideas and contributions from across the company.

How Do I Choose the Right Sales Enablement Systems?

There is no “one size fits all” solution to sales enablement. The service provider you select should reflect your unique circumstances.

For instance, a company with a fairly inexpensive product will likely have a shorter sales funnel. The tools it would use should focus on what happens before and after the funnel, such as lead generation.

If a company operates in a higher price range, the sales funnel is usually longer, and the emphasis is instead on building client relationships. The tools involved must focus on aspects like marketing content generation and scheduling follow-up calls.

So what should you look for in an ideal sales enablement platform that fits your overall sales strategy? Ask yourself the following questions:

• Is this solution easy to use? Make sure your teams can quickly pick up on the solution’s features. Look at the learning curve and decide whether staff training will be necessary. Some investment into training may be worth it, but try to avoid needlessly complicated platforms.
• Does it have the integrations I need? The sales enablement process relies heavily on other aspects of the marketing effort, such as customer relationship management. That’s why a sales enablement tool must integrate with your CRM platform and share data extensively.
• Are data and analytics a focus? Data is the heart of improving sales efforts. The software must track the metrics you’re most interested in.
• What will it do for my marketing content? Content, which will be at the forefront of your clients’ attention, can make or break a deal. Sales enablement tools should have features to organize and present relevant content reliably, especially if you’re expecting to appeal to new audiences in the future.
• Is it in my budget? Pricing is a factor dependent on what you value in a software platform. A higher price might be worthwhile if the platform provides the features your teams need most. Aim for platforms that offer demos if you can.