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 what does Sales Enablement mean?

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 and structured response to this problem. The aim? To develop 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 a fairly new idea 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 therefore 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 effective with target customers;
• ongoing training for teams, to improve their knowledge of products, sales techniques and understanding of the mechanisms of customer relations;
• the implementation of technologies designed to increase 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 commercial interactions with customers and prospects, based on the sharing of knowledge.

Gartner

💡 Note: Sales Enablement tends to be used in B2B operations due to the often greater complexity of sales cycles and the products or services sold in this field.

What are the prerequisites for Sales Enablement?

To get a clearer picture of Sales Enablement, it is important to understand the prerequisites, the fundamental pillars on which it is based:

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

Perfect synergy between the company's departments

Sales Enablement requires the implementation of a clearly defined process that helps to 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 sheets
• case studies
• customer testimonials, etc.

They also ensure that these resources are :

• easily accessible, at any time and in any place, for example during a meeting with a customer ;
• relevant and attractive, both in terms of content and form.

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

Technological solutions to support sales teams

At the same time, Sales Enablement relies on technologies, mainly software.

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

At the same time, these platforms support collective intelligence, by centralising 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?

You now have a clearer idea of what Sales Enablement is... but the principle may remind you of other concepts such as :

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

While they are 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 is used to understand what makes salespeople more effective, with the aim of deploying actions accordingly.

Sales Operations, on the other hand, focuses more on the operational processes required to support salespeople. It therefore encompasses 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 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.

In Sales Enablement, we find all the resources mobilised 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 the 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 .

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

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

👉 Against this backdrop, sales teams urgently need to stand out from the crowd by adding real value. They need to reenchant the customer experience by :

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

# 2 Have access to the right resources more easily

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

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

💡 Worth noting: the skills of marketers are also mobilised to promote the company's brand image through :

• compliance with the pre-established graphic charter,
• using compelling wording and/or storytelling,
• highlighting elements linked to the organisation'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 organising sales meetings.

Fortunately, with a good Sales Enablement strategy, they can achieve their objectives more easily, 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 the training measures implemented simply enable sales staff to be more efficient.

#4 Become more competitive in the face of the competition

In B2B, competitive pressure is increasing by the day. 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 organisation works.

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

Modernising business 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 realised, this is one of the founding and differentiating characteristics of Sales Enablement.

And with good reason: all companies stand 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 for intervening at a specific point in the sales cycle.

According to Seismic, there is a 15% increase in the success rate when the two poles are perfectly aligned.

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

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

# 6 Increase company revenue

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

Between their gains in efficiency and productivity, their increased skills or even the use of tailored content, sales staff benefit from all the sales support they need to optimise their processes.

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

The roles of Sales Enablement

Ultimately, who is 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 not yet been fully formalised. Each expert has his own interpretation.

Nonetheless, the following areas are commonly identified:

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

💡 Note: the roles of each differ from one organisation to another, depending on factors such as its size, activity and 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 staff. It is based on 4 different levels of responsibility:

• Responsible (the person 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 department that 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 feedback that is essential for the development of resources and training plans that are adapted to reality.

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

• its success in sales is a direct indicator of the effectiveness of Sales Enablement ;
• they have in-depth knowledge of the challenges facing the market;
• it has an intrinsic motivation to improve 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 process.

Among other things, it relies on Sales Enablement applications to distribute these resources more easily and make it easier to update them.

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

• It has an in-depth understanding of the company's messages, buyer personas and market trends ;
• They have the skills needed to develop truly impactful content;
• they know how to analyse data and measure performance in order to improve the strategy deployed.

A dedicated Sales Enablement department

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

One of the main advantages of creating a dedicated team is its neutrality. As it is not the responsibility of either the sales or marketing departments, it promotes alignment between the two.

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

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

Summary table

What about human resources?

Yes, because Sales Enablement includes a major training component, human resources are also involved 💃.

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

💡 Good to know: having a good understanding of what all these sales enablement concepts entail makes it easier to recruit:

• 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 is the purpose of the Sales Enablement Manager job?

As teams specifically dedicated to sales support develop, we are seeing the emergence of a new profession: the Sales Enablement Manager.

👉 The Sales Enablement Manager has a number of tasks to perform:

• Facilitating communication between sales teams and other departments, such as marketing or product support.
  
  
• Identifying and implementing improvements to sales processes.
  
  
• Developing training programmes, in collaboration with the HR department, to improve the skills of sales staff.
  
  
• Coordinate the production of relevant sales materials such as product sheets, case studies and other presentations.
  
  
• Deploying technological tools that contribute to the development of the Sales Enablement strategy.
  
  
• Analysing sales data to identify areas for improvement in Sales Enablement operations.
  
  
• Collecting and analysing feedback from sales teams in order to fine-tune Sales Enablement resources and programmes.

Sales Enablement tools

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

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

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

Fortunately, there are platforms specifically developed for Sales Enablement. Thanks to their functional coverage, they take care of numerous tasks that are more or less related to sales enablement:

• centralising and organising all content ;
• providing training modules and induction courses for new sales staff;
• tracking salespeople's performance and analysing the effectiveness of the resources provided;
• automating certain recurring tasks so that sales teams can concentrate more on selling;
• Integration of CRM systems, to ensure that processes run smoothly;
• collaboration between the organisation's various departments, etc.

💡 And don't forget: most of these software packages also offer mobile access, simplifying the work of salespeople 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?".

💡 Note: this involves determining your company's level 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 (CRM instead).
  
  
• 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. They are all working on more advanced technologies.
  
  
• Visionary: sales enablement procedures enjoy solid support from management, which no longer hesitates to allocate all the financial and human resources needed to ensure that they work properly. The stack of tools used is robust. Data is exploited with the aim of spreading best practice throughout the company.

Ask yourself the right questions

Knowing where your organisation stands in terms of its level of maturity will make it easier for you to answer these questions:

• What are the essential functionalities (content management, training, performance analysis, etc.) for my future software?
  💡 We recommend, of course, that you survey the employees concerned to find out exactly what their needs are and to understand the framework of the project.
  
  
• 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 customisation is required to ensure it is fully compliant 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?
  
  
• Do the prices applied 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 publishers, or use a trial version. This way, you can assess the potential of a tool before making your decision.

🛠️ Software example:

Seismic offers a platform that is 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 then planning your strategy. And thanks to its Enablement Intelligence module, you'll have access to up-to-date data and analyses to ensure that your actions are always effective.

How do you set up your Sales Enablement strategy?

You now have a clearer picture of this nebulous concept of Sales Enablement 👀... and you've realised that your organisation can't do without it if it REALLY wants to perform!

To take the plunge once and for all, 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 advise you to choose a project manager (sales manager, marketing manager, Sales Enablement Manager, etc.) at an early stage, who will be responsible for orchestrating all operations.
   
   
2. Assess the company's needs in order to set clear, measurable objectives, which are intended to drive the Sales Enablement strategy.
   
   
3. Select your software and configure it in line with your processes.
   
   
4. Ensure that sales and marketing are perfectly aligned. To achieve this:
   1. encourage open and regular communication between the two departments;
   2. give them common objectives.
      
      
5. Deploy the operations associated with Sales Enablement, in particular creating content and making it available to interested stakeholders, as well as carrying out the necessary training.
   
   
6. Set up mechanisms to monitor Sales Enablement progress (precise and measurable KPIs, such as conversion rates).
   
   
7. Gather regular feedback from your teams and commit to a continuous improvement process. If necessary, you can then adjust your strategy.

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 staff will succeed in winning over increasingly fussy 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 business depends on the use of technological solutions. While it's possible to rely on your existing stack, 100% dedicated software, centralising all the functions essential to Sales Enablement, really makes a difference. Not to mention the fact that they are increasingly based on artificial intelligence, to take personalisation, automation and prediction even further. The future of sales is already with us... and it's bringing surprising results 🤩.