What is sales enablement?
Sales enablement is the identification of processes, support, and tools that are intended to improve the execution of sales activities such as follow up calls, presentations, emailing prospects or professionals, customer relationship management, and prospecting. There are three “buckets” within sales enablement: process, training and coaching, and tools.
Sales Process
A sales process is a repeatable set of steps that sales professionals take to navigate through the buyer’s journey and secure a commitment. Contrary to belief, a sales process should be less about holding sales professionals accountable to selling “your way” and more about identifying how to create quality interactions each time you engage with a customer. Building a sales process includes building a sales process map, identifying milestones in the buyer’s journey, and identifying the steps in the sales process that support the buyer in their research to find an ideal solution.
Sales Training Programs
Training focuses on improving the skills of your sales operation. While training used to focus on the “how to” aspects of sales, today it requires a thorough understanding of the “why”. In this stage of sales enablement, understanding the buyer’s journey, the buyer personas your organization primarily works with and the defined sales process your organization has that was built based on those two elements is critical. Sales training lays a solid foundation, but sales coaching is where consistent habits are built.
Sales Enablement Tools
In this portion of sales enablement, the focus is on equipping the sales team with the right tools to increase volume of sales. Whether it be a implementing a new Customer Relationship Management System, having a content library accessible with resources (like checklists, long form content or tip sheets) for your sales operation, or crafting sales email templates that address questions or common objections buyers have as they travel through the buyers journey, all are areas of focus within the tools section of Sales Enablement.
Is your sales process good enough?
by Michelle Nessman | aUG 4, 2016 | Our Blog
While most companies have realized that to move the sales needle requires a solid sales process, few organizations have re-visited their sales process to assess what shifts need to be made in order to adapt to the changing needs of the buyer. One important note – there is a big difference between your sales process and your CRM. While your sales process may be built into your CRM, simply having a CRM does not mean you have a defined sales process.
