7 Tips for Creating a Winning Sales Enablement Strategy

Planning for Success in Sales Enablement

Sales enablement equips your sales team with the tools, skills, and knowledge they need to confidently navigate every stage of the sales cycle. But how do you ensure those resources play an effective role in your sales team's workflow, and that your organization's sales enablement efforts are successful and relevant year after year? That's where a sales enablement strategy comes in. In today's competitive landscape, a well-crafted sales enablement strategy is the difference between a high-performing sales organization and one struggling to keep pace.

Understand Your Buyers and Sellers

Sales enablement is not just about improving sales; it's about enhancing the customer experience and reducing friction. To build an effective sales enablement strategy, you’ll need a deep understanding of your target buyer personas mapping their journey through the sales funnel, pinpointing their needs, pain points, and preferred information sources at each stage.

This allows you to tailor your sales enablement content for maximum impact. You’ll also want to identify knowledge gaps and skill deficiencies within your sales force. Conduct skills assessments, analyze sales call recordings, and gather feedback from managers to pinpoint areas that could be improved through sales enablement.

Establish Clear Objectives and KPIs for Sales Enablement

Ensuring that your sales enablement objectives directly tie back to overarching business goals can be very helpful for building organization-wide support for a sales enablement strategy.

For example, if your company aims to increase sales of a new product line by 30% in the next quarter, your sales enablement strategy should include specific objectives around training the sales team on the product's value proposition and developing targeted content to drive product adoption.

Additionally, assessing the effectiveness of your sales enablement strategy is crucial to ensure its ongoing relevance and success. A combination of sales metrics (like conversion rates, sales cycle length, and revenue generated) and enablement-focused indicators (like content engagement rates, time spent selling, and skill improvement scores) can help you gauge the effectiveness of your sales enablement strategy and understand where refinements to your approach may be needed.

Create Compelling Content and Resources

Providing your team with well-crafted sales enablement content is paramount for helping them resonate with prospects, communicate value compellingly, close deals, and meet the goals of your sales enablement strategy.

Have a plan in place to create a variety of sales enablement content that empowers sellers and aligns with the needs of your customer personas at each stage of the buyer’s journey. However, it’s not enough to just create the content. Make sure your sales enablement content is easily accessible to your sales team – and that your team is updated when there is new or revised content. Utilize a centralized content management system (CMS) with robust search functionalities to ensure reps can find the resources they need easily.

Implement Effective Training Programs

Skill building is at the core of sales enablement, serving as the foundation for success in the evolving and competitive business landscape. In addition to building proficiency in critical sales skills, equipping sales reps with advanced skills like data analysis, negotiation, and digital literacy prepares them to leverage sales enablement tools effectively, make data-driven decisions, and succeed in a digital sales environment. As part of your sales enablement strategy, you should establish sales training programs that help your team upskill and learn how to leverage the latest resources in your CMS.

To fit the individual learning needs of your team, there are many different training approaches you can use including blended learning, microlearning, and more.

Utilize Technology and Tools

Technology plays a vital role in sales enablement. Evaluate your current tech stack to ensure your team has what they need to automate tasks, streamline workflows, and deliver targeted content to your sales team.

Just keep in mind that having the right tech is only one piece of the puzzle. Ensuring that your team is comfortable with these tools and can integrate them effectively into their workflows is crucial.

Some of these tools include:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for tracking and managing customer interactions.
• Conversation Intelligence tools to analyze calls and meetings for improved sales tactics and strategies.
• Sales Engagement platforms to streamline outreach processes using data and targeted insights across multiple channels and automate routine tasks to boost productivity.
• Internal Communications platforms for improving collaboration within and across teams.
• Sales Training technology, such as Richardson's Accelerate Sales Performance System, to focus on building the specific sales capabilities needed to improve your bottom line.
• Content Management Systems (CMS) for housing all your sales enablement content, as well as streamlining content creation, approval workflows, and distribution to the sales team.

Foster Collaboration Between Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing teams both play critical roles in the customer journey. Marketing targets and attracts leads with relevant messaging, while sales works on converting those leads into customers. Your sales enablement strategy should include a plan to encourage open communication and frequent collaboration between sellers and marketers. That way, sales can provide first-hand insights back to marketing about customer needs, preferences, and potential roadblocks, enabling the creation of more targeted and effective marketing strategies that in turn lead to more effective selling processes.

Continuously Measure and Iterate

Understanding what works and what doesn’t helps in fine-tuning your sales enablement strategy. Using the KPIs you’ve established, analyze data to identify areas for improvement, such as content that underperforms or training gaps hindering seller effectiveness.

Use these insights to iterate and optimize your strategy for better results over time. For example, if you see a dip in conversion rates during a specific stage of the sales funnel, analyze the sales enablement content used during that phase. You might need to develop new resources or refine existing materials to address buyer objections more effectively. For a proactive approach, try utilizing A/B testing to compare different versions of sales collateral to see which ones resonate best with your target audience.

Continuously Optimizing Your Sales Enablement Strategy

By applying these strategies, you can build a sales enablement strategy that empowers your team, streamlines sales processes, and ultimately drives sustainable business growth. But remember: sales enablement is not a one-and-done initiative. It's an ongoing process that requires regular feedback, assessment, and refinement. By fostering a culture of learning, data-driven decision-making, and collaboration, you can create a winning sales enablement strategy that evolves as your business reaches new heights.