There are a few different methods people are experimenting with. Only one of them is tried and true, however, and that’s sales enablement.
Most people are looking for a quick fix when it comes to improving sales team performance. They want a new technique to replace an ineffective older one. They want a better template to encourage customers to open emails. They invest in a CRM, thinking it will solve all their problems.
Taking this approach is something like giving someone a fish instead of teaching them how to fish. By teaching the person to fish, you’ve solved the problem for the long term.
Sales enablement is much the same sort of thing. It’s not a single new technique or a new app. It’s a whole new way of thinking and approaching sales. In the long run, it will teach your sales team how to keep selling.
The first stop on the sales enablement train is training and learning. Much like teaching someone to fish, teaching your sales team how to sell will allow them to continue doing their jobs in the future.
Sales enablement suggests training and learning should be an ongoing process, however. You can’t teach your sales reps one new technique and expect it to work forever. Instead, invest in ongoing training and learning for your team so they can stay on top of the latest techniques and trends.
Some people think sales enablement starts and stops with training and learning. After all, if you keep teaching your sales team members new techniques, they’ll continue to use those more effective techniques. Selling will get easier.
Not necessarily! Learning a new technique is great, but your sales people also need the tools to do their jobs. The CRM may not solve all your problems on its own, but it can support your team members in their selling endeavours.
Providing the right tools means your team can put all those great new skills to work. Training and tools go hand in hand in the sales enablement paradigm.
Marketing is becoming ever-more important in the sales funnel these days, which makes it more important for your sales and marketing teams to be aligned. If your sales team members have no idea what marketing’s doing, you have a problem.
Marketing can be one way of getting your sales reps the tools they need. It also generates leads and can offer lead intelligence your sales team needs in order to determine how to reach out to potential customers or when to reach out to them.
Did you know sales people spend the majority of their time doing things other than selling? Sales enablement takes a look at these other tasks and wonders how to get them out of the way so your people can refocus on sales.
Automation is one answer. Sales enablement asks you to take a critical look at your processes and asks how you can make things simpler. Chances are you’re missing a task that could be automated.
Sales enablement is also a proponent of measurements and metrics. Without the data, you can’t make informed decisions about which sales strategies are working and which ones aren’t. The right metrics will provide you with the information you need to make better decisions.
When you combine all of these factors together, you emerge with a powerful strategy for improving sales performance. There’s good reason sales enablement is the #1 way to improve your sales performance.