What is Sales Enablement and Sales Development?
Sales enablement, also known as sales development or sales marketing, is the strategy and process of successfully providing marketing representatives with the necessary resources to convert more leads. The resources include data, content, knowledge, and the tools needed to sell your company’s products or services to target clients.
There are several sides to sales enablement, and for this reason, the process requires the collaboration of the people both in and out of the sales department.
How does a sales team benefit from sales enablement?
Sales marketing provides your sales team and your sales reps with the tools, resources, and training so that they can crush their sales number goals. It’s not just about giving them a fancy CRM or a slick presentation deck. It’s about empowering them to have better conversations with prospects, overcome objections, close deals, and grow accounts.
It’s an ongoing strategy that adapts to the changing needs and challenges your sales team may face in sales development. Think of it as more of a group performance than a solo act. It requires collaboration and alignment between different functions and stakeholders in your organization, such as marketing, product, customer success, and leadership.
What does sales enablement involve?
The team at Mandel Marketing has deep roots in sales development, and in this article we’ll dig deep into how it works. First, let’s talk about what it actually. The following four activities typically fall under the practice of “sales enablement” (or “sales development”) within any sales organization, large or small.
Sales training and coaching
This involves providing sales reps with ongoing learning opportunities to develop their product knowledge, sales skills, and industry insights. This is done through a variety of means, such as:
- Online courses
- Workshops
- Webinars
- Podcasts
- Mentorship programs
- One-on-one coaching
- Follow-along (ride-along) sales audit
The goal is to help sales reps improve their performance and confidence in every stage of the sales cycle.
Sales content and collateral
This refers to creating and delivering relevant, engaging, and persuasive content and materials that support sales conversations and presentations. A great sales marketing team will develop great materials for the sales team to use in their presentation.
Sales content and collateral might include any or all of the following:
- Brochures
- Case studies
- White papers
- Testimonials
- Proposals
- Media kits
- Rate cards or pricing materials
- Contracts
- Product demos
The content should be aligned with the buyer’s journey and persona and should address their pain points, challenges, goals, and objections.
Sales tools and technology
This involves equipping sales reps with the right software and hardware solutions that enable them to work more efficiently and effectively. CRM systems (such as Salesforce, Hubspot, or Zoho), email marketing platforms (we like Constant Contact), video conferencing tools, social media tools can all be a part of a company’s sales enablement arsenal. These tools help sales reps automate tedious tasks, streamline workflows, communicate better with prospects and customers, and measure their results.
Sales alignment and feedback
This entails aligning the sales department with other functions within the organization, such as marketing, product development, customer service, or finance. Sales alignment and feedback can involve establishing common goals and metrics, sharing best practices and insights, coordinating campaigns and initiatives, or resolving conflicts and issues. The aim is to create a culture of collaboration and accountability that fosters trust and synergy across teams.
What does a sales enablement person or team do in the scope of an overall sales team? And how do they help?
Well, for starters, they help define and execute the sales strategy and goals for your company. How do they do this? Through the following:
- They identify the ideal customer profile, the buyer personas, the value proposition, and the sales methodology that will guide your sales team to success.
- They also establish the key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that will measure and track your sales team’s progress and performance.
- A sales enablement team helps create and deliver the sales content and collateral that your sales team needs to engage and educate prospects throughout the buyer journey. This includes things like email templates, call scripts, case studies, white papers, proposals, demos, and more.
- They ensure that your sales content is relevant, consistent, and compelling across different channels and platforms.
And that’s still not all. They also help design and implement sales training and coaching programs that will equip your sales team with the skills and knowledge they need to sell better. This includes things like product training, sales skills training, objection handling training, negotiation training, etc.
Because your sales teams are in a continuous feedback loop, they are in pole position to improve their sales performance and grow. To put it very bluntly, a sales enablement team can be the backbone of your sales development aspirations. They help your sales team sell smarter, faster, and better.
Sales Enablement and Sales Development with Mandel Marketing
If you’re still not convinced that sales enablement matters for your sales team, then you’re either living in denial or living under a rock. Sales enablement is not a nice-to-have or a luxury. In today’s business landscape, it’s an absolute necessity. It’s the difference between surviving and thriving in today’s competitive and complex sales environment.
Here at Mandel Marketing, our competent team works behind the scenes to help you achieve all your sales development goals and generate more revenue.
Our team spends a lot of time consulting with senior sales staff and management to conduct research and develop the appropriate marketing automation tools for your sales enablement and development. Our experienced team will help you with the correct tools and strategies to grow.
With Mandel Marketing’s help, you can:
- Assess your current sales enablement strategy and identify the gaps and opportunities for improvement.
- Receive ongoing coaching and support to ensure that your sales team applies the skills and knowledge they learned in the real world.
- Measure the impact and ROI of your sales enablement activities, using data-driven tools and methods.
- Benchmark your results against industry standards and best practices, and provide actionable insights and recommendations for continuous improvement.
Ready to talk about maximizing your sales perfomance?
If you are interested in learning more about how Mandel Marketing can augment your sales development activities for the better, we are here to talk.
Drop us a message on our contact page or book a half-hour block on our calendar, and we will quickly set you up with one of our sales enablement experts.