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INDEX
Beginning from the Basics
Page 4 – Page 5
Elements of Sales Enablement
Page 6 - Page 9
Making Sales Enablement Work for You
Page 10
So Many Options – Which One to Choose?
Page 11 – Page 12 That which Fits You the Best
Page 13
The Bottom Line
Page 14 Reach Out
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Beginning from the Basics
Reaping profitability and benefits have been the core drivers of every sales activity since the beginning of time. However, competition, challenges in quota attainment and sustained ringing of those revenue registers is only getting tougher.
While the elements acting as enablers of sales have been into existence and in action (in fragmented and unstructured fashion though) since always – the term which later consolidated the entire realm of this practice came to be called as Sales Enablement. It was an important step because the otherwise randomly segmented tasks termed as -sales support functions, were eventually categorised rightfully. Sales enablement is often a nebulous concept, defined differently by different organisations. Going literal, all the activities and elements which facilitates enabling sales comes under this large umbrella of sales enablement. In business terms, the realm of improving sales productivity and effectiveness and ultimately bridging the gap between strategy and implementation is called sales enablement. And here’s the catch – the definition is everevolving! ©Denave
Elements of Sales Enablement
In bridging this gap between strategy and implementation, sales enablement becomes an all-inclusive and end-to-end concept which defines best practices for strategizing, implementing, recruiting, enabling and analysing sales acts to drive optimal returns for enterprises and enable success in sales. Let’s look at the precise demarcation of elements which makes up sales enablement: Strategy Formulation and Consulting This is the foundation of a rock-solid sales enablement plan and a most crucial step because if the beginning is set in the wrong stone, nothing much can be done later. It comprises of a thorough understanding of the challenges the organisation is facing or is expecting to face, available resources along with the requirements and the final goal.
Execution – Strategy Implementation Once the plan or strategy is in place, the next step is to execute it. However, before execution various levels of checks ought to be undertaken to ensure preparedness and in case of detection of any gap, timely fulfilment of the same. This implementation stage is further divided into pre, during and post set of activities. ©Denave
The execution strategy may have a varied ratio of human or technological strategy component, however the phase-wise division of steps which comes under it, remains the same. Phase 1 or Pre-Rollout Stage It comprises of furnishing the execution methodology by recruiting domain experts, training them and equipping them with requisite sales tools basis nature of the strategy. Phase 2 or Rollout Stage The rollout phase comprises deployment support, adoption support, tracking and audit for checking campaign effectiveness. Success of this phase is dependent on the go-to-market strategy and precise rollout of the same. Phase 3 or Enhancement Stage Enhancement phase comprises components such as analytics, marketing (digital as well as on ground activation led) and technology platforms such as modern-day BI tools etc. that act as enablers to enhance execution.
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Making Sales Enablement Work for You
While the components explain the wide gamut of activities which are covered by sales enablement, their understanding alone is not enough to bring the requisite ROI. Sounds confusing yet it’s true. Difference lies in understanding the theory or imbibing the probable impact before setting foot on this journey. So, what are the ingredients of an effective sales enablement strategy after all? Let’s revisit the definition part once again and this time, from a different and detailed angle. Sales enablement can be defined as a comprehensive methodology which helps salespeople to successfully close sales opportunities by helping them prepare for customer interactions, proficient engagement with their target audiences, and proceed with sales opportunities closures. Hence, these acts of preparation, engagement and advancement becomes the essential ingredients of an effective sales enablement strategy which when mixed with appropriate content, process, communication and tools becomes the holy grail recipe of success. ©Denave
Let’s dig deeper and understand the secret sauce of a successful sales enablement strategy in detail. Preparation Relevant content creation for the use of sales and marketing teams along with provision of adequate training of salespeople on the product/service messaging as well as the technology tools which are part of those product/services, makes up for preparation. With prospective customers becoming more knowledgeable, tech-savvy and well-researched, the sales rep cannot afford being ill-prepared or superficially informed. Comprising of elements like training, research support as well as the customised guidance to demand generation and independent prospecting, it forms the bedrock of entire sales engine. Now-a-days, the trend for onthe-go and on-demand personalised training sessions is also seeing a significant hike.
Good to Know In B2B sales, customers today progress more than 70% of the way through the decision-making process before ever engaging with a sales representative. 1
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Engagement Ensuring high-impact engagement through written, spoken or presented content which drives involvement from all the parties instead of being a solo show runner, comes under the engagement phase. After all, the preparation needs to see the day light and that too with right tools and the best opening statement. Here, experimenting with various channels of engagement, be it webinars, social media, email, face-to-face etc. is done based on the requirement. The knowledge of technology tools as well as equipment used to engage with prospect also holds a key value. For example, a sales rep toiling with a laptop or another one with the presentation deck over an iPad can be perceived differently.
Good to Know Simply adding the word ‘video’ in the subject of pitch mails, increases the clickthrough rates by 65% and reduces unsubscribes by 26% and 59% of senior B2B executives prefer watching online video over reading text. 2 & 3
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Proceed Post-meeting communication follow-ups which needs to be continued till the closure along with assessment of previous activities through analytics and re-feeding the insights for maximising the effectiveness of the plan comes under this act of proceeding or advancing. With relevant analytics results such as which part of the content has garnered more attention or views etc. informed follow-ups can also be driven along with a view into how far the prospect has progressed into the sales funnel. The data-driven assessment and advancement approach also helps in polishing the first step further by channelizing apt derivations into the training engine.
Good to Know Instead of a responsive approach by salespeople, buyers now feel that a proactive, prescriptive approach increase their purchase ease by 86% - the ease which buyers look for. 4
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So Many Options – Which One to Choose?
A sound implementation strategy leads to impeccable on ground execution. While sales enablement is on the mind of seasoned sales leaders, many have doubts regarding successful implementation of sales enablement strategies. Questions such as “Will it increase sales for us?”, “How will we measure our sales success?”, “What does sales enablement actually mean for us?”, etc. often crop up. It is therefore imperative that one understands the concept of differences. Differences here stand for the various types of industry segments, different set of business requirements etc. You may be a tech company needing to give a boost to your tele-based lead generation engine or a company struggling with its sales force management, sales training or visual merchandising – you may be a B2B player, a distributer partner or even a B2C player – your target audience can be SMBs, start-ups, enterprises or even ground-level consumers. So, there are multiple factors which will make your organisation’s requirement completely unique in its own way. And a unique problem calls for a customised value proposition. From a standard scale, there are multiple implementation strategies like Feet-on-Street, Telesales, Marketing Activations etc. while on a more granular level, this segment is ever evolving owing to the rise in demand for personalised services and the subsequent progress in sales-tech tools domain.
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That Which Fits You the Best Let’s look at various sales enablement implementation strategies which are there, and you can decipher which fits your need the best. Feet-on-Street The most traditional method of selling, this approach deploys sales-people on the ground to implement the sales plan. Here, in general, the sales representative is in total control of the communication with a potential customer – sharing all the benefits of the product and convincing him/her to make a purchase. Traditional sales is represented by territories/ coverage areas and each territory is sub-divided into quotas (how many customers to target in a particular area). A successful feet-on-street strategy is dependent on profile fitment, effective deployment plan, territory mapping and coverage plan and a well thought out monitoring and reporting plan. It enables targeted geographical reach and is most effective when the product requires hard selling. Telesales It allows conversion of feet-on-street sales representatives into consultative managers, using tele operations. With consultative selling picking up pace a few years ago, telesales also got its high spot since then (dynamics are in volatile stage currently). As part of the sales team, telesales representatives connect with customers on the phone to either generate leads, process orders, make direct sales, support ground sales representatives by setting up appointments, or engage in customer service. Ensuring greater geographical reach, it is most effective when product requires controlled consultative selling. ©Denave
Technology With time, the buyer preferences have also undergone a major deal of change and a key factor in driving this change is the advent in technology in even the once traditional elements of sales processes. Hence, it is imperative to ride on the prevailing technology trends and use platforms such as intelligent CRM tools, advanced sales force and workforce automation tools etc. depending upon precise requirement of the business. Solutions like language-scale agnostic analytics platforms or artificial intelligence-enabled CRMs, predictive and now prescriptive BI etc. are becoming a game changer for businesses. Digital Marketing With the digitally-empowered breed of buyer taking the centre stage in the world of sales, ignoring digital marketing has become the biggest sin any organisation who’s serious about its revenue, can commit. This strategy leverages social media and other digital channels, stitched by effective content and context to maximise sales. By cooking the prospect database and bridging the gap between marketing initiative and sales action, it improves sales conversions exponentially. Marketing Activations This strategy segment is all about being focused on activating sales and driving foot falls at the point of sales. With point-of-purchase driven activities, such as store promotions, road shows, visual merchandising, sampling activities, events etc., this strategy emphasises driving inbound sales. Considering the nature of the activity to drive on-the-spot sales, customer experience via instant gratification is of prime importance in this case. It not just leads to incremental retail sales but also enhances brand visibility and ensures impeccable customer experience. Hybrid Approach As the name suggests, depending upon the complexity of the project, one or more of the above methods can be combined to implement a successful sales strategy and the approach becomes a hybrid one. For example, many successful strategies require a balanced mix of tele and feet-on-street, while another may require tele and technology going hand in hand. In a way, it can be said to be the mother of all other approaches since it’s like forgoing any restrictions and having the best of both worlds. Considering the nature of implementation, hybrid strategies provide enhanced ©Denave flexibility and productivity.
The Bottom Line
With an understanding of the concept, core elements and constituent strategies, you can feel all-ready to revamp your sales enablement approach. Remember, the output which you get from any sales enablement partner is also majorly dependent upon your own understanding of the function and underlying processes. With a strategic, tech-enabled and contextual approach to content management, customer engagement and requisite training & coaching of sales reps, sales enablement can transform a business in entirety. The key lies in getting on board with a partner who perfects this art and science of sales and is ready to walk in your shoes to customise the plan as per your pain points and precise needs.
Sales Enablement is all about helping prospects bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be.
Stay tuned for the next part of this eBook where we delve into best practices of sales enablement and also bring you the latest industry trends and forecast – straight from the industry experts.
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Sources: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanerskine/2017/12/28/how-to-turnb2b-buyers-into-sales-leads-according-to-data/#2f3af4525a18 https://www.walkaroundvideos.com/blog/2016/11/video-in-thesubject-line-increases-open-and-click-through-rates https://www.forbes.com/sites/miketempleman/2017/09/06/17-statsabout-video-marketing/#defc2f2567fb https://hbr.org/2017/03/the-new-sales-imperative
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