Change enablement ≠ sales enablement: Key differences explained

I made a mistake the other day. I reconnected with an ex-colleague from 18 years ago over a video chat. After we exchanged pleasantries and marveled at how long it had been since we had worked together at a small e-learning outfit a lifetime ago, he asked:

“So what are you focused on these days?”

Without thinking too much, I cheerfully answered, “Oh I work in enablement now.”

“Enablement – nice. That’s employee training, right?” he tried to clarify.

His question gave me a pause. I should have said “sales enablement.” Yes, you could argue that sales enablement is technically employee training, but it’s not targeted at all employees. It’s aimed at the salesforce – the customer-facing roles.

It’s more specialized than employee training and is more attuned to the evolving needs of the market and the growth of sellers.

But having been a part of the sales enablement universe for over 15 years now, I guess I never consciously realized how often we sales enablers abbreviate what we do to just “enablement.” And that magically makes sense to those of us in the circle, but not to everybody else.

The term "enablement" is often used too broadly, lacking the precision it deserves. While sales enablement stands out as a well-defined category, there exists another significant form that dominates the remaining landscape of enablement.

Some refer to it as employee enablement, others as business or organizational enablement, and still, a few choose to be more specific, calling it change enablement—a term I prefer.

In a past life, I had the privilege of being part of a change enablement team, one that specialized in sales enablement among other initiatives. It was a truly remarkable team (more on that later).

But it can be confusing, isn’t it? What is change enablement? How is it different from sales enablement? Can they sometimes be the same? When does that happen? In this article, I will answer all of these questions and more.

Let's start with the essentials.

Change enablement vs. sales enablement

Change enablement is an integral function within an organization that focuses on equipping the workforce with skills, knowledge, strategies, technology, and resources needed to be successful, with the overall objective of increasing organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

Sales enablement is also a critical function within an organization that focuses on equipping the salesforce with the skills, knowledge, and tools needed to be successful in their roles, with the objective of driving revenue growth.

Both of these definitions sound incredibly similar. Let’s dissect this further.

Primary objective

The need for change enablement is triggered by specific change events. Change events can be caused by the following:

Organization-wide business transformation initiatives

Organization-wide business transformation initiatives are broader in scope, often requiring a fundamental restructuring of how employees are organized, and driving shifts in work priorities and core processes.

These initiatives are typically driven by major shifts in a company’s strategic direction, growth trajectory, fiscal objectives, go-to-market strategies, technology infrastructure, or even mergers & acquisitions.

They’re designed to realign the company with evolving business goals and market demands, and therefore have the potential of impacting every level of the organization.

Small-scale change initiatives

Small-scale change initiatives typically target specific areas within an organization, affecting distinct teams or roles rather than the entire company.

These initiatives may involve updates to tools, systems, processes, operational procedures, roles and responsibilities, or even adjustments in team structures.

While more focused in scope, these changes are essential for enhancing efficiency, streamlining workflows, and aligning specific functions with larger organizational objectives.

Since the need for change enablement is tied to specific triggers, the main objective of change enablement is to help an organization accomplish the inherent objectives behind those triggers in an effective and efficient way.

This is achieved by arming the employees affected by the change with the knowledge, tools, and information they need to understand, accept, adopt, and sustain the change and be productive in performing their job duties.

Sales enablement, on the other hand, is directly aligned to the revenue goals of an organization and the needs of the workforce that is responsible for accomplishing these revenue goals, i.e., sales teams.

Sales enablement is therefore targeted at equipping the sales roles within the organization with the appropriate skills, tools, information, coaching, and resources they need to be successful in their role as sellers.

This success, in turn, is driven and measured through the following core criteria:

Excellence & Performance: This is indicated by consistent rep performance, increased sales productivity, strong forecasting and pipeline, and most importantly revenue growth.
Customer Experience: This is delivered through uniform buyer experiences that are powered by consistent sales messaging and result in conversion of prospects to customers. This moves the needle on new customer attainment thereby influencing revenue.
Account Growth: This is measured by sustained account growth and high customer retention, which support revenue targets.

Revenue increase can therefore be considered the ultimate objective of sales enablement.

So, as we can see, while both types of enablement are aimed at supporting distinct parts of the workforce, their inherent objectives are very different. Next, let’s review exactly which parts of the workforce each type of enablement serves.

Target audience

The target audience that change enablement initiatives focus on depends on the type of change initiative being rolled out and the groups impacted by that change.

Broad organizational changes, like shifting office productivity tools from one provider to another (for instance, transitioning from Google Suite to Microsoft 365 Enterprise), typically affect the entire workforce, making every employee who relies on these tools the focal point of the change enablement efforts.

Conversely, smaller initiatives, like updates to hiring practices or the adoption of a new talent sourcing solution, will only involve specific roles within HR and recruitment departments.

In contrast, sales enablement is laser-focused on those in sales or customer-facing roles. This includes AEs, Inside Sales, SDRs, BDRs, SEs, Sales Leaders, Customer Success team, partners, and sometimes even customers.

In their role as enablers, sales enablement teams execute and maintain ongoing programs and initiatives that provide crucial, timely, and pertinent information to sales professionals on a regular basis.

This information is structured around standard topics such as:

Product offerings, key product features, use cases, and differentiators.
Value proposition of various products and supporting go-to-market motions.
Key competitors and their products.
Sales methodology.
Sales processes.
Tools for managing deals, quoting/pricing, prospecting, account planning, sales intelligence, analytics, sales acceleration, marketing automation, and more.
Critical skills like negotiation, persuasion, value-based selling, persona-driven conversations, etc.

This highlights a key difference: while the target audience for sales enablement remains consistent, the audience for change enablement can shift with each new initiative, defined by who the change impacts.

That, in turn, raises an important question: If the needs for change enablement vary with every initiative, what does the composition of the enablement team look like? And how does that compare to sales enablement teams? Let’s explore this further.

Team structure

Since change enablement is needs-driven, it is a cross-functional effort often spanning various departments. The exact teams that are responsible for carrying out the change enablement initiative vary depending on the type of change being implemented.

In a general sense, the core change enablement team will typically include members from different teams within the organization to support workstreams such as:

Subject matter expertise
Change impact assessment
Training development
Communications and awareness
Program/project management
Stakeholder management

Change enablement teams are often temporary and are disbanded once all the activities on the change enablement charter have been completed. Most organizations either form a “tiger team” of sorts to meet their change enablement needs or hire an external agency to help them through the change.

Some organizations may staff a dedicated change enablement team, especially if they are experiencing a period of long-term transformation.

On the contrary, sales enablement is usually managed by a dedicated sales enablement team. This team is charged with developing the vision and strategy for sales enablement in direct alignment with the organization’s revenue objectives.

Sales enablement teams collaborate closely with key stakeholders such as the sales organization to define a clear charter that is executed through a robust offering of programs.

These programs include:

Onboarding
Competency and skills development programs
Coaching initiatives
Sales methodology enablement
Product enablement
Launch enablement
Sales leader training
Just-in-time enablement
Sales kick-offs

Sales enablement initiatives are designed, deployed, and refined on a continual basis to address the ever-changing demands of the market, evolving customer preferences, updates to product offerings and sales strategies, and the ongoing need for development and upskilling of sales teams.

Typical roles on a sales enablement team include: Enablement Business Partner, Sales Enablement Manager, Enablement Coordinator, Trainer/Instructor, Instructional Designer, Content Specialist, Sales Coach, Enablement Operations Specialist, Program Manager, etc.

Now, these enablement team structures are impressive, but they can also seem like a substantial undertaking. So, where do these enablement teams fit within the broader organizational hierarchy, and who is responsible for funding their efforts? Let’s delve into that next.

Executive sponsorship

Since change enablement needs vary by the business initiative that is causing the change, the executive sponsor for the resulting enablement is usually the leader of the department responsible for executing that business initiative.

For example, if a company shifts their virtual conferencing platform from one software to another, the head of the IT team will serve as the main executive sponsor.

On the other hand, if a company decides to change their CRM system, the executive sponsorship could be jointly owned by IT and sales leadership.

Depending on the source of sponsorship, change enablement teams can be structured under HR, IT, the CTO’s office, central operations function, respective departments, or business units.

In contrast, sales enablement teams often report to and are sponsored by the Sales, Revenue, or Product Marketing function of the organization. In some organizations, sales enablement teams may be a part of the HR or central People Development function.

So, as evident here, both change enablement and sales enablement teams operate with distinct mandates and sponsor backing, each designed to address specific and unique needs within the organization.

Given their differentiated missions, the value these teams deliver to an organization is also inherently different. Let’s focus on this aspect next.

Value to the organization

The role of change enablement function in an organization is to take the change across the finish line and help it stick.

Change enablement helps employees navigate transitions, reduces resistance to change, and dispels feelings of uncertainty. It equips teams with the tools and support needed to understand, accept, and implement new processes or strategies, ensuring that changes are not only adopted but also sustained in the long-term.

By guiding employees through change, change enablement initiatives help organizations minimize disruption and create a culture that is resilient and open to continuous improvement.

On the other hand, given its potential to influence the revenue growth of an organization, sales enablement serves as a strategic partner for the business.

By supporting the continued learning needs of sales teams, sales enablement is instrumental in driving impactful and measurable improvements in productivity and performance of the salesforce. It helps nurture and strengthen the persona of sellers within an organization and sets them up for long-term success.

Sales enablement initiatives help the salesforce stay agile and responsive to the needs of a dynamic market thereby supporting the organization’s efforts to transform and evolve with agility and flexibility.

When sales teams consistently meet or exceed their quotas, it is an indicator of both high performance for the sales team members and growth for the organization.

Sales enablement’s value is therefore reflected in its capacity to boost sales performance, shorten sales cycles, and enhance customer engagement by consistently providing the salesforce with targeted training, insights, and support.

In summary, despite their unique contributions, we can safely conclude that both change enablement and sales enablement functions are instrumental to an organization’s success.

However, while they are distinct functions with specific objectives and charter, there are times when they can be one and the same thing. (Yes, just like that time I mentioned earlier.)

So when does change enablement = sales enablement?

When large-scale transformations within an organization directly impact the roles, tools, technology, and processes of the salesforce, the goals of change enablement and sales enablement functions often converge.

In such instances, these two functions can seamlessly unite, operating as a single force dedicated to guiding the sales teams through periods of transition. This unified approach provides the necessary support to help sales teams understand, embrace, and adopt the change while maintaining their focus on achieving the organization’s revenue targets.

This unification of enablement charters often occurs when an organization embarks on strategic growth initiatives, such as the introduction of a new line of business or the pursuit of vertical integration.

Launching entirely new product offerings, especially those with a distinct go-to-market strategy, will require sales enablement to be delivered through the lens of change enablement, ensuring that the sales team is fully equipped to handle the shift in strategy.

Significant changes in critical technology used by the sales teams, such as the CRM system or quoting tool, may also necessitate the fusion of change enablement and sales enablement efforts.

In such cases, both functions may operate as one to ensure that the sales team not only adapts to the new tools but also continues to operate at peak performance.

Case study: Technology transformation

In a previous role, I supported a similar change transformation initiative that blurred the boundaries of change enablement and sales enablement functions.

The organization I worked at undertook the massive effort of shifting their underlying service contracts platform to an internally-developed system.

This shift meant a complete change in the user interface, platform modules, key system processes, basic steps for performing essential functions, application of internal rules and policies, and therefore the overall user experience.

It impacted several user groups, including the services sales teams (who helped their customers set up service contracts), customers (who used the platform to manage their contracts), and support teams (who helped troubleshoot customer issues).

Implemented over several years and executed in phases, this transformation required a dedicated change enablement team that could plan, assess, address, and communicate the impact of change with each major and minor release of the tool to various user types.

Since the services sales teams were one of the primary users of the new platform, sales enablement experts (i.e., my team) were added to the change enablement team to provide exclusive support to sales teams in the form of timely information, relevant insights, and in-depth training on the main user interface, modules, features, and process changes taking place in every release.

Operating as a highly cross-functional team supporting several user groups and organization-wide stakeholders, this change enablement team worked as a unified function with distinct workstreams and deliverables – all with the singular objective of making the platform transformation a successful endeavor for the organization while ensuring a seamless and high-quality user experience for all users of the system.

Like I said before, we made a pretty remarkable team!

In conclusion

Ultimately, both change enablement and sales enablement are of strategic importance to an organization and play a vital role in driving critical outcomes.

While change enablement focuses on managing internal transitions and fostering adaptability, sales enablement targets the organization’s revenue growth by enhancing seller performance and productivity.

Together, these functions support the overall organizational effectiveness and long-term success by aligning the respective workforce teams, providing essential knowledge and skills, and fostering agility across the board.

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