Sales enablement is tough, that’s for sure. There’s a lot on enablement’s plate, and unfortunately that often gets done without much recognition.
Our Sales Enablement Landscape Report 2022 found that on a scale of zero to 10, the value placed on enablement as a function overall was 6.5 - which is not great considering how much important work sales enablers do!
As a beginner, it can be overwhelming. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of handy sales enablement best practices to help you fly the enablement banner as effectively and efficiently as you can - all while proving your value to those around you.
We’re going to look at three dos:
- Do gather the sales team’s feedback ✅
- Do make sure your work is measurable ✅
- Do act proactively, not reactively ✅
as well as three don’ts:
- Don’t end up in a silo ❌
- Don’t think your tech stack will solve all your problems ❌
- Don’t treat training as a one-and-done ❌
Let’s dive right in. 👇
✅ Do: gather the sales team’s feedback
Before, during, and after any initiatives - it’s important to speak with the teams you support and get their thoughts on what you’re implementing.
You can do this formally, through surveys (which we’ll touch on later) but it’s equally important to have casual, informal conversations to understand how your sales enablement programs are doing.
Whether it’s walking around on the sales floor, or dropping a message on Slack if you’re in a remote-first organization, having those conversations with sales reps helps you ensure your work is paying off for the audience that matters most.
If you’ve spent a lot of time working on organizing content and making it more accessible and yet the uptake numbers haven’t gone up, simply asking the sales team why they aren’t using the content as you expected can provide insights into what you need to tweak and what’s working.
You’d be surprised at how much of effective sales enablement involves listening to everyone’s voice and acting based on that information.
❌ Don’t: end up in a silo
Sales enablement is at its very best and most effective when the function is highly valued, integrated into the organization, and working collaboratively with other key stakeholders.
There are countless moments where collaborating cross-functionally will make your life as an enablement professional easier.
From cooperating with the marketing team to create aligned sales enablement content and collateral, bringing in the product team for help with training sessions, and working with frontline sales managers on coaching to collaborating with sales operations on metrics.
Being in a silo, with roadblocks that get in the way of your team’s efforts to collaborate across the business is bad news.
If you feel like you can’t collaborate effectively with stakeholders in your organization, addressing that and eliminating that silo is the first step towards elevating your sales enablement performance.
Crystal Nikosey
✅ Do: make sure your work is measurable
Remember how we mentioned how a lot of sales enablement professionals don’t feel like they’re valued - despite working hard?
A lot of that is because proving the organizations’ return on investment (ROI) into sales enablement can be hard.
How do you prove that revenue has increased since you implemented a new training program? How do you tie reduced ramp time to your updated onboarding program?
It’s one thing to say your initiatives are linked to positive results, but it’s another to have the data to back that up. Ensuring your programs are measurable means you can point to the data and prove your ROI to your boss.
Between the hires, the tools, and more, sales enablement can be an expensive escapade for an organization so having data that highlights just how valuable the function can be in driving revenue is critical.
Carly Lehner
❌ Don’t: think your tech stack will solve all your problems
The sales enablement boom in the last half-decade has brought with it a boom in sales enablement tools.
From content management systems (CMS) and learning management systems (LMS), to conversation intelligence (CI) tools and all-in-one sales enablement platforms, there’s plenty you can add to your tech stack to try and enhance your team’s efforts.
While these are great (and extremely useful), they are not a silver bullet for all your enablement woes. What’s more important is that your processes are in order and your people are bought in and committed to the idea of sales enablement.
There’s no point investing in an expensive tech stack that no sales rep uses. That will only contribute to the idea that sales enablement is a cost center.
Before that, make sure your people and processes are aligned and efficient - that way, your tech stack will be supplementing and enhancing your sales enablement efforts, rather than trying to carry them.
Sales enablement technology is there to help, not to do absolutely everything for you!
✅ Do: act proactively, not reactively
The final “do” on this list comes with a slight caveat.
Many sales enablement teams start as so-called firefighters, going from crisis to crisis, reacting to problems as they come, trying to solve the sales department’s problems and support reps throughout the sales process.
This isn’t inherently bad, but it isn’t sustainable nor is it scalable. Sales enablement is at its strongest and most effective when it’s a strategic, not tactical, function that’s aligned with the business’s long-term objectives.
The sooner you can move your sales enablement team from a reactive force to a proactive force, the sooner you’ll see the true benefits the function can bring to an organization.
Christi Loucks
❌ Don’t: treat training as a one-and-done
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking of training and coaching as an extension of onboarding, just for new or struggling reps. But it’s just that - a trap.
In reality, it’s important to instill a culture of continuous sales training, coaching, and development in your organization.
Every rep has something they can improve, or something new they can learn. And there’ll always be new features, products, and improvements to get up to speed on that require more than just a one-pager to explain.
The more time you dedicate to relevant training and continuous development, the better your reps will get. That means better win rates and results for the company, and more money for them in the form of commission, bonuses, and raises - it’s a win-win!
It’s not just sales managers that need to sit down and coach reps one-on-one. You can experiment with peer learning, group learning, and more. Try allowing some time for high-performing reps to teach others, for example.
All of these cultivate a culture of learning that makes reps more receptive to your sales enablement efforts and more eager to learn and improve their own ability.
🎁 Wrapping up
Before we wrap up this list of sales enablement dos and don’ts, let’s do a quick recap.
- Do gather the sales team’s feedback ✅
- Do make sure your work is measurable ✅
- Do act proactively, not reactively ✅
and
- Don’t end up in a silo ❌
- Don’t think your tech stack will solve all your problems ❌
- Don’t treat training as a one-and-done ❌
Sales enablement is a really powerful function that can influence an organization in a lot of great ways when it’s operating effectively.
It won’t just improve sales reps experience at your company either - prospects and customers will spend the sales cycle interacting with better reps, which is great for your organization’s reputation.
But that won’t happen if you don’t get the basics right, so be sure to keep these dos and don’ts in mind when planning out your sales enablement strategies.
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