With only 3% of people thinking that sales reps are trustworthy, according to a report by HubSpot, creating a team that has a solid reputation in the industry can be a boon for any company. Your sales teaching strategy needs to be dead on to create salespeople that are respected, trusted and professional.
The sales enablement techniques you use to train your sales staff can make the difference if your team is successful and produces the revenue numbers you need to hit each month. Your sales team relies heavily on you for direction, and it is up to you to guide them, lead them and point them to victory with proper training and encouragement.
To help, 10 members of Forbes Business Development Council share what sales enablement means to them, in the context of preparing a successful sales team. Here is what they had to say:
1. The Key To Scale
I hired our first salesperson and now I'm hiring our 50th. Having a repeatable training program that encompasses product, market and third party stories helps onboard and make sales become productive sooner. Enablement helps with having a format and building a repeatable process to train new hires. It has a direct impact on sales productivity and output. - Tushar Makhija, helpshift.com
2. A Guide For Their Actions
A puppeteer can give team members a puppet, provide a backdrop and stage, and expect a show. That doesn’t mean it will be a success. They may not know how to manipulate their actions or which strings to pull at the appropriate times to achieve the desired result, despite having all the necessary tools. Sales enablement is learning which strings (prospects) to pull and which won’t be successful. - Christian Valiulis, Automatic Payroll Systems
3. A Way To Provide Positive Customer Experience
I like to take an outside-in view of sales enablement. To me, it means that when a buyer leaves an interaction with one of our reps -- whether by phone, email, social, video or face to face, they get what they need, feel positive and think, "That was a good use of my time." We look at what a good meeting is from the buyer’s perspective and, through sales enablement, prepare reps to deliver that. - Jim Ninivaggi, Brainshark
4. Empowerment And Support
Push them out of the nest, empower them to make decisions (with a roadmap) and support them along the way to maximize their results. The foundation of these points needs to be in place before you enable them. - Wayne Elsey, Elsey Enterprises
5. Core Leadership Principle
Sales enablement is a central fabric to the success of any sales team, and in turn, any organization in which salespeople play a critical role. No one person can do the work of a team single-handedly, so it is vital to empower those around you. A great leader understands that different people respond to different methods of coaching, but that everyone should and must be empowered to succeed. - Adam Mendler, Custom Tobacco
6. A Thorough Sales Education
Sales enablement to me is empowering our staff with the tools, strategies and skills that allow them to have natural, engaging conversations with customers. True sales enablement is giving them a defined sales process as well as educated autonomy -- you want to let their personality shine through with a strong backbone of knowledge. - Joey Holt, Amerisleep
7. Strong Foundational Messaging
Clear messaging and positioning are critical to a successful sales staff. A folder where all the copy/paste language and materials are in one place, easily accessible and consistent will help build a strong brand and empower your sales staff. In addition, teams lose valuable time constantly rewriting emails and company descriptions -- templating language and descriptions saves that time. - Robin Farmanfarmaian, Invicta Medical
8. Power Via Knowledge
Sales enablement is the foundation of our team being able to successfully execute their job and communicate effectively to our prospect leads. By walking our team through essential information, content and tools that relay our brand, we are optimizing our team’s chance to achieve their quota in a scalable and repeatable fashion. - Bill Chemero, Wayback Burgers
9. Preparing To Win And Delivering Opportunity
Sales enablement means two things: preparing them to win and delivering opportunity. Think of your sales teams like business athletes, even quarterbacks -- work them out regularly with training, role-playing, coaching and immediate feedback along with encouragement, rewards and recognition that comes along with the wins. Then, give your salespeople the opportunity to make great plays. - Jeff Dudan, AdvantaClean
10. Everything
Sales enablement is the most important thing you can equip your salesforce with. There is no excuse for being unprepared, and the best salesman in the world who can’t speak intelligently to a customer about their needs won’t be successful in obtaining their business. - Craig McGraw, Trans American Trucking & Warehouse
