In this article by Paul Sansom, Business Consultant at Vendavo, learn the keys to designing a strong sales enablement strategy for your team. Find out who owns sales enablement and explore the elements of an effective strategy, including elements like training programs, sales summits, sales certification, and of course, effective content.
Sales Enablement is a relatively new term. I’ve been in sales and commercial organizations for almost 15 years, and I’ve heard it used regularly in just the past 18 months. As companies expand and markets change, Sales Enablement has proven to be mission-critical for equipping sales teams for whatever the future may hold.
What is Sales Enablement?
The term refers to the infrastructure of sales enablement tools, processes, and systems built around sales organizations to drive effectiveness, and ultimately, success. I call these things the 3 Ts of Sales Enablement: Training, Tools, and Technology. Each “T” represents one leg of a tripod, none more important than the other, and removing one will cause the others to fail.
Table of Contents
- Who Owns Sales Enablement?
- The “T” Elements of a Sales Enablement Strategy
- 3 Rules for Implementing a Sales Enablement Strategy
Who Owns Sales Enablement?
Who should own Sales Enablement? Because it includes elements of sales, marketing, pricing, and IT, this is always the question. It is frequently a hot potato tossed between those groups. But the question can be answered with another question: qui bono? For those that don’t speak Latin (or haven’t seen The Departed), that means who benefits? Well, that would be sales!
Despite Sales Enablement being a cross-functional practice, the sales organization is ultimately responsible for Sales Enablement’s creation and utilization and to ensure that it is both current and additive. All of those previously mentioned groups can and will provide both valuable support and insight, but ultimately, sales owns it.
The “T” Elements of a Sales Enablement Strategy
What are the elements of a sales enablement strategy? Remember the 3 Ts.
1. Training
Sales processes have evolved rapidly and, as younger generations enter the workforce, so do different communication and correspondence methods. For example, many companies require greater input from finance and procurement before purchase decisions can be made. Meaning, what has worked for decades may not be as successful today and in the future. This reality increases the need for training across your commercial organization.
Investment in both periodic and on-demand training allows your teams to develop and retain the necessary skills to engage with prospects, customers, and partners effectively, and grow the business. Examples include:
- Onboarding and training programs
Coach and educate new team members about your company’s products and services, customers, and sales processes. Furthermore, an effective succession pipeline should be developed to identify potential sales talent within the company and promote and train them accordingly. - Quarterly or annual in-person sales summits
Offer coaching, feedback, and guidance to improve and hone sales skills and performance. A little-used, but highly effective method, is the “Council of Rivals” approach where each team member chooses a real opportunity in the pipeline and presents their strategy to the rest of the team. For an hour or so, the team provides valuable experience and contextual insights to vet and improve the sales strategy for that opportunity. - Sales certification
Certification programs can be very effective at standardizing sales processes and teaching good habits. - Effective content
Build an easy-to-access library of training and education resources that give your team a place to rapidly turn to when time is scarce.
2. Tools
Build a resource bank of effective content and sales enablement tools that build credibility, establish trust, differentiate your brand and products, and drive customer actions and behaviors. The last action is the most important: driving neutral-to-positive actions will build a cadence of communication and feedback from the customer and move your people from an external, sales relationship to that of a trusted advisor. Examples include:
- Case studies, whitepapers, eBooks, videos, and other digital content that showcase your company, its product/services suite, and concisely conveys the differentiation and market value.
- Market and industry-specific playbooks that provide guidance on how to approach different customer pain points, in their “language’ and context. Using the nomenclature of a specific industry gives your salesperson instant credibility, and knowing the macro and micro factors that are affecting their business is even more powerful. Playbooks should include customizable templates to meet specific customer’s needs.
3. Technology
It’s easy for most sales organizations to see CRM, analytics, content management systems, forecasting tools, and others as more of a burden than a help. But why? Having designed and managed multiple CRM systems over the years, I have 2 theories: 1) these systems are rarely designed with a specific, attainable goal in mind. If you think I’m wrong, ask ten people in your organization the purpose behind your CRM system. Chance are you will receive ten different answers ranging from: “forecasting and pipeline tracking” to “big brother’s system for customer retention” to “21st Century torture device.”
The truth is sales technology is essential today. Take price optimization software as an example. Price optimization is the practice of deciding upon the most effective pricing for a product or service, with a heavy reliance on the customer’s willingness to pay. It allows companies to offer their products at the price points most likely to be agreed to by customers – therefore making sales more effective.
There are many other examples of technology that supports sales optimization directly, like CPQ software for faster quoting and indirectly, like cross-selling tools. The data outputs from all of them can transform your sales team. But it is our responsibility to build something that is simple, additive, and not burdensome. The idea, ‘Crawl, Walk, Run’ applies here. Design your systems around mid-term attainable goals to drive habits in the sales organization that build upon each other.
3 Rules for Implementing a Sales Enablement Strategy
Not all Sales Enablement Strategies are optimized for effectiveness. Keep these 3 rules in mind when mapping out how to build a sales enablement strategy:
Rule #1: Start with a GAP Assessment
How do you expect to create a helpful strategy if you don’t know where to start? Using methods like root cause analysis will help identify which issues are most pressing, and where you can make the biggest impact. Making assumptions on certain issues – such as low conversion rates – can needlessly waste valuable time. For instance, if a younger sales organization has recently failed to hit their sales goals, one might assume that it is a training issue, and organize a large, expensive training seminar. But if a comprehensive assessment had been carried out, the true problem would have been uncovered: that the team had excellent sales and communication skills but lacked the product and market knowledge needed to effectively make the sale. The GAP assessment will play a crucial role in prioritizing your activities and initiatives.
Rule #2: Don’t do Everything All at Once
Sales teams are notorious for being resistant to change and often, they view anything new as a burden. Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard a veteran account manager complain about learning how to use a new activity tracker in Salesforce, complete their Account Plans in Salesforce, or update opportunities in Salesforce. Or maybe, they’re negative about logging into Salesforce at all? As expected, that’s a lot of hands. Your sales organization should not feel like the theme of a recent Oscar-winning movie: Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. As mentioned above, use the “Crawl, Walk, Run” approach to change management. Slow, periodic implementation of changes will drive habits and improvements, and not overwhelm your organization.
Rule #3: Addition through Subtraction
This may seem counterintuitive given that we’ve just spent 90% of this article talking about things to add into your sales process, but as we have mentioned before, most sales organizations are overburdened with needless review meetings, cumbersome technology, and inefficient tools and resources. Every time something new is introduced, it should be as an improvement of something else. Your salespeople should be better at selling over than anything else, and if they are not, then they are in the wrong job. Which is why one of the underlying goals of sales enablement should be to maximize what your team does best.
Sales Enablement might be a new term to many, but it isn’t a new idea. In fact, many of the topics mentioned here are as old as Sales itself. But Sales Enablement forces organizations to think about these themes as a single, cohesive strategy and in a way that builds more efficient, effective sales organizations.
The Current State of Sales Enablement
Sales enablement is evolving rapidly to meet the demands of modern B2B buyers, driven by technological advancements and shifting expectations. Here are four key trends defining its current state:
- The rise of AI-driven tools: Artificial intelligence is transforming sales enablement by automating tasks, offering real-time insights, and delivering personalized recommendations, allowing sales reps to focus on closing deals.
- Digital-first buyer expectations: With a majority of B2B buyers preferring self-service purchasing journeys, sales teams must adopt tools that streamline processes and provide transparent, buyer-centric experiences.
- Centralized knowledge accessibility: Centralized content libraries powered by AI ensure sales reps can quickly access up-to-date resources like case studies or pricing insights, reducing inefficiencies and improving deal velocity.
- Alignment across revenue teams: Sales enablement increasingly requires collaboration between sales, marketing, and pricing teams to ensure consistent messaging and strategy throughout the buyer journey.
- The role of sales automation: Automation streamlines workflows by handling tasks like lead scoring, follow-ups, and content recommendations. For example, automating repetitive processes saves reps hours each week, enabling them to focus on high-value activities like building relationships and closing deals.
With solutions like Vendavo’s Intelligent CPQ, businesses can empower their sales teams to meet these challenges head-on, deliver exceptional buyer experiences, and drive revenue growth.
Why Is Sales Enablement So Important?
Equipping sales teams with the right tools, insights, and resources ensures they can meet buyer expectations, close deals faster, and drive sustainable growth. Here’s why sales enablement is so vital:
Accelerates Revenue Growth
Sales enablement directly impacts the bottom line by shortening sales cycles and increasing win rates. With streamlined access to relevant content and data-driven insights, sales reps spend less time on administrative tasks and more time engaging with prospects.
Companies that effectively utilize sales enablement strategies see an average 49% win rate on forecasted deals. By enabling faster deal closures and improving cross-selling opportunities, sales enablement becomes a critical driver of revenue growth.
Enhances Buyer Engagement
Today’s buyers expect personalized, value-driven interactions at every stage of their journey. Sales enablement ensures that reps are equipped with tailored content and training to address buyer pain points effectively. Research shows that 57% of buyers are more likely to engage when provided with relevant insights. By fostering meaningful connections and building trust, sales enablement helps convert prospects into loyal customers.
Improves Sales Productivity
One of the biggest challenges for sales reps is inefficiency—spending hours searching for content or preparing materials instead of selling. Sales enablement platforms centralize resources, making it easy for reps to find what they need when they need it. This focus on productivity allows teams to dedicate more time to revenue-generating activities, leading to faster ramp-up times for new hires and improved overall performance.
Align Sales and Marketing Teams
Sales enablement bridges the gap between sales and marketing by ensuring consistent messaging and seamless collaboration. Marketing teams gain valuable feedback on content effectiveness, while sales teams benefit from targeted materials that resonate with buyers.
Companies with aligned sales and marketing teams see higher customer retention rates and stronger brand integrity. This alignment creates a unified go-to-market strategy that drives better results across the board.
Aligning Sales Enablement to B2B Buying Behaviors
Today’s B2B buyers are more informed, digitally driven, and collaborative than ever before. They rely heavily on self-guided research, demand personalized experiences, and often involve multiple stakeholders in purchasing decisions. To succeed in this environment, sales teams must align their enablement strategies with these evolving behaviors. Below are key areas to focus on:
1. Embrace the Digital-First Buyer
Gartner forecasts that 4 in every 5 B2B sales interactions will occur on digital channels by 2025, and buyers expect seamless online experiences. Sales teams must ensure their digital infrastructure is robust, offering tools like ROI calculators, product configurators, and transparent pricing to support self-service research.
Forrester also notes that 71% of B2B buyers are Millennials and Gen Zers. “For B2B success, understanding and breaking through to these younger buyers is critical,” adds Amy Hayes, VP, Research Director at Forrester.
2. Personalize Every Interaction
B2B buyers expect vendors to understand their unique needs and challenges. Nearly 70% of buyers cite tailored insights as a key reason for choosing one vendor over another, according to RevBoss. Sales teams can leverage AI-driven sales tools to analyze buyer intent data and deliver hyper-personalized recommendations. This includes sharing relevant case studies, industry-specific benchmarks, or customized solutions that align with the buyer’s goals.
3. Navigate Complex Buying Committees
Today’s B2B purchases often involve 6-10 stakeholders, each with different priorities and concerns. Sales enablement strategies should equip reps with tools to address diverse decision-maker needs, such as stakeholder-specific value propositions or risk assessment frameworks. Collaborative platforms that track interactions across the buying group can also help ensure alignment throughout the sales process.
4. Balance Automation with Human Expertise
While buyers increasingly prefer self-service options, human interaction remains essential for complex or high-value deals. Research shows that B2B buyers who make sizable self-service purchases without expert guidance are 1.65 times more likely to regret purchases compared to those who engage with sales reps. Sales teams should focus on a hybrid approach—leveraging automation for routine tasks but stepping in with consultative expertise when buyers face decision bottlenecks or need clarity on customization options.
5. Align Content to Nonlinear Buyer Journeys
The traditional linear funnel no longer applies—buyers revisit stages like problem identification and solution exploration multiple times before making a decision. Sales enablement strategies must map content to these nonlinear B2B buyers’ journeys, offering blogs, webinars, or whitepapers during early research phases and live demos or pricing insights closer to decision points.
Enable Sales Teams with Vendavo
Sales enablement is a strategic foundation for driving revenue and meeting the evolving expectations of today’s B2B buyers. By embracing innovative tools, fostering collaboration, and aligning with modern buyer behaviors, businesses can equip their sales teams to succeed. With a trusted partner like Vendavo, organizations can build smarter, more effective sales enablement strategies that deliver measurable results. Request a demo to learn more.