Why a Robust B2B Sales Enablement Strategy Matters in 2021

    Why a Robust B2B Sales Enablement Strategy Matters in 2021

    A strong and agile B2B sales enablement strategy can align an organization’s internal teams and empower them with the tools they need to reach their targets. A solid, collaborative strategy can create efficient and effective sales teams and more robust marketing programs.

    2020 has been a challenging year, and the B2B buyer expectations are higher than ever. Modern buyers expect engaging and experiences throughout the purchase journey, even when they are not present in the same room as the sellers.

    The right sales enablement technology and strategy can help businesses overcome these challenges and come out on top.

    The sales-marketing alignment is at the forefront of what makes sales enablement crucial. When functioning smoothly, a sales enablement strategy creates a symbiotic relationship between both the teams.

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    It facilitates a culture with an open, continual, and constructive feedback loop with the insights to spur progressive change. It also enables both teams to create and utilize better, more useful content. Sales teams can use content in their lead nurturing that is on brand, optimized for SEO and conversion.

    Measuring the Impact of Sales Enablement

    Even though sales enablement is gaining momentum, it’s not yet adequately institutionalized and used by most companies. The majority of organizations do not measure the impact of their enablement efforts either.

    Sales enablement can create a large, quantifiable impact on many aspects of the business. As per a CSO Insights report, in 2013, 19.3% of organizations had sales enablement, whereas a whopping 61.3% of organizations had a sales enablement initiative or function going into 2020. This signifies the rapid growth of this crucial business function.

    But according to the report, only a quarter of organizations consistently measured the impact of sales enablement before the coronavirus pandemic, which means a staggering majority of organizations that made investments in sales enablement had no way of knowing if their efforts were paying off.

    Prior to the pandemic, in a good economic environment, sales enablement teams that did not measure the impact could fly under the radar, but that is no longer the case. Spending is scrutinized, budgets have been cut, and sales enablement teams are under pressure to prove ROI.

    Sales Enablement ROI

    It’s important to regularly measure sales enablement success as it is the only way to prove ROI. Organizations must evaluate their approach to sales enablement and identify opportunities to improve performance.

    Each step of a customer’s purchase journey plays a vital role in the overall experience. Businesses need to deliver experiences that align with how customers want to buy. Marketing, sales, and enablement teams must collaborate to map out the customer journeys for the most prevalent buying and selling scenarios.

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    This will provide the sellers with the tools and resources needed to deliver relevant experiences, regardless of which stage the buyer is- on the purchase journey.

    But Sales Enablement technology cannot exist in a vacuum. Businesses must consider how it fits in and supports other essential sales technologies like customer relationship management (CRM) software.

    The aim of implementing a B2B sales enablement strategy is to empower the sales team so they can reach their targets and drive more revenue and profitability for the business. By doing this, businesses not only support their sales team, but they also create an alignment between marketing and sales and everyone can work towards the ultimate goal – company success.