Sales enablement has become very crucial for SaaS companies especially for the ones with huge sales operations. The reason being the effectiveness of the tool in increasing sales and generating revenue. Does this raise the need for a special SaaS sales enablement program? yes. And if you don’t have sales enablement set up to meet your specific needs, then you’re missing out on shortening your agency sales process. With increased competition and higher sales quotas, sellers rely on marketing and the enablement process now more than ever. To have activities in the marketing and sales team aligned is very important for the success of any company. Bridging the gap between these two departments is sales enablement.
Sales reps need different types of content to initiate the sale, engage the prospect, and inform them about the product or service. But it’s not the sales team’s job to create such content however, according to CSO Insights, 21% of sales reps nevertheless are spending the time developing the content. This means that the sales reps spend their time on non-core activities and end up being unproductive. A SaaS sales enablement program takes care of such content creation through the sales enablement content strategy to allow sales reps to close deals more effectively. Now, especially in B2B SaaS marketing, it’s the job of a marketing team but they’re often focused on content for the top of the sales funnel for SaaS. An effective B2B SaaS sales strategy along with an enablement team helps sales communicate their requirements with the marketing and enablement team to create the right content.
Let’s dive into how we can set up a successful SaaS sales enablement program.
1. Get Everyone On Board
It is crucial to establish the need and importance of a SaaS sales enablement program in your organization before onboarding a program. The salesforce too needs to have a clear understanding of sales enablement and how it can help them. It is the responsibility of the leaders and managers to help the reps understand the value of content and how different content at different stages of the funnel can enhance the quality of the conversation. As the reps become active social sellers, they will realize how content can keep the prospects engaged, and hence their need for continuous new content will increase. Sales enablement will not only help the organization create unique and regular content but it’ll also offer onboarding material, training videos, ongoing coaching, and much more.
To run an efficient SaaS sales enablement program, onboarding your sales team as well as the executives is the key. To have buy-in from the executive team, you’ll need to highlight how sales enablement can solve current challenges and bridge the gaps to increase revenue and efficiency.
2. Document Your Plan
A standard operating procedure (SOP) document is the foundation of any program an organization wishes to onboard, it’s no different when setting up a SaaS sales enablement program. This document helps you clearly define roles and responsibilities and hence closing the gaps between the salesforce and their selling efforts, resulting in increased productivity.
An SOP also ensures transparency within the organization and allows teams and departments to understand how and where the enablement team will be assisting them.
3. Cross-Functional Approach
Sales enablement streamlines different functions of a company’s divisions that complement the sales team’s selling efforts. It is the responsibility of the sales enablement manager to address the departments that need to step in. For example, you may get feedback from the sales team regarding the content or that the product needs improvement, you’ll need to communicate with the concerned departments and address the issue.
It is the sales enablement team’s responsibility to ensure that the sales reps have everything they need to keep the prospects engaged and effectively close the deal, regardless of which department needs to be involved.
4. Technology To Scale
There are many technologies available out there that can help you structure a SaaS sales enablement program in order to scale it. An example would be HighSpot, which helps in organizing the content in a manner that it is easily accessible. A best sales enablement platform can make the life of your sales reps a lot easier by making it easier to find content, sales material, training material, and access to all necessary information. Integration of these technologies is always possible to have a powerful enablement program.
5. Implement, Analyze and Iterate
The sales enablement strategy you start with will constantly change and it should. Sales enablement is a fluctuating program, not a static one. There are regular advancements and improvements in technologies, strategies, etc. Therefore it is important to analyze whether the strategy is working for you, and iterate the good to improve your sales enablement program.
Clear objectives help you figure out what’s working, how to adjust, or where to pivot which in turn helps in eliminating randomness. Over time, your sales enablement strategy should become more refined, more streamlined, and easier to execute.
Some people still consider sales enablement to be the same as sales training. However, sales enablement goes way beyond just that. Sales training remains the primary driver, but when it comes to effective salesforce and enhanced productivity, you will need to incorporate the points discussed above to have an effective program. Sales enablement is an ongoing process and once you see the benefits a SaaS sales enablement program brings, only then you’ll truly understand the importance of it.