Sales enablement is not just a set of tools, processes, or strategies, but a culture that permeates your entire organisation. It is a mindset and a way of working that puts the customer at the centre and empowers your sales team to succeed. In our previous article, we explored how to create a sales enablement strategy that aligns with your business goals and customer needs. In this article, we will focus on how to build a sales enablement culture in your organisation that sustains and amplifies your strategy.
A sales enablement culture is a shared set of values, beliefs, and behaviours that prioritise sales performance, customer value, and continuous improvement. It involves aligning your people, processes, and technology around your sales enablement vision and objectives, and creating an environment that fosters collaboration, innovation, and excellence. Here are the key steps to build a sales enablement culture in your organisation:
1. Secure executive sponsorship and alignment
Start by securing the sponsorship and alignment of your executive team, including your CEO, sales, marketing, and operations leaders. Your executive team sets the tone and direction for your organisation, and their support and involvement are critical to the success of your sales enablement culture.
Engage your executive team in defining your sales enablement vision, objectives, and strategy, and communicate them clearly and consistently across your organisation. Ensure that your executive team models the values and behaviours of your sales enablement culture, such as customer-centricity, collaboration, and accountability, and rewards and recognises those who exemplify them.
2. Establish cross-functional collaboration and communication
Sales enablement is not the responsibility of a single team or function, but a collective effort that involves multiple stakeholders, such as sales, marketing, product, operations, and customer success. Establish cross-functional collaboration and communication channels that break down silos and foster alignment and synergy.
Create a sales enablement council or working group that includes representatives from each function, and meet regularly to share updates, best practices, and challenges. Use a sales enablement platform, such as SalesPro, to centralise and streamline your communication and collaboration, and to ensure that everyone has access to the same information and resources.
3. Invest in sales enablement skills and capabilities
Sales enablement requires a new set of skills and capabilities, such as content creation, data analysis, instructional design, and change management. Invest in training and developing your sales enablement team, as well as your sales team, to build the competencies and confidence they need to succeed.
Provide ongoing learning and development opportunities, such as workshops, coaching, and certification programs, that are tailored to the needs and preferences of your team. Use a blended learning approach that combines online and offline, formal and informal, and self-paced and instructor-led methods, to cater to different learning styles and schedules.
4. Align your sales enablement metrics and incentives
Sales enablement metrics and incentives play a crucial role in driving the behaviours and outcomes you want to achieve. Align your sales enablement metrics and incentives with your overall business goals and customer needs, and ensure that they are fair, transparent, and motivating.
Define a set of sales enablement metrics that measure the adoption, usage, and impact of your sales enablement solutions, such as content utilisation, tool proficiency, and training completion rates. Link your sales enablement metrics to your sales performance metrics, such as pipeline, win rate, and customer satisfaction, to demonstrate the value and ROI of your sales enablement efforts.
Design a sales enablement incentive program that rewards and recognises the individuals and teams who excel in sales enablement, such as the top content creators, the most active learners, or the best coaches. Use a mix of financial and non-financial incentives, such as bonuses, awards, or development opportunities, to appeal to different motivators and aspirations.
5. Celebrate successes and learn from failures
Building a sales enablement culture is a journey, not a destination, and it requires continuous learning, experimentation, and adaptation. Celebrate your successes and learn from your failures, and create a safe and supportive environment that encourages risk-taking and innovation.
Share your sales enablement success stories and best practices across your organisation, and showcase the individuals and teams who have achieved outstanding results. Use storytelling and visualisation techniques to make your successes tangible and inspiring, and to create a sense of pride and belonging.
At the same time, embrace your failures and challenges as opportunities to learn and improve. Conduct regular retrospectives and post-mortems to identify the root causes and lessons learned from your failures, and use them to refine your sales enablement strategy and tactics. Foster a growth mindset and a culture of feedback and coaching, and encourage your team to seek help and support when needed.
Building a sales enablement culture is a transformative and rewarding journey that can differentiate your organisation in the market and drive sustainable growth and success. By following these steps and leading by example, you can create a culture that empowers your sales team, delights your customers, and accelerates your business performance. Remember, a sales enablement culture is not a one-time event, but an ongoing commitment and investment that requires leadership, collaboration, and resilience.
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