Articles

While change is inevitable, the process can often be messy. With some research indicating that 70% of change initiatives fail, change management is no easy feat and requires careful planning to execute effectively. In today’s quickly evolving business environment, change is no longer a rare occurrence. Rather, it is a normal and integral aspect of […]

For sales enablement, the process of identifying core competencies to develop baseline assessments is a worthy pursuit—but it’s not always enough to drive meaningful and tangible results in sales proficiency. In baseball, a coach who changes game strategy based on up-to-the-minute numbers can turn the game around and impact the final score. A manager who […]

In the rapidly changing business environment, it can be easy to feel like you are endlessly treading just to keep your head above water. When faced with uncertainty, the knee jerk reaction is often to just do more of everything: more meetings, more emails, more hours. But rather than changing the outcomes, this approach quickly […]

For competencies to be used as an effective method of rep evaluation, it is important to first make sure that reps are being held accountable to the right ones. By validating that competencies lead to the right behaviors, sales enablement can ensure that behavioral expectations produce the desired results. Competency testing and validation can be […]

One of the many essential roles of any sales enablement team is that of the sales enablement manager. Due to their deep immersion in the day-to-day of revenue teams, sales enablement managers are critical in building support and momentum for some of the key initiatives that drive behaviors and results on the frontline. Sales enablement […]

In sales enablement, proving impact on strategic initiatives is often perceived as somewhat of a Holy Grail. The “right” formula is highly sought after, yet it can seem elusive. However, practitioners who figure out how to measure sales enablement’s efforts and communicate their results are able to unlock the executive support and visibility necessary for […]

Sales kickoff has long been a pillar of responsibility for many sales enablement teams. But in a year that has been filled with health, economic, and humanitarian crises, expectations for how business is conducted and how organizations support their employees have undergone a massive shift globally. Amid such large-scale changes, sales enablement has both an […]

Having several projects underway may feel like the byproduct of a bustling and productive team environment, but it can also be a symptom of something more dubious: initiative overload. Initiative overload occurs when a team is inundated by a seemingly endless queue of unprioritized initiatives that all “feel” important. When initiatives are left without proper […]

Accomplishing any goal starts with having the right people on your team. Aligning performance criteria with business initiatives can help organizations reach their goals by getting the right people in the right roles, with the right training. By matching competencies to the skills needed to meet business objectives, sales enablement practitioners can ensure that how […]

Sales enablement practitioners can’t just wave a magic wand and ensure exceptional performance from every sales rep. But with a pinpointed focus on the specific attributes that are necessary for success in sales, practitioners can help reps at all levels hone their craft and develop the right competencies. To aid in this process, a competency […]

Just as road maps are needed to guide you from one location to your next destination, career progression maps are needed to guide reps towards their goals and next roles. By identifying checkpoints and achievements along one’s career journey, sales enablement can create paths to help reps advance their careers. Much like career leveling, career […]

The core of sales enablement’s role lies in helping salespeople succeed. While competency mapping is useful to determine the characteristics and skills needed to succeed within a role, sales enablement can translate competencies into more practical guides for salespeople through career leveling. Building competencies into career levels can take competency mapping a step further and […]

People crave momentum in their lives – personally and professionally. That means that finding passion and fulfillment within their current role is important to remain satisfied at work. Sales enablement can play a crucial role in helping to connect the dots between personal and professional success by ensuring that salespeople feel supported and challenged to […]

As the saying goes, you only have one shot to make a good first impression. Oftentimes during the hiring process, that first impression opportunity comes in the form of your resume. A well-crafted resume can be the key to help you stand out among a competitive pool of applicants – while a mediocre one can […]

As organizations aim to scale revenue, leveraging channel partners can be a strategic move to magnify results. In fact, 80% of chief sales officers say that channel partners contribute 50% or more of the yearly revenue for their companies. This impact is only projected to grow, as more than 60% of companies now collaborate with […]

When someone claims they are the “best” at something, chances are it triggers some skepticism. Think about your own buying tendencies as a consumer – for example, if you walk by two cafés touting that they brew the world’s best coffee, do you immediately choose one over the other? Without solid proof or clear differences […]

Collaboration is critical to sales enablement success. As a function that often supports multiple revenue teams across an organization, sales enablement is uniquely positioned to create synergy between departments and drive strategic alignment. In fact, collaborative sales enablement efforts are often an indicator of more formal sales enablement functions overall. As the 2019 State of […]

Working on large projects can sometimes feel endless. When you are so hyper-focused on something for an extended period of time, it can be difficult to see that light at the end of the tunnel – or even believe it exists, for that matter. That’s why setting a clear process to bring a sales enablement […]

The implementation stage can simultaneously be the most satisfying and cumbersome part of project management. It is gratifying to be able to check items off of your to-do list and watch progress grow. At the same time, keeping track of all the details to ensure the project meets its objectives can be tedious. Setting your […]

Think about a time when you were talking to someone and it was clear their focus was somewhere else. Or, perhaps they were waiting for you to finish talking just so they could talk. It is a frustrating experience, right? We all do it—it is human nature for our minds to be in several places […]

A project management plan is much like a map—it provides all stakeholders with a defined path to follow to reach the destination. Whereas the first phase of project management focuses on identifying and verifying what needs to be done, this phase focuses on charting out just how that will happen. Similar to how the sales […]

Consistency is becoming an increasingly vital trait across sales organizations today. With many sales organizations divided across multiple time zones, product lines, market segments, and more, being able to unite sales teams around a common approach to selling is key to reduce complexity and drive results. The combination of an effective sales methodology, process, and […]

Sales enablement practitioners are the ultimate project managers. Whether you need to plan a brief training on a specific skill, gather global teams at a sales kickoff meeting, or launch a new sales methodology, foundational knowledge of how to effectively manage a project is necessary for success in sales enablement. With any project management initiative, […]

Your sales readiness program has just finished: you have delivered the information, taught learners the skills, and completed all of your scheduled training sessions. Your work is done, right? As tempting as this seems, some of your most important work is just beginning. One of the most crucial elements of sales readiness programs is to […]