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There are two types of sales managers. Most behave like donkey-and-cart drivers, moving sales reps onward with a carrot of reward and a stick of punishment. These reps alternately entice and pummel sales reps into driving sales numbers forward. Stick and carrot sales managers are focused on the destination: they spend their time micromanaging results and obsessing over goals.

In chess, experts refer to the opening, the middle game and the endgame. The best chess players are skilled at all three, and have spent years of practice to get there. The world of sales isn’t too different. You need an opening, a middle game and an endgame. In truth, you don’t even need years of practice to get there—but you do need sales enablement solutions.

Every time a sales exec is asked to commit to a forecast number, all they wish for is that they had a crystal ball. “What’s the real deal with this customer? “How far are they in the sales cycle?” What are the chances that they would make a purchase decision in the next 2 months?” In reality, most sales execs end up guesstimating when a deal will be closed and end up applying fuzzy math to their forecasts.

Companies that haven’t yet adopted Sales Enablement are lacking the competitive advantage in capturing real-time analytics on buyer behavior. There are no answers to questions like:

When it comes to sales, there is always room for improvement. Whether it’s between the sales force and the marketing division, or between a salesperson and her customers, a lack of communication can hinder growth and productivity. Fortunately, by linking CRM with a sales enablement app, you can improve those lines of communication and reach your full potential as a company. Here’s why:

1. Expenses

It’s a no-brainer that every sales manager wants to increase productivity. Making that wish a reality is the great challenge of sales. The truth is that there’s no magic pill, no shortcut to success. However, following these four tips and deploying a sales enablement app can help bring your goals closer to fulfillment. Sales managers should think about productivity in terms of who, how, what, and where.

Digital technology has become so advanced, that customers are increasingly expecting richer interactions and more relevant communications. Getting the most out of these technologies means building more meaningful and long-lasting relationships, and Sales Enablement (SE) aims to do just that.

Only 15% of sales calls leave executives with enough valuable information to make the decision to buy.

Most of us have fallen into the habit of labeling content like blog posts, infographics, whitepapers and presentations as “marketing content,” imagining that content serves as an advertising tool that drops potential customers at the salesperson’s doorstep, who takes it from there. In reality, content can guide customers, and salespeople, through every step of the sales pipeline. Oftentimes, what we label as “marketing content” can also be used as “sales content.” The content you use now for advertising may serve a larger purpose if it is effectively used throughout the entire purchasing process. Here are the beginner’s commandments for kick starting a sales content strategy:

The onboarding of salespeople has proved to be an elusive sport. Sales training best practices are always under construction. Ask a VP of Sales if he or she is totally confident with their company’s sales training process. Chances are, they’re looking for the next best thing to solve that sticky situation.  

It was not so long ago that the best tactic for onboarding was totally tactless. It was a “throw everything; see what sticks” sort of thing. A barrage of outdated loose-leaf papers, unreadable handwritten notes, insufferable 100-page PowerPoints, and other unworthy pursuits characterized onboarding. More often than not, none of that stuck. Salespeople compensated by making up their own rules. They came up with their own sales playbooks.  

There is an old saying - ‘The fortune is in the follow-up.” Sales statistics from the National Sales Executive Association showed that: 48% of sales reps never follow up with a prospect, 25% make a second contact and stop, 12% only make three contacts and stop and only 10% of sales reps make more than three contacts. But, 80% of won business happens on the 5^th – 12^th conversation.  For Best-in-Class performers, registering their name into the subconscious of customers means never underestimating the power of the follow-up. 

Multi-channel engagement has opened up avenues for sales reps like never before. In an effort to increase the engagement process, world class sales reps have found that effective campaigns, emails, social media and Web portals have enabled sales reps to increase win rates in the follow-up stages. In an effort to target customers using the right messages, world class sales and marketing teams are creating the kind of content marketing strategies that work to enable sales reps post-sales call.