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7 Reasons Why Your Company Needs a Sales Enablement Platform

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Is your sales department not faring well enough? There are many reasons why you need a sales enablement platform.

Sales enablement is basically giving your sales team everything it needs to drive good business. Traditionally, sales professionals put an overwhelming amount of pressure on achieving a target or bringing in a certain number of clients. Companies that drive sales through this pressure tactic are likely to fumble at some point. This happens because teams are focused on converting just about anyone rather than working on quality leads for long-term business.

While many brands think their existing strategies are good enough, here are 7 reasons why your company needs to take the plunge to incorporate a sales enablement platform:

  1. Your revenue is stagnant

One of the first reasons for thinking about opting for a sales enablement platform is if your revenue is either stagnant or not growing as expected. For any organization, there are updated goals for sales revenue and the number of clients acquired in every quarter. If you see your sales reps struggling to keep up with this consistently, a sales enablement platform can be the additional boost that can sort this out! 

  1. Sales machinery isn’t bringing in leads

A sales-enabled platform is one that provides all kinds of resources for an overall improvement in sales. A significant reason for considering this is when your existing sales machinery is failing to deliver leads. If marketing or other channels are bringing in the majority of your leads and not sales, there’s a problem! Your sales funnel can be boosted with some custom sales enablement initiatives for your business.

  1. Your sales process is broken

Number 3 is if you don’t really have a fixed sales process or are unsure of what’s wrong. This is a common occurrence with many organizations and a popular reason for enforcing sales enablement strategies. You can analyze your broken sales process with AI predictions, accurate data forecasts, and analytics. Tools for this aspect of sales enablement can help identify the problem areas. 

  1. The turnaround time to close deals is too much

A valid reason why you need sales enablement is also to do with your conversion and retention time spent on customers. It is an issue if you’re spending too much time on a single client or compromising client retention due to failed follow-ups. It’s high time that administrative and scheduling elements are automated for your sales funnel, and yours is converted into a sales-enabled organization!

  1. Sales tools are outdated and wasteful

Some companies get sales tools on board and never look back at them! It is not enough to have CRM software or team management tools if they are not working any longer for your team. With time, all these tools require upgrading and a performance check. The benefit of using a sales enablement platform in tandem is to always remain in check with what is working for you and what is not!

  1. Your competitors are outperforming in a similar zone!

A big reason for employing sales enablement is to be at par or have an edge over your competitors. If your competition is outperforming you with similar resources, you are most likely not deploying yours too well. A sales enablement tool can be the contextual guide to drive strategic sales growth. Designed primarily to support sales, these platforms can take care of multiple aspects, from training and management to even active customer engagement.

  1. Sales reps are underperforming consistently

At the end of the day, you can clearly gauge the ground-level performance of your sales reps. You might see a consistent underperformance or lack of proper workflow. The absence of a sales-specific competitive and intelligent platform could be the reason. Platforms like Salshood, Highspot, Seismic, and HubSpot Sales Hub are potent tools. These can empower them with features to boost their performance! Thus, instead of thinking of the reasons to use sales enablement, there are no reasons why you shouldn’t! 

Conclusion 

Sales enablement is the way to go for businesses that want to stay in the game in the longer run. Forcing sales or pressuring employees into delivering is redundant. Try enabling them with platforms that can streamline their efforts. Quodeck is one such gamification-driven e-learning platform. It can be used effectively for training, learning, analytics, and improved interactivity. Try it out to build your custom sales training platform and help your employees learn in a stimulating environment!

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Corporate Learning Best Practices, Employee-Training, Mobile Learning, Online Learning, QuoDeck, Sales, sales enablement

What you need to know about sales enablement: 3 crucial steps for success

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 Sales Enablement can change the growth story of your company boosting revenue by at least 20%. Here’s what you need to know. 

Sales enablement has been an integral part of growing companies, especially in the latter half of the decade. Organisations have been subscribing heavily to the concept of an enablement team purely because of its conversion potential.  

Even though the idea is almost a buzzword nowadays, it’s still widely misunderstood. There’s a lack of clarity on what sales enablement actually is and how it impacts the overall KPIs. And believe it or not, this murky distinction hurts the potential that sales enablement could have. 

We’ll be clearing the fog and shedding some light on what sales enablement in reality is & why it is an absolute necessity in today’s conversion-focused business environment. 

How to define sales enablement? 

Sales Enablement is a term loosely used in the context of an overlap between VP of sales & sales manager, which is somewhat true but not entirely. 

By definition, it is a strategic placement that focuses on increasing the numbers and productivity of sales teams by providing tools, content, and resources across the buyer’s journey. 

Of course, this is an immensely broad definition of sales enablement, presented just to give you an outline. It’s way more nuanced than this. Here’s what sales enablement teams do on an average day: 

A day in the life of a sales enablement team

The role of Sales Enablement would be different for every organization. But the purpose is more or less identical. In most organizations, Sales Enablement bridges the gap between Marketing & Sales by: 

  1. Crafting sales assets & trainings
  2. Leading new hire onboarding and continuous learning of the sales reps
  3. Heading the evaluation of the reps’ product & user knowledge 
  4. Paving the way for cross-functional communication
  5. Managing all the sales tools & resources
  6. Creating reports measuring sales enablement impact

Who heads the sales enablement team? 

Now that’s a bit tricky because this is not a traditional function. So it can be very contextual. The head of sales runs almost 40-50% of the functions, the rest being accountable to any of the executives from the management or marketing depending upon the organization’s needs. 

You must have a fair idea by now of what to expect while building a sales enablement team. So let’s move on to the meat of the matter – does sales enablement actually impact the bottom line, or is it just another frivolous corporate jargon? 

What makes sales enablement so crucial (and an absolute must-have in 2021)

In plain numbers, organizations have witnessed up to 15% more success in closing deals. 

Companies like Ringcentral, a business communications SaaS, saw a massive revenue run rate of $775M. The stock shot up to $126 from $22 in about two years of the sales enablement settling in. 

Other than that, some companies have also experienced stronger customer relationships & higher quota attainment. 

Here are three direct practical benefits of sales enablement

Maximum Sales Potential at each touchpoint 

An essential part of sales enablement is sales readiness. It’s the strategic orientation preparing reps with all the armor they require before going ahead and making a sale. The resources can be anything, from the intricate details of the product to the competitive positioning.

Usually, if done right, clients end up having memorable experiences even if the sale doesn’t go through. It’s potentially a candidate for word-of-mouth. 

The process includes some strategic activities like: 

  • Onboarding
  • Sales coaching
  • Materials for consistent & updated knowledge 
  • Reinforcement 

Engaged Salesmen are Productive Salesmen

The main goal of any Sales Enablement team is to aid sales reps in closing better. Subsequently, it also plays a crucial role in keeping them better engaged & equipped. 

There was a report by SiriusDecisions that mentioned high-performing organizations having high rates of early enablement adoption, as compared to the low-performing ones. 

Better pre-qualified leads, Increased conversions

Sales teams always complain about the quality of marketing qualified leads. According to Market Sherpa, most sales teams report that only 27% of b2b leads passed from marketing to sales are actually really qualified. 

With transparent & consumer-centric resources answering all the generic questions ideal buyers have – the tedious part is cut in half. Now, salespeople have to cater to prospects that are pre-educated. This saves a lot of time & effort, leading to better conversion rates.

Best practices include: 

  • Working in sync with the sales team to prepare the resources 
  • Focusing more on the present-day immediate buyers’ needs than long-term traditional pieces

Moreover, your salespeople are allowed to focus on the meat of their job, i.e., selling, and the tedious parts of their job is taken away. This has a minimal but effective impact on the conversion rates. 

These were the top three benefits that having a sales enablement team can incur. Here we conclude this edition on sales enablement. 

Final Words

Conclusively, Sales Enablement is an efficient sync between the marketing and sales departments. It’s an absolute must-have in today’s tech-oriented times where the scope of marketing & sales has changed. They are codependent more than ever but still can’t function appropriately in sync with each other. That’s why you can’t miss out on sales enablement. 

Corporate Learning and Development, Corporate Learning Best Practices, Employee-Training, Gamification, L&D professionals, Sales, sales enablement

The Top 5 Ways to Transform Your Sales Team into a Sales-Enabled Organization

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Wondering why your team is lagging behind in sales? Here are some tips to transform yours into a sales-enabled company!

The sales team of any organization is a crucial driving force for good business. While standard sales strategies are used by a majority of organizations, the sales aspects are often undermined with more focus on enhancing your brand identity and other peripheral aspects.

For a business, at the end of the day, sales stand to be the most important. Even if you’re a brand that believes in making an impact or looking at the larger picture, you really can’t keep your vision going without having the basic funds for it. Many businesses fall to their ends due to the lack of a prompt sales team.

But the question is – how to make your company a sales-enabled one at large? Here are the top 5 ways with which you can transform yours into a sales-enabled organization:

  1. Modernize with CRM and collaboration tools

As much as you’d think your sales reps can handle it all, making their lives easier with some modern sales elements is always a good idea. Sales-friendly CRM systems can help to manage quality leads and target relevant consumers. Interactive and collaboration tools for your sales team can also do wonders for an effectively managed sales funnel. 

  1. Automate administrative and mundane tasks

Do everything you can to ensure your reps are focusing on sales and not mundane paperwork or other administrative tasks that could be managed digitally. If you’re still doing things the old-fashioned pen-to-paper way, it’s time to upgrade. Incorporate apps and devices into your workspace for digital signatures, cross-platform networking, and centrally updated data. In fact, handling mundane things electronically ensures not only saved time but improved security, privacy, and authenticity of data! 

  1. Use gamification strategies to encourage competition amongst reps

The sales playing field has traditionally been a competitive one. Who can finish their targets first? Who can get that promotion? How about easing the pressure-based competition and gamifying the competition between reps. Quodeck is a one-of-a-kind SaaS tool that allows you to create a gamified interactive interface that can be the next big thing to keep your sales reps engaged and on their toes. 

  1. Invest more in sales training and enablement

The businesses that experience a dip at the earliest are those that don’t train their reps well. You can’t expect your employees to deliver if you don’t provide them with the best training and set of resources to close the most number of deals! It is high time to invest in more effective sales training strategies, new technologies, and sales-enablement platforms for your business. 

  1. Analyze data to optimize strategy

Last but not least, fine-tuning your strategy as per your prior performances will truly make an impact. Insights from performance data can greatly transform your sales team and fine-tune their responses for client conversions. Classify and recognize aspects that are working and figure out strategies that are not working. You’d be blown away by how much data can reveal about your organization’s performance! Employ effective data analytics tools to reap the benefits of this. 

Conclusion

A few steps in the right direction can change your existing team into one with a little more perspective on sales. Assess your organization and shortlist what would work for you to boost up the potential of your sales department. Jump into these top options and find out what works for your business!

Analytics, Authoring tool, Employee-Training, QuoDeck, Sales, sales enablement

The 5 Best Training Tools For Sales Teams: How to Train Your People for Success

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Sales training is extremely significant for pumping up your team. Check out how you can go about it to train your team for success! 

Sales training and strategies do go a long way in converting leads into sales. However, after a point, there’s only so much your team can do. With bulk orders to keep track of, an abundance of customers to manage, and hundreds of leads to convert, the logistics of sales can be quite cumbersome. 

The path to success lies in prompt training and building a team that is prepared for any kind of situation that is thrown at them. Different companies like to do it differently. There’s no set formula to train your people for success. There are some great training tools and software, though, that you can use to make sure you prepare your team for what’s in store with hardcore sales. 

Here are 5 of the best training tools that leading companies employ with their sales training programs. The best sales training tools include a combination of CRM-based software and other platforms to consistently help reps get comprehensive training. Browse through these to boost your training strategy to make all the difference: 

  1. Pipedrive – Advanced CRM for sales training 

An advanced CRM tool like Pipedrive can be great for training reps about the desired workflow. Especially if your organization is sales-enabled and employs workflow automation, this is a great tool that can help reduce administrative overhead. A great training tool like this one teaches how to deal with leads, conversions, and different aspects of multi-tasking. 

  1. 6Sense – For intelligent sales training 

In the era of AI, what better than a prediction-based tool for an intelligent form of sales training. 6Sense helps leverage AI predictions and sales insights to foresee hot leads and segregate premium leads. It is also a great engagement platform where reps can get the hang of what kind of leads and opportunities would be more viable in a given situation. An intelligent sales tactic definitely helps close deals faster! 

  1. Quodeck – Sales training with gamification  

One of the best ways for sales training is through a healthy, gamified, and competitive platform. Quodeck can be a great sales training tool with custom interactive experiences especially catering to your reps team. Especially for target training, micro-learning with a gamified interface can promote active training with two-way engagement. What’s more, is that it is readily integrable with your existing learning management systems! 

  1. Salesloft – Training for lead and prospect management  

Next up is a focus on training for lead and prospect management with tools like Salesloft. One of the most significant aspects of sales training involves dealing with leads promptly. A hot lead takes very little time to become a dead one if your rep cannot follow up proactively. Salesloft is a great sales tool and training avenue for streamlined automation of leads. With personalized interface and follow-up interactions, reps can learn about dealing with different case scenarios. 

  1. Chili Piper – Train to manage time and optimize conversions  

Time management is a key aspect of sales training. Advanced scheduling software like Chili Piper can help automate the scheduling aspects of sales in tandem and integration with your CRM. With active communication and distribution of roles across the team, a readily integrated sales schedule tool can impact more than you’d think! Finally, even great conversions would stand to be useless if they took too long or lack prompt follow-ups. 

Conclusion 

Pave the path for your team to perform better with effective sales training. After all, your team is only going to be as good as you train them to be with practical skills. Try implementing some of these training tools, and enhance your sales team with a default protocol for every situation they encounter. Eventually, an adept sales team is one that is trained for the unexpected! 

Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Sales, sales enablement

7 Best Marketing Automation Tools for Sales Enablement

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We belong to an era where everything is getting digital very quickly. Especially during this pandemic, the world has faced the dire need for digitization even more. And as we progress towards automation, we focus on simplicity. From the simplest commands on Google or Siri to manless Tesla cars, where can you not find an example?

Digital marketing is no exception in this case. The introduction of AI in digital marketing has only made advertisements and promotions easier and smoother. It also saves you a lot of money. How? According to the Salesforce’s State of Sales report, sales personnel only spend 34% of their time selling their products.

The same report also says that sales personnel spend a lot more time doing other things like writing emails, follow-ups, data entry, scheduling meetings, etc. Now, all these tasks can be easily achieved by using Marketing Automation tools. So, here are our choice of 7 best marketing automation tools for sales enablement.

Best Marketing Automation Tools

1.   Sendinblue

Top on our list we place Sendinblue, an excellent marketing automation tool. Sendinblue has various features for email marketing, SMS marketing, chat, CRM, etc. This marketing automation tool can learn to message and email that you can customize and design.

Sendinblue is also helpful in campaigns. Here you can design effective landing pages. It has additional features like Facebook ad targeting, custom-signup form integration, retargeting, etc. 

2.   MailShake

MailShake is an inevitable marketing automation tool for email marketing. This automation tool excels at finding the most engaged leads. That way, you can focus more on qualified prospects who can be converted into customers.

MailShake also includes various outreach features. It has a very simple dashboard for prospect follow-up. MailShake engages your prospect on whichever platform they are active online. But above all, its built-in phone dialer lets you contact your leads in real-time.

3.   HubSpot

Hubspot is a very popular marketing automation tool available in over 90 countries worldwide. It is the most famous platform for inbound marketing and sales. Hubspot has various tools for social media marketing, landing page designing, SEO, web analytics, etc., made for small to medium-sized businesses.

Hubspot is also popular when it comes to email marketing. It has automated content and attractive templates for each recipient. It also has additional features like document management and tracking, contact management, customer profile, email tracking, etc.

4.   Pipedrive

Taking note of each of your prospects can be troublesome for any salesperson. Plus, it consumes a lot of time. But Pipedrive keeps everyone on the same page. It effectively collects customer data like age, demographics, gender, etc., and sorts it accordingly. Thus, you can understand a qualified lead better before handing them over to the sales consultant.

5.   Automate.io

If you are looking for a complete business automation solution, Automate.io can be the one. This marketing automation tool is an outstanding business workflow manager. It can offer you a completely secured workflow.

Furthermore, it can easily automate and manage business requirements like marketing, payment, and sales. Automate.io supports various major platforms like CRM apps, helpdesk, eCommerce and payment forms, etc.

6.   EngageBay

Small business owners know the pain of managing multiple CRMs and marketing automation tools. Sometimes, it is not even possible for them to align everything as per the budget. EngageBay is a platform where you can do multiple tasks together.

You can sync all your contacts here, and it will nurture those leads automatically. You can also schedule sales calls. Thus, you can focus on one thing instead of many.

7.   Highspot

With Highspot, you can easily fulfill your revenue goal with its expert guidance. Highspot features outstanding integrations like AI-powered search, in-context training, guided selling, customer engagement, and actionable analytics, etc. It has enterprise-ready sales enablement with all the eye-catching modern designs, which can be a breakthrough in your campaign.

Conclusion

Marketing Automation tools are becoming the new future of the digital marketing industry. And the reason behind this is quite clear. They help you create efficient campaigns with a lot less human power. It means that you save more while getting more efficient. We hope that these 7 best marketing automation tools for sales enablement will change your marketing scenario.