Is your annual kickoff meeting killing your sales enablement program?

• 2 min read

Still counting on event-based training for sales enablement? There’s a better way

We know that a solid sales enablement strategy involves a delicate balance of the knowledge, skills, materials and process expertise necessary to win deals, faster. But without the proper training content to put the right information in the hands of the right people at the right time, you’re going to lose business.

Our new publication, “Enabling sales at scale” explores how companies can align their sales teams to find the right training content when they need it, without having to make costly moves like pulling your best sales personnel out of the field, where they belong.

Instead, we focus on learning in the workflow, or, the practice of placing learning content where your people can access it, without disrupting productivity.

The following is an excerpt from “Enabling sales at scale” that briefly explains how your sales training can (and should!) evolve as your key products or services do. Download the complete report to continue reading.Between new product releases and updates, growing customer needs, and shifting market requirements, the competitive landscape are ever-changing. That’s why it’s critical for your company’s value proposition and more abstract offerings to adapt right alongside the product, especially in early technology markets.

Meanwhile, sales teams are busier than ever, yet the organizations they work for have largely kept their training strategies the same, with the majority of training resources earmarked for boring formal learning and event-based training.

A classic example of event-based training: The annual sales kickoff meeting. Sales teams are gathered from their territories across the globe and set up in a scenic location for a few days, and, between happy hours, they’re loaded with a massive amount of training content, on every possible topic, all in one sweep. Months later, sales leadership is confused when 80% of their reps don’t remember or implement the new processes or information gleaned from the sales kickoff meeting.

Sales enablement is, like all business functions, part of a broader picture. A successful sales enablement strategy involves a few critical components:

  • Planning – Develop sales and data plans to help you make your number.
  • Engagement – Define best practices for how the sales team should interact with prospects and customers.
  • Organization – Structure your sales organization so the right people are in the right roles to optimize execution.
  • Execution – Focus on areas of sales enablement, pipeline and forecast management to reach productivity goals.
  • Support – Help the sales team be effective, and make your organization business-friendly.

Download the complete report to learn how a poor (or absent) sales enablement strategy can lengthen your sales cycle (and increase the cost of each deal for your company) and disengage your buyer, while opening the door to losing opportunities.