Lack of clarity among Sales leaders around what drives sales performance is partially due to too many variables, both in the business and the market, which affect conversion rates. So, how can one regain control of them? This is where the concept of sales enablement comes into play.
We have extensively discussed the topic of Sales Enablement in our previous blogs and we know for the fact that by providing the training, content, tools, and setting up processes for salespeople to do their jobs, sales enablement takes away all the constraints to success and empowers sales reps to do what they do best—sell.
The COVID-19 scenario in the world has compelled the sales team to work remotely and for sales leaders- to manage a sales team was already a painstaking task, let alone remote sales management. Top-tier companies around the world are quickly adopting sales enablement practices to not only maintain the current performance of sales teams but to improve beyond when the training was limited to the classroom. In this blog we would like to explore some crucial components of sale enablement strategies for a remote workforce focused on inside sales:
- Emphasizing two-way interactions: Sales enablement efforts are limited When the entire sales team is put on a weekly ad-hoc “all-hands call,” which is more of a one-way discussion from sales management to the sales team. The key to success for an inside sales team working remotely is to shift the primary focus to two-way interactive dialogues between individual contributors and direct management. With this approach, the employee engagement is more and the management can convey the goals, objectives more effectively and also the sales reps will have the opportunity to give their feedback and feel ‘heard’.
- Training- Reinforcing and Building on Knowledge: The remote work provides an opportunity for inside sales teams to transition from traditional training practices. Traditionally the training would be given for a finite time period during the sales kick-off and orientation for a week or two but for successful execution of the sales enablement program, the training needs to be ongoing, delivered frequently, once or more a week, but in small dose at a time. The ability to learn electronically or online at a convenient time helps the sales reps recall and apply the knowledge and progress. Aim to readdress core competencies with reps every three to six months to ensure understanding and build upon critical skills.
- Democratize Knowledge and data: In a conventional workplace, one-on-one meeting between the management and the sales reps often hides the fact of how the top reps perform and close deals in the field. In an environment where meetings are hosted digitally, all interactions like emails, call recordings between the prospect and sales team is stored electronically in tools such as CRM, sales enablement leaders can shift to proactively analyzing and understanding this data and determine what top sales reps are doing differently and share this knowledge with the entire sales team. This gives sales managers and employees the ability to forecast the results and achieve success.
- Make content easily accessible: For inside sales teams working remotely, it can be difficult to access the materials required to sell effectively. Also with the ever-changing sales landscape, the content can easily become outdated and stale. Organizations who maintain digital hygiene and make sales content easily accessible to sales reps get a competitive edge over the competitors. Sales enablement tools help the organizations to organize the sales content for specific requirements and centrally manage yet encourage the sales reps to personalize the content to clients. Sales enablement teams can monitor the changes and in turn boost, the efficacy of the content shared broadly.
- Independent Call-reviews: Many organizations go about their call-review process the old-fashioned way. The front-line sales manager randomly picks the call recording for review and the feedback is one-dimensional most of the time, this limits the scope and the variety of the feedback that will be given. Also, this process can seem intrusive and demotivating for the sales reps as they feel monitored and deprived of autonomy. The frequency of call reviews is usually once or twice a month, which lives very little chance for improvement. The sales enablement program should empower the sales reps to record and self-review each call independently and analyze what areas can be improved and incorporate the learning going further. This feedback can be shared with the management or stored in CRM to create a more continuous and self-driven feedback loop.
As discussed above, there are many aspects to enabling a remotely working inside a sales team. One can certainly consider the above sales enablement practices/approach and ultimately achieve the sales objectives and in turn, make an impact organization’s growth. VAST Tec is a sales enablement center located in Mysore, India; and we constantly thrive to incorporate the above-discussed strategies with a focus on achieving our client’s goals and objectives.
Are you Sales Enabled?