What is a Sales Enablement Software Solution?
Sales enablement software solutions for B2B companies are designed to empower sales teams with the tools, resources, and information they need to engage with prospects and customers and close deals effectively.
These solutions can vary in functionality and use cases but typically include features such as content creation, content management, training and coaching, analytics, and CRM integration.
By providing easy access to relevant sales materials, facilitating continuous learning, and offering insights into sales performance, sales enablement software helps streamline the sales process, improve productivity, and enhance the alignment between marketing and sales teams.
As a result, using a system like this, leads to more informed sales strategies and improved customer interactions, ultimately driving higher conversion rates and revenue growth for B2B organizations.
Top Features of a Sales Enablement Software Provider
- Personalization. Generic content not only doesn't get used by sales reps but is an extremely poor experience for buyers. Your sales enablement platform should allow your sales reps to personalize their content before sending it to prospects.
- Content Management. All stakeholders within the go-to-market organization including sales, marketing, customer success, and specialized teams have access to relevant content.
- Templates. Marketing teams and other sales enablement professionals should have the ability to create templates of all content and assets available and allow sales reps to utilize them within guardrails.
- Content Search and Discovery. Users can easily search for content or insights based on criteria set by the administrator. Intelligent search that features an algorithm that allows the discovery of the most relevant content or information.
- Role and Access Management. Go-to-market teams have different stakeholders that require different levels of access. The ideal system will allow the administrators to set role types. For example, SDRs and AEs might only be allowed to use content or access insights, while product marketers or dedicated sales enablement managers are the creators and administrators within the system.
- Content Creation. Some systems enable the creation of content in addition to the management of externally created content and information.
- Analytics. Robust analytics are key to experiencing the value of a sales enablement software system. There should be user-type specific analytics. For example, the marketing user will have usage and effectiveness insights that are packaged for them. The sales rep will have similar insights that are packaged to help them move deals forward.
- Digital Sales Rooms and Microsites. Buyer and champion enablement is key in today’s digital-first buying and selling environment. These experiences will allow sellers to consolidate all relevant resources that buyers need into one personalized experience.
- CRM and Related Tool Integrations. Integration into your organization’s existing tools such as your CRM, marketing automation, calendaring, and email tools will help drive adoption.
- Snippets, 3rd Party Widgets/Apps. These are elements that live within your content such as positioning statements, customer logos, customer quotes, calendar booking, interactive demos, etc. These elements should also have guardrails and version control.
- Artificial Intelligence. With the latest innovations in AI, users within sales enablement platforms now have the ability to use generative AI to copyright, shorten tasks, and automate the collection of insights.
There are many other features that these systems possess that help go-to-market teams execute playbooks more effectively and ultimately drive more revenue.
How to Choose a Reliable Sales Enablement Software
User Experience and Easy of Use
Go-to-market teams request insane levels of alignment in order to maximize the impact that a sales enablement software system can have on their organization.
Here are a few key areas to keep in mind when considering the user experience and ease of use of your sales enablement software tool:
- Buyer Experience. Making the buyer’s experience both frictionless and relevant is key when providing the resources to help them make decisions. This is particularly important when it comes to champion enablement. This requires thinking through topics such as whether to leave content gated or ungated and providing experiences that don't require authentication.
- Creator Experience. Depending on the organization’s size, strategy, and structure, the creators or administrators of your sales enablement system can vary. Within certain organizations, it can be the marketing team or even more specialized product marketing. In others, it can be dedicated sales enablement teams who work closely with sales and marketing. And there are also scenarios where the sales team creates their own content and assets.
- Seller Experience. In many ways, this user type can be the trickiest to enable. To increase the likelihood of sales reps adopting the usage and personalization of content and assets must be frictionless. If it takes too long and is too siloed, adoption of your sale enablement platform will suffer.
Ease of Implementation
Selecting the right sales enablement software solution is not only about the features but also the ease of implementation and adoption for all stakeholders using the system.
For instance, assessing the solution’s compatibility with your existing go-to-market tech stack is crucial. Compatibility issues can lead to extended implementation periods, increased costs, and poor adoption.
Your preferred solution should seamlessly integrate with your CRM, sales engagement tools, and internal communication systems like Slack.
In addition, you should consider the availability of:
- Deployment Options. The system should be flexible enough to get to value from day 1 while supporting enough use cases to methodically deploy across your entire go-to-market organization.
- Technical Support and Documentation. Being able to have several layers of support from documentation to automated chat to human interaction, is important when implementing a new sales enablement platform.
- Customization. Every business is unique, and a one-size-fits-all approach is rarely the case. Look for sales enablement solutions that allow for customization to align with your specific business needs, sales strategy, and workflows.
Scalability and Performance
To accurately assess the scalability and performance of a sales enablement software solution, consider the following factors:
- Scalability. Having APIs that your technical operations teams can access to build custom workflows and integrations can be key to your organization’s ability to scale.
- Flexibility. Your sales enablement platform should be flexible enough to allow your sales team to design custom workflows that map to their internal strategy.
- Internal Analytics. Deriving insights from internal and external data sources is key to a sales enablement solution scaling with your organization.
Here is a List of Top Sales Enablement Software Tools in 2024:
- AssetMule - Features a self-service product with a free plan and usage-based pricing. It’s currently designed for smaller organizations that need a sales asset creation and management solution.
- HighSpot - This is primarily a sales content management software solution for large organizations. It provides sales content management, training, and coaching. Users can create digital sales rooms for buyers and customers, featuring curated content, personalized videos, slide decks, and more. Popular in the technology industry.
- Seismic - This is primarily a sales content management software solution for large organizations and does well within financial industries. It supports sales enablement teams with tools for sales content management, learning and coaching, data reporting on sales enablement activities, and personalized content creation for sales teams. Popular in the technology and finance industries.
- ShowPad - This is an enterprise solution that equips sales teams with tools for delivering engaging sales experiences. It centralizes sales content management, offers robust analytics to track engagement, and includes training and coaching features to enhance performance. Showpad also enables personalized content creation, streamlining the sales process and driving better outcomes.
- MindTickle - A revenue productivity platform that supports sales training and coaching with training programs and templates, coaching rooms, and performance analytics. It also offers sales content management, digital sales rooms, and sales forecasting.
- Gong - Has transformed from the leader in sales call recording to a revenue intelligence platform. Gong captures and analyzes customer interactions (calls, emails, chats, presentations, and more) to give sales teams insights on how to increase sales results.
- Outreach - A sales execution platform that helps sales teams improve their efficiency and effectiveness by automating and optimizing communication with prospects. It offers tools for managing email sequences, call tracking, and task automation, ensuring consistent and personalized outreach. With robust analytics and insights, Outreach.io enables sales teams to track engagement and refine their strategies, ultimately driving better sales results.
- ClearSlide - This is intended to optimize communication with prospects and track buyer intent through web conferencing, online presentations, video mail, and emails. It logs each engagement in the CRM and provides content recommendations for sellers.
- SalesLoft - A leading sales engagement platform designed to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of sales teams. It provides tools for automating communication workflows, managing email cadences, and tracking calls, ensuring consistent and personalized interactions with prospects. With its advanced analytics and insights, Salesloft helps sales professionals monitor engagement, optimize their strategies, and improve overall sales performance.
- Textla - Is a leading business texting platform used by marketers and sales people to reach out to prospects and customers where they are most likely to read their messages - on their phones. G2 named Textla the easiest-to-use SMS marketing platform of 2024 and the company is renowned for also offering the best pricing in the space, letting businesses send 1,000 texts for just $5. Textla also has a robust Zapier integration that lets you connect it to the rest of your sales and marketing stack. Give them a look and add texting to your sales enablement arsenal.
What’s the difference between cloud sales enablement vs. sales execution vs. sales engagement software?
In 2024, most sales tech platforms overlap and are eating each other’s lunch. The terms cloud sales enablement, sales execution, and sales engagement software refer to different aspects of the sales process, each focusing on distinct functionalities and purposes.
Here’s a breakdown of the differences:
Sales Enablement
Purpose:
- Equip sales teams with the right tools, content, and resources to effectively engage buyers.
Key Features:
- Content Management. Centralized repository for sales content, ensuring sales reps have access to the most up-to-date materials.
- Training and Coaching. Learning modules, training programs, and coaching sessions to improve sales skills and knowledge.
- Analytics. Insights into content usage, effectiveness, and impact on sales performance.
- Personalized Content Creation. Tools to create customized content for different buyer personas and stages of the sales cycle.
Examples:
- AssetMule, Seismic, Highspot, MindTickle
Sales Execution
Purpose:
- Facilitate and streamline the actual selling process, ensuring efficient and effective sales operations.
Key Features:
- Task Automation. Automates routine tasks such as scheduling meetings, follow-ups, and reminders.
- Pipeline Management. Tools to manage and track sales opportunities and their progress through the sales funnel.
- Sales Forecasting. Predictive analytics to forecast sales and identify potential issues or opportunities.
- Quote and Proposal Management. Tools for creating, managing, and sending quotes and proposals to prospects.
Examples:
- Outreach, SalesLoft, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM
Sales Engagement
Purpose:
- Enhance and optimize interactions and communication between sales teams and prospects/customers.
Key Features:
- Communication Tools. Email tracking, call tracking, and social media engagement tools to manage and analyze communication with prospects.
- Sales Cadence. Automated sequences of emails, calls, and other touchpoints to maintain consistent engagement with leads.
- Personalization. Tools to tailor communications based on buyer behavior and preferences.
- Analytics. Insights into engagement metrics such as open rates, response rates, and interaction history.
Examples:
- Outreach, Salesloft, HubSpot Sales Hub
Summary
- Cloud Sales Enablement. Focuses on preparing and equipping sales teams with the necessary resources and training to engage effectively with buyers.
- Sales Execution. Concentrates on the efficiency and effectiveness of the sales process, automating tasks and managing sales pipelines.
- Sales Engagement. Aim at improving the quality and consistency of interactions between sales teams and prospects/customers through various communication tools and engagement strategies.
Each type of software addresses different stages and aspects of the sales process, often working together to drive overall sales success.
