Sales Enablement practitioners - they’re about as close to superheroes as we get in the business world. Why? The person who runs Sales Enablement is often one of the most cross-departmental, well-rounded, integral people in an organization. They fight in the trenches with sales, and talk business transformation and ROI with the CFO. They liaise between Sales and Marketing, and map out plans for long-term growth.
Ever wondered what it takes to be a great Sales Enablement practitioner? Well here are 5 qualities of top-notch Sales Enablement practitioners.
Data-driven
Data is power, and the best sales enablement practitioners depend on both qualitative and quantitative data to make smart business decisions. Qualitative data is easy to come by - anecdotes, educated guesses, talks over a cup of coffee. Quantitative data around sales processes and content can be more difficult to come by.
One of the biggest benefits to something like a Sales Enablement platform is that practitioners have access to a higher quality and quantity of data because every content interaction is logged and can be reported on. With that data, practitioners can spend less time guessing about what will and won’t work, and more time executing on what truly does work.
Strong Communication Skills
Sales is from Venus, Marketing is from Mars - or it least it can feel that way sometimes. Sales Enablement practitioners act as a crucial bridge between Sales and Marketing. Sales Enablement involves getting Sales and Marketing to use the same language, work on the same projects, follow the same processes, and strive toward the same goals.
Most often, Sales Enablement practitioners report into executive sales management and sales operations, and only report into marketing about 6% of the time. However, regardless of reporting structure, Sales Enablement practitioners are constantly working hand-in-hand with Marketing and Sales to ensure alignment and mutual success. When a Sales Enablement practitioner has strong communication skills, Marketing helps Sales, and Sales helps Marketing.
Project Management Skills
Sales Enablement is a big initiative to take on, with many moving pieces. In its most basic form, Sales Enablement takes on responsibilities around learning and onboarding, sales processes, and content development and analysis. The best Sales Enablement practitioners have strong project management skills so they can organize, prioritize, and delegate tasks to achieve a larger goal of increased revenue and productivity - and project management skills become even more crucial as the Sales Enablement, Sales, and Marketing teams grow.
Think Both Tactically and Strategically
Sales Enablement sits in a difficult space in the structure of an organization. Sales Enablement practitioners must be able to translate high-level strategic initiatives coming from C-suite and executives to tactical projects to achieve them, and relay progress back up and down the chain in a tangible, understandable, actionable way.
Sales Enablement practitioners are some of the few people in an organization whose sole focus is on growth - growth of employees, growth of revenue, growth in productivity. Without the ability to put on the tactical or strategic hat at a moment’s notice, a Sales Enablement practitioner can find themselves without budget, without people resources, and without a clear path.
Strong Writer
Many Sales Enablement practitioners spend a lot of their day writing - whether that be call scripts, email templates, product pitches, blogs, datasheets - the list goes on. As someone with a grasp on both Sales and Marketing’s priorities and skillsets, Sales Enablement practitioners are uniquely positioned to help make the most valuable, consumable sales content. With two different content creation styles between Sales and Marketing, a middle-ground can be hard to achieve. And that middle ground is typically in the sweet spot of what prospects want.
Sales Enablement practitioners really are jacks of all trades, and certainly not master of none. And every tradesmen needs the right tools. Bigtincan was built to give Sales Enablement practitioners the tools they need to do their crucial job in the most effective, enjoyable way possible, through a single pane of glass. We’d love to give you a demo of the platform to show how Bigtincan can make your life easier, too.
