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Sales Enablement
has fast become a catch-phrase within the Learning and Development fraternity
Like with most other trends, the risk we run is to get so carried away by all the chatter around it, that we completely miss the most fundamental ask"- "Enablement""-that is, providing sales teams with intuitive training and supporting resources that can help them increase sales results and productivity.
In other words, organizations are holding LnD directly accountable for improving sales performance.
Sounds intimidating? It needn't be. As long as we're willing to unlearn how we've been looking at learning all along - and be willing to go beyond conventional modes of delivering training.
This subject lent itself naturally to our GoBeyond initiative, because this was an area that required deeper analysis and a realignment of approach to meet the needs of our customers. We realized that there were three aspects that would need to come together in order to form the foundation of a robust approach that can truly enable sales teams to perform better.
Learning Strategy
As companies begin to consider or implement sales enablement technologies, one question they encounter is - What should the learning content strategy look like?
Whether you're introducing a new product training program, improving your onboarding process, or working to move a key metric, the trick is to optimize content creation and deployment for maximum results.
This requires a clear line of sight from expected business outcomes to current competencies. The learning strategy needs to address this gap, and include mechanisms that will make sales people accountable for applying skills that were acquired during the learning initiative.
Formats for Learning Delivery
Support for today's sales practitioners needs to come in the form of material that fine-tunes selling skills to buying preferences, in formats that are easy to consume on-the-go.
This involves taking a blended approach that relies on different modes of learning delivery to align to different learning needs.
We need to view sales enablement initiatives as a well-rounded performance support solution that addresses all stages of the 5 Moments of Need framework. It therefore requires a healthy blend of formal training and on-time performance support.
Learning Framework
We believe that a big part of the solution also lies in adopting a framework that allows for constant material updates. In other words, keeping our ears to the ground to collate feedback from the field, and adapt learning material to it constantly. Only this can ensure that the learning material is relevant and consistently aligned to the desired business outcomes.