Why You Need a Sales Enablement Platform
Though we are in the midst of a pandemic, the time to focus on the future of sales is now. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions will occur through digital channels like a sales enablement platform. The truth is, the pandemic forced sales teams to restructure their sales processes. Whether that meant selling virtually or adopting new technology to meet shifting customer expectations, sales enablement strategies also changed. Because of these changes and to stay efficient, sales teams need to consider implementing a sales enablement platform into their tech stack to stay competitive.
Why is a sales enablement platform important mid-pandemic?
Due to a lack of digital adoption, sales teams were unprepared to accommodate virtual selling. At the onset of the pandemic, 23% of sales reps reported not having enough training to succeed with virtual selling. Now, that number has increased to 28%. Because of this, 62% of sales reps say they’ve lost a sale because they couldn’t meet with a buyer in-person. In this digital age, losing a sale due to lack of digital competence and skill is unacceptable. The right sales enablement tech and strategy will ensure that sales reps are equipped to drive sales efficiently and effectively.
With virtual selling becoming a new norm, sales teams have no choice but to adopt a sales enablement platform that improves their virtual selling capabilities. According to our research, 59% of sales leaders report that they plan to implement new sales tech to maximize impact in virtual sales meetings. In fact, in 2020 the sales enablement market brought in $1.7 billion. This was an increase of 12.1% from 2019. As the pandemic continues, we expect this number to rise. Thus, it’s crucial for sales teams spanning all industries to find a sales enablement platform that suits their needs best.
Streamline your sales enablement tech stack
The pandemic has caused enough chaos. The last thing sales teams need is to add to the mess with an unorganized tech stack. According to Forbes, companies around the world are averaging 23 different enablement tools and platforms. That’s double the number from 2011! Best practices suggest having one sales enablement platform to rule all your day-to-day operations and sales interactions.
The right sales enablement platform will be your one-stop shop for all sales materials, communications, and analytics. Let’s take a look at the top features you should look for in a sales enablement platform.
Content management
The number one thing to look out for in any sales enablement platform is its ability to house and organize content. For instance, sales reps may spend hours during the day searching through folders on their desktop for the right content. Often, the content they’re able to find is outdated. However, a sales enablement platform will contain all sales and marketing collateral for quick and easy access. Sales reps can easily search for the content they need by name, saving time they can spend selling. Meanwhile, marketers can keep track of content performance within the sales cycle and update it on a continual basis.
Personalization of presentations
Next, you need to find a sales enablement platform that allows you to personalize presentations directly in the platform. For example, Prezentor’s sales enablement platform allows sales reps to change titles, prospect information, colors, slides, and more all directly within the platform. This helps sales reps on the go save time with the ability to quickly update a presentation for their next meeting. Keep in mind, 80% of buyers are more likely to make a purchase from someone that provides a personalized experience.
Email integration
The best part of having one sales enablement platform to streamline your sales processes is to incorporate your email account into the platform as well. Without leaving the platform, sales reps are able to send materials to prospects while using their work email address. Thus, any email sent out via the platform or their email account will appear in both places: the platform and the inbox. This time-saving integration allows sales reps to quickly and easily send emails so they can work and sell more efficiently.
View analytics directly in the platform
Finally, the right sales enablement platform will provide insights on prospect interactions with presentations, emails, and other content. These insights will help sales reps make data-driven decisions based on what types of content are working, which aren’t, and which materials resonate with certain buyer personas. In addition, insights on sales reps can show which pieces of content top sales reps are sharing with their prospects. Then, sales managers can take this information and train the rest of their team based on best practices. Again, all of this is possible with the right sales enablement platform!
Sales enablement platforms enable you to make
data-driven decisions
Leveraging data collected by the sales enablement platform will enable you to make data-driven decisions that will boost sales performance. Take, for example, using data from interactive sales presentations to better understand and serve buyers. Using a sales enablement platform, reps gain insight as to which elements of a presentation the buyer is engaging with. Say the buyer is interacting with a value calculator, the rep can see (in real-time) the information the buyer inputs. With full visibility into this calculator, the rep is able to continue the sales cycle with the right data to create a highly personalized experience.
If the buyer was using a value calculator to determine how many coffee machines their offices require, they would need to input how many employees they have, how many offices, and how often their employees drink a cup of coffee. In this scenario, the buyer might have told the sales rep that they only have 50 employees and 2 office locations, suggesting that they would only need two coffee machines. However, the sales rep can see that the actual numbers the buyer inputted into the calculator after their meeting were 250 employees and 3 locations. Understanding the exact needs of the buyer through data enables the sales rep to better sell their products.
For more on making data-driven decisions with a sales enablement platform read our blog, How to Enable Your Sales Team to Make Data-Driven Decisions.
Final Thoughts
Since the onset of the pandemic, 84% of sales organizations report that they were forced to undergo digital transformation. The time to stay ahead of the curve and adopt new tech to drive sales and revenue is now. It’s imperative that sales teams prioritize implementing a sales enablement platform to increase the effectiveness of their virtual sales as the pandemic continues.
Transform your sales now! Schedule your demo with Prezentor today.