You want your business to be successful, but you wear a lot of hats. Constantly reaching new client acquisition or upsell goals can be challenging with everything else you’re trying to fit in. How can you trim the fat on your marketing and sales activities, allowing you to effectively close more deals? The answer: sales enablement. 

What is sales enablement? 

Sales enablement refers to equipping sales teams with the tools and resources they need to close deals. It’s anything that enables a sales team to sell more. 

Common examples of sales enablement tools include: 

• Ebooks 
• Product one-pagers 
• Sales reporting 
• Training (such as events or content) 
• Customer engagement tools  

Processes, technology, and content all work together to increase a company’s productivity and profits. It’s important for each individual business to strategize its own process for sales enablement (using methods we’ll discuss below) to reach its unique sales goals. 

What are the benefits of sales enablement? 

Efficiently pushing prospects through your pipeline is a fundamental goal for business owners and sales reps. And that means every business has something to gain from sales enablement. 

However, there are several different methods of sales enablement. Choosing which ones make the most sense for your team can be difficult. The key is considering your goals, strengths, and weaknesses as a business. Understanding your business as well as the needs of your sales and marketing teams will shape your personal sales enablement strategies. 

Take a look at the top four sales enablement methods and their benefits. 

#1. Use data analysis and reporting 

Each company creates reports for different sales-related information. Common choices, however, include: 

• Number of product demos delivered 
• Activities recorded by salespeople 
• Number of deals won and lost 
• Number of leads generated 

Pull this data on a regular basis so you can see how trends shift over time. 

Data analysis and reporting help you understand what sales and marketing tactics are working, and how well. From there, you’ll be able to improve your approach to selling your products and services based on measurable outcomes — from clicks to sales receipts. This method of sales enablement also allows you to capture and track leads as they move through the sales funnel. 

Partners on the Extu program have direct access to valuable data like subscriber engagement data in Campaign Monitor or lead scoring and intent data via the Insights Hub. 

#2. Incorporate automation 

Automation holds value for multiple sales-related tasks — from drafting and sending sales emails, to matching leads with reps, to prioritizing leads. Over 30% of sales activities can be automated. And companies that use high-level automation in their sales process generate around 16% more leads compared to those that don’t use automation. 

When you automate tedious tasks, you can save valuable time during the workday. Team members will have more time to nurture relationships with potential and existing customers instead of spending all of their time chasing unqualified leads. 

#3. Optimize sales content 

Improve the content your team uses to inform and persuade prospects to purchase your products and services. When you centralize and organize this sales content, your team members will be able to quickly retrieve and distribute high-quality information.  

Pay attention to high-traffic articles and client feedback to figure out what content to focus on; you want to ensure you’re creating content that will provide the most value to your potential customers. It’s also helpful to build case studies that demonstrate your value and showcase how your business solves certain problems specific to your niche. 

When it comes to content, we can help. We create and aggregate top-notch content for partners to share, from eBooks to articles. Take a look at a campaign sample here. 

#4. Leverage tech to connect 

Every connection is an opportunity to sell. Using digital technologies that facilitate connection — whether these are digital platforms such as social media sites, or tools like a live chat on your website — can open the door to more sales.  

Try to be visible in online social spaces such as LinkedIn using specialized marketing campaigns. This will create more opportunities for your sales team. And strategically share content that demonstrates your industry expertise and customer-driven perspective to entice future prospects. We make it easy for Extu partners to connect with their network via our LinkedIn publishing tool which automatically populates and publishes content to their LinkedIn pages every month.  

Next steps for sales enablement  

Sales enablement is beneficial for tech resellers and their teams. It makes the sales process more efficient — and it increases your revenue. 

At Extu, we provide content and automation tools to help your sales enablement strategy succeed. From providing free marketing campaigns, creating product one-pagers for resellers, and helping with automated email sends, we make connecting with new prospects effortless — so your team can devote more time to the higher-level conversations that truly seal the deal. 

See what services we offer and get started working with Extu to improve your sales today.