Revenue Ops & Automation Blog

Tried and true sales and marketing strategies went out the door in 2020 when teams all over the world were forced to quickly adapt to remote environments, new technologies, and savvy customers. Now that the dust has somewhat settled, executives are focused on creating sophisticated sales and marketing systems that will best prepare their teams for what lies ahead. 

Companies everywhere found themselves ill-equipped to handle 2020’s barrage of  pivots, curveballs, and pitfalls. Sales enablement, the discipline of providing real-time lead intelligence, more efficient processes, and shareable content to your sales team, became a major differentiator in many industries.

I feel incredibly lucky to have spent the last few months interviewing some of the world's most talented sales leaders for the Modern Sales Management podcast.

Being able to share their stories and insight is an honor for our company and the feedback from our subscribers has been overwhelmingly positive, making this podcast a win-win every step of the way. 

Managing a team of diverse individuals with unique strengths and varying amounts of sales experience can be overwhelming to even the most seasoned sales leaders. Especially this year, as sales teams adapted to remote selling techniques, embraced new technologies, and 40% of businesses missed their revenue targets, the role of a sales manager seems more difficult than ever before. 

Harnessing the power of social media has been a cornerstone of successful sales strategies within the past few years. Especially in 2020, when millions of road warriors were grounded overnight and forced to work remotely, knowing how to access and sell to prospects virtually is a necessity for modern sales teams. 

Hitting a sales slump is a right of passage for every salesperson and team, and this year has been especially tough across various industries due to the uncertainty of Covid-19. It’s no surprise that 57% of sales reps are expected to miss their quota this year (Salesforce). 

Knowing how to increase sales revenue when it’s not where your company needs it to be is a tricky situation for executives and sales teams alike. Finding the exact areas to improve in your sales process can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack, but it doesn’t have to. 

According to LinkedIn’s State of Sales Report 2020, 97% of salespeople said that technology is either “important” or “very important” to their sales process. Meanwhile, the number of salespeople relying on sales intelligence tools has increased 54% in the past two years. 

Sales enablement is a term that has recently gained a lot of traction in the business world. While sales enablement has always existed, it is only in the past five years that a universally accepted term has been put forth to describe the processes, people, and technology that reduces friction in the sales process.

Companies of all types have been placing a heavy emphasis on inbound lead strategies for the past few years. While some may argue inbound is the key to sustainable sales success, others point to the lack of control of your pipeline.

Many sales leaders wonder if the inbound mentality is creating a culture of less-effective salespeople who can only close leads that are served to them on a silver platter. For the long-term success of your company and its salespeople, is outbound sales the real game changer? 

Sales enablement is a term that is gaining traction in the corporate world and its definition varies greatly depending on who you ask. 

To some, sales enablement means content management. To others, it means sales rep training or coaching. Some would venture even deeper into the concept of sales enablement and say it’s not a business strategy, but instead, a company vision.