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Sales Enablement is the hot go-to-market topic of 2014-2015. It’s all about equipping sales people with content and tools to help advance opportunities to close. Last week I had the chance to co-present on Sales Enablement with KnowledgeTree customer Brian Groth from Xactly. It was a great session at the Open Lounge during Dreamforce. I’ve summarized the presentation below, and included our slides from the session. You can also access a recap of Brian’s portion of the session here. The Challenge of Sales and Marketing A classic business problem has long been the sales and marketing divide. Hundreds of blog posts and articles have been written on the topic. We ourselves have written and surveyed extensively on the topic too. It’s now time to move on. We can move on by looking into the core reasons for the friction and how to solve them. The friction generally stems from a misalignment in terms of goals. So, what are the primary goals of marketing and sales enablement for B2B companies? They’re twofold: First, generate qualified leads that translate into qualified opportunities and won deals. Second, create and deliver sales tools that help sales teams to advance deals through to close. The sales and marketing / sales enablement divide arises because of misalignments in achieving these two goals. But the good news is that as an industry we’re making great strides on both fronts. The Rise of Smarketing Increasingly sales and marketing are no longer two solitudes that stand apart. Instead, they are intimately connected. That’s because it is no longer enough for marketing to generate high lead volumes. Marketing must deliver leads that are qualified, that translate into genuine opportunities. Sales and marketing are now jointly responsible for revenue numbers and are signing Service Level Agreements to that effect. Holding marketing accountable and closely monitoring conversion rates at all stages is vital to helping enable sales teams with truly qualified and prioritized prospects to work. But What About Sales Enablement Tools? As an industry we are making great progress on the first cause of the divide. But what about working toward getting great sales tools into sales teams hands. This is where marketing and sales enablement teams can get ahead of the market with a strong focus. Let’s explore why sales enablement tools are so critical today to address the sales and marketing divide. The New Sales Funnel If you’ve ever bought technology for your company you were likely faced with a burning issue that rose to the top of your priorities. After all, you weren’t waiting by the phone for a sales person to call you. Instead you were likely ranking the challenges of your company, and investigating solutions to those problems. Jill Konrath in her fantastic book Snap Selling discusses the concept of the ‘harried buyer’. That is, a buyer who has so many competing priorities that it is
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#openlounge
4 Fixes that Enable Sales
Peter MollinsVP of Marketing, KnowledgeTree
@petermollins
Brian GrothSales Enablement Manager, Xactly
@briangroth
“Why waste our life in friction when the same effort can be turned into momentum?”
~ Adapted from Frances Willard
#openlounge@petermollins
The Changed Funnel: A Complex Conversation
Marketing
Sales
Marketing andSales
#openlounge@petermollins
95%
5%
Buyer PreferencePurchased From Vendor Who Provided
Content
Vendor Provided Ample Content
Inadequate ContentProvided
1. Support Consensus
Source: DemandGen Report
20People Have to Give
Consensus in the Average B2B Sale
Consensus depends on effective messages
Source: Four Quadrant
#openlounge@petermollins
2. Build Trust in Every Conversation
61%
Of sales people add no value to the sales
processSource: Forrester
According to Enterprise Buyers…
Are sales teams sharing ‘popular’
or ‘proven’ messages?
#openlounge@petermollins
3. Make Every Second Count
Sales
Content Waste% Used By Sales Team
70%
25%
Of B2B Marketing Budgets Goes to
Content
Never UsedBy Sales Team
Source: ITSMA & SiriusDecisions
but
Time Wasted% of Sales Person’s Day
30%
Of Sales Team’s Day Spent Looking for or Building Messages for Prospects
Source: CEB
70%waste
#openlounge@petermollins
4. Repeat Your Best Practice
82%
39%
Quota Attainment% of Sales Team
2xDoubled Quota Attainment for
Teams that Encourage Best Practice
How do your best sales people message to prospects?
Source: Aberdeen
#openlounge@petermollins
How the New Funnel Affects Go To Market
1. Support Consensus Buying
2. Build Trust in Every Conversation
3. Make Every Second Count
4. Repeat Best Practice
Peter Mollins
4 TOP WAYS MARKETING FAILS SALESAND HOW TO FIX THEM
B R I A N G R O T H
S A L E S E N A B L E M E N T M A N A G E R
X A C T L Y , C O R P O R A T I O N
O C T O B E R 2 0 1 4
1. Content Creation
Marketing
• Messaging Framework• Datasheet / Factsheet• Case Studies / Customer Stories• Sales Pitch (maybe)
Sales
• Cold call scripts• E-mail templates• Competitive
comparisons/objections • Sales Pitch (on their own)
Fix: Define ownership & input for creating customer-facing content
Content that positions
Content that advances the sale
2. Content Management
Marketing
• Product info– For web & social sharing– For e-mail newsletters
• Product info– By industry, By persona, By
content type
Sales
• Available immediately• Easy to share• E-mail template when needed• NDA, Order Form, etc. when needed• Product info when needed
Fix: Think of sales as another channel needing quick responses
Managing content types & channels
Right content at the right time
3. Motivation
Marketing
• Pageviews• Downloads• Social shares• Buzz• New leads
Sales
• Quota• SPIFF• Gamification• President’s Club
Fix: Educate marketing on the variables in the sales commission plan
Reach & usage of the content
Rewards & recognition for closing deals
4. Sales Process
Marketing
• Generate Brand Awareness• Generate Leads• Sales Accepted Leads (SAL)
Sales
• Sales Qualified Leads (SQL)• Needs Analysis• Value Proposition• Proposal• Negotiation• Close
Fix: Have shared metrics, such as SAL and SQL
Pre-sales Closing
4 Top Ways Marketing Fails Sales And how to fix them
1. Content Creation: Define ownership & input for creating customer-facing content
2. Content Management: Think of sales as another channel needing quick responses
3. Motivation: Educate marketing on the variables in the sales commission plan
4. Sales Process: Have shared metrics, such as SAL and SQL
Brian Groth
Sales Enablement Manager @ Xactly
