Sales Enablement Study

Sales Enablement Market

and Trends Survey Revealed

Edge Coble Research Analyst, Sales Enablement Strategies

© 2014 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

2

Executive Summary

• Key issues from our 2014 sales enablement study

• Reps are spending too much time on non-core selling activities

• Onboarding programs lack key skills, knowledge and tools training

• Reps are overwhelmed with internal communications

• What you will walk away with

• Findings from our 2014 sales enablement study

• Best practices for reducing the time reps spend on non-core sales activities

• Key areas to focus on within sales enablement


3

Who We Work With: B-to-B Executives


4

What We Provide

SiriusPerspective:


5

Review of 2014 Sales Enablement Study We are continually monitoring the evolving sales enablement function.

37%

24%

9%

15%

15%

Company Revenue

<$100M

$101M - $500M

$501M - $1B

$1.1B - $5B

>$5B

4%

10%

19%

67%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Sales Channel

Outside/Fieldsales force

Third-partychannelpartners

Inside salesforce

Retail

Sales Enablement: The Evolution Continues

SiriusPerspective:


7

Where Does Sales Enablement Reside? Since 2012, there has been a 19 percent increase in the sales

enablement function reporting to the sales organization.

26%

38%

18%

18%

2012

Marketing

Sales

BU Head

Other

24%

46%

15%

15%

2014

SiriusPerspective:


8

Changes in the Sales Enablement Budget The average sales enablement budget doubled between 2012

and 2014 from $1.2 million to $2.4 million.

47%

19%

17%

8%

6% 3%

2014 Budget Source

Under the sales operations budget

Under a marketing budget

Sales enablement has its own budget

Under the sales training budget

Other

N/A

SiriusPerspective:


9

Changes in Sales Enablement Allocation In the past two years, there has been a 69 percent increase in sales

enablement technology spend.

5%

11%

12%

12%

16%

44%

5%

9%

15%

14%

27%

31%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Other

Product/Solution training

Content development

Sales effectiveness (e.g. skills)

training

Systems/Technology/Tools

Personnel

Percentage of Department Spend

2014

2012

SiriusPerspective:


10

Top Sales Enablement Initiatives for 2014 While skills training is the top initiative in 2014, sales enablement leaders

realize that tool investment is also very important.

6%

7%

10%

12%

15%

23%

27%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Improve the use of social media by our reps

Implement/Expand rep certification programs

Develop our first line sales managers

Deploy/implement a new sales methodology

Improve your onboarding process

Sales Asset Management solution purchase

Improve the selling skills of our reps✓ ✓

SiriusPerspective:


11

It’s All About Improving Productivity

Effectiveness (quality and results)

Eff

icie

nc

y

(ca

pa

city) Yield Per Rep

It’s the job of sales enablement to ensure maximum yield from

every hour worked by every salesperson.

SiriusPerspective:


12

Sales Enablement: The SiriusDecisions Definition Reps possess the skills, knowledge, tools and assets to maximize every

buyer interaction.

SiriusPerspective:


13

Whiteboarding Enablement Without a centralized sales enablement function, the intended means of

increasing sales productivity remain inefficient.

SiriusPerspective:


14

I

• Onboarding

• Skills and

Methodology Training

• Product and

Solution Training

• Certification

• Content

• Assets

• Communications

• Management Development

• Technology

Deliverables

The

Field

The Case for Centralized Sales Enablement Many functions strive to increase sales productivity, but best intentions

do not always create best practices.

I

Sales Operations

Communications

HR

Sales Training

Product Marketing

Field Marketing

Demand Creation

Account-Based Marketing

Social Operations

Inputs

SiriusPerspective:


15

I

Sales Operations

Communications

HR

Sales Training

Product Marketing

Field Marketing

Demand Creation


Social Operations

Inputs

The

Field I

• Onboarding

• Skills and


• Product and

Solution Training

• Certification

• Content

• Assets

• Communications


• Technology

Deliverables

Sales enablement is evolving into a centralized function responsible for

delivering the means for sales productivity to the field.

The Case for Centralized Sales Enablement

SiriusPerspective:


16

I

Sales Operations

Communications

HR

Sales Training

Product Marketing

Field Marketing

Demand Creation


Social Operations

Inputs

The

Field I

• Onboarding

• Skills and


• Product and

Solution Training

• Certification

• Content

• Assets

• Communications


• Technology

Deliverables

I

• Orchestrates

• Synthesizes

• Creates

Sales

Enablement




SiriusPerspective:


17

I

Sales Operations

Communications

HR

Sales Training

Product Marketing

Field Marketing

Demand Creation


Social Operations

Inputs

The

Field I

• Onboarding

• Skills and


• Product and

Solution Training

• Certification

• Content

• Assets

• Communications


• Technology

Deliverables

I

• Orchestrates

• Synthesizes

• Creates

Sales

Enablement

Measurement Feedback




The Sales Challenges Companies Face

SiriusPerspective:


19

21%

24%

24%

29%

32%

35%

65%

71%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Lack of quality leads from marketing

Our offerings do not have competitive differentiation

Our reps lack the required knowledge

Our reps lack the necessary selling skills

Lack of useful/relevant content from marketing

Inability to manage today's more educated buyer

Our reps spend too much time on non-selling activities

Rep's ability to connect our offerings to client business issues

Top Business Issues for Sales in 2014 Reps spend too much time on non-sales activities, which limits

the time required to fully understand the needs of the client.

SiriusPerspective:


20

0 2 4 6 8 10

2012

2014

Average Sales Cycle in Months

The Lengthening Sales Cycle In just two years, companies have reported a 24 percent increase

in the sales cycle.

With increasing quotas and

lengthening sales cycles, sales

enablement must focus on

improving the rep’s productivity.

SiriusPerspective:


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(customer service calls)

LEVERAGE/DELEGATE

(expense reports, travel)

MINIMIZE

(prospecting, sales calls)

MAXIMIZE

Categorize how reps spend their time to shine a light on inefficiency

and lost productivity.

Mapping Sales Productivity

Core Selling

Activities

Non-Core Activities

Internal Direct Engagement

(research, proposals)

STREAMLINE

SiriusPerspective:


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(customer service calls)

LEVERAGE/DELEGATE

(expense reports, travel)

MINIMIZE

(prospecting, sales calls)

MAXIMIZE

Categorize how reps spend their time to shine a light on inefficiency

and lost productivity.

Mapping Sales Productivity

Core Selling

Activities

Non-Core Activities

Internal Direct Engagement

(research, proposals)

STREAMLINE The Enablement

Quadrant

Sales Enablement: Three Best Practices

Onboarding

SiriusPerspective:


24

38%

50%

12%

Formalized Onboarding Process

None

Completed within 3 months

Completed within 6 months

Onboarding − Current State Thirty-eight percent of companies still lack a formal onboarding process.

30%

70%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

New Rep Source

Internal External

SiriusPerspective:


25

Onboarding and Certification Best Practices Companies that have a robust onboarding and certification program

shorten the time to rep productivity.


Sales Communication

SiriusPerspective:


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6%

12%

18%

26%

44%

62%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Limited amount of information

Other

Information quality

Decentralized management

No regular cadence

Overwhelming amount ofinformation

Biggest Communication Challenges

Sales Communication − Current State Without a centralized sales enablement function managing

communication to the sales force, reps get buried in email.

59%

41%

Centralized Sales Communication

Yes

No

SiriusPerspective:


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• Conduct a time-and-motion study

• Catalog by purpose

• Personal development

• Internal operations

• Information transfer

• Deal-specific

Auditing Sales Communication Understanding the communication landscape is the first step to fixing the

problem.


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The SiriusDecisions Sales Communications Grid

Non-Urgent Urgent

Sales

Related

Non-Sales

Related

New RFP process

Product recall

Snow policy

Company reorg


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The SiriusDecisions Sales Communications Vehicles

Non-Urgent Urgent

Sales

Related

Non-Sales

Related

SiriusPerspective:


31

Through centralized coordination

Sales Communications Sales enablement must take the role of air traffic controller for all sales

communication.

Managing the chaos


Content Finds the Rep


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The Sales Closet vs. the Digital Closet

Sales content circa 1995 Sales content circa 2014


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The Sales Playbook: Updated and Dynamic

Sales Process Stages

Discovery

• Email Templates

• Social Media

• Newsletters

• White Papers

Thought Leadership

Agreement on

Needs

• Product Spec Sheets

• Analyst Reports

• Product Collateral

• Intro Messaging

Solution Knowledge

Solution Developed

• Presentations to Technical Buyer

• In-Person Demos

• Case Studies

• Internal Blogs

Value Story

Solution Accepted

• Proofs of Concept

• Competitive Tools

• SME Access

• Executive Briefings

Solution Validation

Business Value

Accepted

• ROI Tools

• Client References

• Proposals

• Presentation to Financial Owner

Financial Justification

Decision Made

• Welcome Kit

• Orientation

• T raining

• Customer Newsletter

Onboarding

Solution Vendor Selection Education

Loosening

of the Status Quo

1.

Exploring

Possible Solutions

3.

Committing

to a Solution

4

.

Justifying

the Decision

5.

Making the

Selection

6.

Committing

to Change

2.

SiriusPerspective:


35

While creating a playbook, take some time to audit your sales content.

The Sales Content Audit

Testimonials

Videos

Brochures

White papers

Case studies

Presentations

Content Types Evaluation Criteria

Influence on buyer’s perception

Close matches Repurpose

Same standards as product/service

Depth and differentiation Criteria for usage

Influence

Quality Relevance

Value

In Conclusion


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Key Action Items

• Re-evaluate your sales enablement structure and funding

• Relentlessly focus on rep productivity

• There is no shortcut to onboarding salespeople

• Act as the communications air traffic controller

• Make sure that content finds the rep

Thank you! @gecoble

Sales Enablement Study

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