In many cases, the pandemic has not been kind to sales teams. In Brandon Hall Group’s recent study, COVID-19: Impact on Workplace Practices, 84% of companies say the pandemic negatively impacted sales effectiveness, at least to some degree. At the same time, generating sales and revenue was ranked as the most critical business priority as companies emerge from the pandemic. The good news is that 63% of companies have an optimistic outlook for sales effectiveness for the year ahead. Sales training and enablement programs are going to be critical to delivering on that optimism.
Sales-enablement managers have their hands full, operating in an unprecedented and dynamic environment. Products are constantly improved, new products continue to roll out, the competitive landscape has changed dramatically, customer needs are adapting and sales best practices are evolving.
As businesses strive to become more agile, sales-enablement teams should assume the same mindset. To meet the needs of prospects and clients, sales teams must have access to the most relevant and current information available. This requires intelligent, flexible technologies to deliver agile, accessible training. These tools give sales teams what they need to perform while limiting time spent away from selling.
Additionally, tools that can connect sales teams so they can collaborate and share knowledge, skills and best practices are critical. Sales professionals often learn best from one another, so sales training managers should find ways to connect them.
But perhaps the most critical business mindset for sales-enablement managers is to think in terms of outcomes. Sales performance is one of the most commonly and intensely measured activities in an organization. The sales-enablement KPIs that demonstrate training effectiveness have most likely already been defined by the business. As such, sales-enablement managers must lock into those KPIs and build their training programs around them. This ensures the sales teams are getting the training they need to perform, making it easier for sales-enablement managers to demonstrate the impact of their programs.
Brandon Hall Group Platinum Preferred Provider Docebo has been a go-to tool for successful sales enablement for years. The platform is designed to make the right content easy to find and use anywhere, anytime. This keeps sales reps current and knowledgeable, allowing them to close more deals, more quickly. Docebo gives sales teams fingertip access to whatever they may need at any stage of the selling process. Perhaps more importantly, the collaboration functionality lets sales professionals learn from each other — honing and sharing best practices.
Of course, none of that matters if you can’t demonstrate results. Docebo Learning Analytics is designed to do just that. Sales is nothing if not results-driven and the Docebo platform gives sales leaders a wide array of tools to measure the effectiveness of their training. Paired with Docebo Learning Impact, this helps paint a complete picture of how effective (or not) your sales enablement efforts are.
Sales teams must have the necessary tools to carry their organizations through these unprecedented times — and beyond. The right LMS can be a foundational piece of your organization’s sales enablement strategy.
–David Wentworth, Principal Analyst, Brandon Hall Group
