Who is Sales Enablement Manager
Before we move on to the job description, it is only fair to elaborate on what sales enablement is in general, as it will be a great starting point for further considerations.
What is sales enablement?
Sales enablement is most often an iterative process of providing a given company's sales team with the resources they need to increase the number of successful deals. What resources are we talking about? Well, it is an umbrella term for many different activities. They can include content, tools, as well as knowledge and other relevant information to help effectively sell a product or service to customers.
These days, professionals in this field typically use modern online platforms to provide sales teams with the resources and data they need to reach out and lock in more sales leads. A key feature of effective sales enablement is supporting salespeople at every stage of the sales cycle.
Supporting in what, you may ask? In everything from initial prospecting to activities aimed at building loyal relationships with customers. The data contained in sales enablement activities can be divided into two main categories. The first is the content to be presented or distributed to the buyer from a salesperson. The second are best practices, research and tools that the sales force use to perform their duties.
What business could use a sales enablement manager?
An answer to this question is straightforward. Any business! Regardless of what the company is involved in, in the face of fiercer competition, limited markets, lower barriers of entry and more opportunities for buyers, sales enablement tools and processes are now a definite must-have. And, of course, someone has to operate them.
That is where this role comes into play, saving sales and marketing people valuable time by ensuring results and optimising their activities. High-performance sales enablement solutions are no more a bonus, but an undeniable competitive necessity in order to adapt to these new expectations and goals, which is why professionals with the right knowledge and skills are sought after in every industry.
Without efficient processes and the ability to analyse and learn from the sales team's actions, not only will the sales and revenue not increase, but it may even decrease drastically. Therefore, if a business wants sales to increase, regardless of the high level of competition in today's market, they undoubtedly need someone skilful in managing enablement efforts on their side.
Who is a sales enablement manager and what do they do?
This role should not only be able to select and use enablement tools, but also provide the training, content, processes, practices and implements necessary to support salespeople at all stages of the sales cycle. Their responsibilities include working with sales, marketing and HR departments, business partners and other key stakeholders. Therefore, anyone in this position needs to possess soft skills and be able to communicate well.
The main goal is to achieve an increase in sales results and productivity of sales and HR staff. To this end, the person in this role is, among other things, responsible for creating sales training content, providing sales representatives with instruction in core sales tactics and interpersonal skills, along with planning the implementation of a product and service ideas and sales launches.
However, such a person not only comes up with sales strategies and works with a team of salespeople, but also analyses previous activities. Therefore, they must also be familiar with using enablement tools such as Crescendo. In a nutshell, this is a one-man-band who possesses extensive and versatile expertise as well as skills.
What tools does a good sales enablement manager need?
As we have already mentioned, an effective specialist in this field must not only possess soft skills but also be able to analyse the entire sales process from the product to the customer relationship. Fortunately, nowadays, professionals working in this area have many tools and software at their disposal that support them in these complex activities. Therefore, to be successful, one must be at least a bit tech-savvy and be familiar with the most popular tools for promotion, analysis and enablement workflows.
What tools are we talking about? Of course, there are plenty, so we will limit ourselves to pointing out the most popular types and examples of effective and convenient applications and programs. An example of one of the most popular types of software supporting enablement professionals is, of course, the Content Management System, or CMS, which makes it easy to create and maintain websites.
Furthermore, we have applications dedicated precisely to enablement activities, i.e. tools which are simple and quick to deploy, do not require IT for implementation, allow for easy corporate branding and enable analytical tools, and thus make it possible to monitor whether and how the system works, if it is used and by whom.
A perfect example of such a tool is the Crescendo App. Besides, the work in this role would not be possible without a set of procedures and tools essential for the management of contacts with customers, in the form of CRM tools, as well as other less advanced platforms for contacts and training of employees, such as Discord or Microsoft Teams.
Is it worth having a sales enablement manager on staff?
Of course, it is! Provided that the person really knows their job, has both soft and technical skills, is capable of using enablement tools, demonstrates excellent communication abilities, and is analytically minded. An individual lacking relevant experience in this field will not be successful in this position, and enablement techniques are extremely important for every company nowadays.
Is it worth becoming a sales enablement manager?
As long as you are versatile, not afraid of challenges and constant learning and expanding your knowledge, plus you know how to train and talk to people and like analysing, then yes. It is a very future-oriented and lucrative profession, but as in other industries, in today's reality, it is your flexibility, knowledge and skills that count the most. However, it is a rewarding and interesting job when you already possess the knowledge and know-how. Therefore, if you have the enthusiasm, you should definitely try your hand in enablement leadership.
Sales enablement manager – a brief summary
To sum up, we would like to emphasise again how important this position is nowadays. A skilled professional in this role can significantly increase company's revenue. However, they must be able to handle enablement tools, analyse and plan activities, and be capable of training and communicating with people. It means that such a person needs to have a broad range of knowledge and skills, be stress-resistant and able to make quick and accurate decisions. Because only such a specialist will be suitable for this very future-oriented and interesting position. In a nutshell, this is a brilliant, but not an easy profession, which, however, has excellent prospects!
