5 Sales Enablement Strategies for Marketing

Earlier, businesses used to measure each department’s productivity on an individual basis, but there has been a shift recently that prioritizes collaboration. Sales and marketing in particular. You want to exploit both teams’ potential on a tighter budget. It is unacceptable for marketing to fail to provide sales-ready leads in the same way that it is unacceptable for sales to ignore or reject marketing-qualified leads. A competitive and effective go-to-market strategy needs a perfect alignment of sales and marketing.

The imaginary wall between sales and marketing has to be broken so that both can collaborate seamlessly. This results in the sales team getting better leads and moving them smoothly through the sales cycle. With the right information and effective anticipation of a prospect’s needs, sales can succeed.

Sales enablement is what moves the right information to that team—and marketing needs to do its part.

1. Buyer’s Journey and Information Needs

Marketing must help the sales team understand the nuances of a buyer’s journey. This helps determine the prospect’s needs as they move through the different stages of the sales cycle. As a marketer, you can develop your content and collaterals around the buyer’s journey.

2. Research Market Segments

It is essential to have the necessary background information about your prospects and the markets in which they operate. Proper analysis turns a prospect into a customer. Each industry-segment comes with issues and challenges. They are different for different people. Once you understand them, you’ll also understand what triggers buying decisions, which in turn helps you to place content in more meaningful way.

3. Keep Communication Channels Open

Maintain an ongoing conversation with the sales team regarding the information they request and updates to content assets. When you keep relevant information flowing into the system, your sales team can use it to better engage with prospective customers online.

4. Get Specific with Surveys

Surveys are the key to dealing with the specific issues of your prospects. They allow you to offer customized solutions as well as a definitive content strategy. You’ll get details of a customer’s behavioral patterns as well as their needs. This leaves you in a better position to be proactive regarding their issues.

5. Independent Content Creation

Make your case studies sound less like a sales pitch when you write them. Talk about the industry at large, then divert to something specific about your product. Present content about your product with some how-to guides and hacks, and explain how your product does things a little bit better or helps fine-tune the process. Alternately, you can also make a list of influencers and push your brand through their voice.

Sales enablement comes down to evaluating your prospects and getting more information about them. Get to know their preferences, industries and geographies and then leverage it for sales closure. This can spike lead conversion rates and increase sales productivity, besides giving a thrust to the value and ROI of the marketing function. When sales and marketing join hands, everybody wins.