den: In one extreme case, we’ve found strategic account teams so weighed down with various status reports they only have about 20 percent of the day left to actually talk to clients about buying new things


• Inconsistent messages: Few of the materials or stories reps are pro- vided with are targeted to specific people or written to help a client address a problem What’s shocking is that this only scratches the surface.


WHY ARE RANDOM ACTS OF SALES ENABLEMENT SO BAD? What leading companies realize is that, when dealing with people, less is actually more. The current system, where any group can go off and cre- ate something to “help sales sell” – without an architecture to be woven into the flow of how salespeople work – creates huge problems: • It creates tremendous waste. Forrester Research estimates that 15.9 percent of your SG&A is going to support your sales force in one way or another – and these costs are hidden because there isn’t really a way to account for it. These are re- sources that should be invested in what’s needed to grow.


• It leads to non-value-added conversations. With all the “stuff” available, many reps assume it must be valuable, so they just send it along to buyers – who, without context, get confused.


• It taxes sales time and energy. You want your salespeople doing what they do best – investing their energy to engage with customers. Sorting through tons of material is not only massively time consum- ing; it drains salespeople who tend to be more introverted.


WHAT SHOULD YOUR SALES ENABLEMENT DEPARTMENT LOOK LIKE? Here are five things you should consider to build an elevated sales


enablement department. Illuminate the problem. Make a big, dramatic case to show the problem. Add up all the hidden costs and show how much is being spent per rep. Then ask, “What do they get for that investment?” Another tactic – print out all the “stuff” available to reps and show the executive team. Cut down the noise. It’s not sexy – and shutting down the random acts won’t be popular internally – but it will help you build a war chest for what really matters and it will be a huge win for your sales force. You will see immediate benefits in cost reductions and then some eventual benefits in productivity as salespeople convert the time available to more selling time. Create a baseline to inform deci- sion making. You got in this mess because your management does not have a way to discuss and prioritize initiatives. Model out the current performance and then develop a roadmap of programs based on which are the easiest and most economical to execute. Create and sell the plan. Getting buy-in from all the impacted stake- holders and making sure everyone understands the importance of your plan and how they can help is critical to your success. If you don’t get orga- nizational buy-in, you are going to see shadow enablement functions.


SELLING TIP Making Contacts


1. Before approaching a new sales prospect, identify who the key deci- sion makers are.


2. When contacting Decision Maker #1, don’t step on Decision Maker #2 or #3.


3. Go straight to the top decision maker when you are uncertain about contacts.


4. When accessing decision makers, double-check their credentials. – RAY DREYFACK


SELLING POWER FEBRUARY 2018 | 19 © 2018 SELLING POWER. CALL 1-800-752-7355 FOR REPRINT PERMISSION.


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Prediction: Sales enablement will emerge as a revenue growth catalyst in 2018.


Create and deliver services, not out- puts. Define something measurable, like improving the number of meet- ings for a targeted role by 25 percent within one quarter, and then creating a service that focuses on that one goal. This might include identifying all the problems that might prevent that objective from being met (e.g., you don’t have contact information for that role).


BOTTOM LINE In today’s digital economy, a com- pany must innovate and transform or be disrupted. An elevated sales enablement function helps firms drive change by reducing the amount of noise, creating a model to inform effective resourcing deci- sions, directing the resources to where they have maximum impact, and helping drive organizational change by managing the informa- tion flow to match the skills and comfort zones of the sales force. 


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