Sales Enablement: the key to sales excellence
Published by Frédéric Vendeuvre – 16 May 2024
A few days ago, I had the opportunity to speak at the Sales Enablement Conference in Paris, bringing together hundreds of professionals from all over Europe. It’s a new job that’s appearing in many organizations to take charge of sales effectiveness, in the same way that Sales Operations handles sales efficiency.
The proliferation of digital solutions is improving sales coaching and the sales process. Better sales aids increase sales effectiveness. Sales reps are adopting these solutions, often integrating AI, which are more agile than e-learning platforms. These tools are essential for developing their sales skills. They also enhance their technical and product knowledge. Additionally, they help in understanding customers’ markets and segments.
Digital learning is an essential building block that has proved its worth in teaching theoretical skills such as general knowledge, languages or office automation. However, when it comes to practical, specifically business skills, the road ahead seemed until recently to be strewn with pitfalls.
The shortcomings of the first generations of e-learning lay in their lack of interactivity and their disconnection from reality in the field, making it difficult for sales people to adopt them. These courses were often perceived as boring, even infantilizing, especially for those not belonging to Generation Y.
The era of sales enablement offers a solution to these challenges. Thanks to the evolution of technologies, notably the increased accessibility of AI and the integration of video, including multilingual video, it is now possible to effectively combine the learning of knowledge with that of know-how. Sales staff can thus be put into practical, interactive situations, helping them to better assimilate sales techniques and apply them more concretely in their day-to-day professional lives.
The keys to successful sales coaching and training
Consistency between the content of digital modules and that of tutored training courses is essential. Concepts and vocabulary must be standardized across all learning modes to reinforce the assimilation of knowledge.
The increasing sales coaching solutions combine tutored remote video training and training libraries on sales techniques. They include tools for easy customization of on-demand business content and solutions for reinforcing and monitoring progress and knowledge. Most of these functionalities include AI. New ones, such as a role-playing game with an AI client and debriefed by an AI coach, are also included. Those who deploy these just-in-time learning possibilities with high expertise in sales, business, and coaching are ahead of the game. A big head start.
Tangible benefits for salespeople and companies
Combining sales force integration and ongoing training (i.e., regular training) with sales enablement solutions not only means better assimilation of concepts through more activities in small sequences, but also more effective practice thanks to face-to-face or distance seminars genuinely focused on implementation and sharing. This means not only more sales through better lead transformation, but also lower travel costs and a better carbon footprint.
Halifax Consulting now offers its Halifax Sales BootCamp online coaching solution. Our goal is to enrich your sales people’s skills in a concrete and measurable way.
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