It’s hard to believe it’s only been five months since I first heard the term “Sales Enablement”. I remember sitting at the ATD conference, hearing the phrase and immediately thinking two things: “What is Sales Enablement?” and “Whatever it is, we need it and I want to do it.” The rest is history.
Five months later and I just attended the world’s largest Sales Enablement conference in Chicago with Showpad, who graciously hosted me and several other Abstrakt employees. While I have been caught up in the whirlwind of creating a new department, it was wonderful to be able to slow down, learn from some of the best game changers in the SE industry and digest so much information that I know will help Abstrakt win and impact our people and our customers in 2020!
BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS
PJ Bouten | Co-Founder and CEO, Showpad www.transformconference.com
1. TIME is the scarcest resource for our partners. How are we managing the time of our customers? We need to start with the customer experience and work backwards because 89% of B2B customers will buy for the experience versus the price or product.
2. STRENGTHENING our customer connection is the future. In a world of AI, the human touch will begin to become a premium service. Empathy, passion, willingness to help, and creativity will be a scarce commodity—what if we made it too fast, too easy and too fun to work with us and for us?
3. The CONSULTATIVE approach to selling is the only way, whether it be the beginning of the sales process, the middle during implementation or once they’re in fulfillment. Is the buyer or your partner learning something from you every time you speak with them or is it just another meeting on their calendar?
4. We are ALL Sales Enablement. Every customer and people-facing role in our organization has a personal responsibility to enable sales by engaging in an emotional commitment to solve our customers’ problems and drive sales results. It’s not just the Sales Enablement Department—it’s all of us.
5. The ART of welcoming new hires—you only get ONE chance to onboard a new team member. Are you being a fierce protector of that time? You need to empower your new hires by making meaningful first impressions and implementing Just-In-Time Training versus Just-In-Case Training.
Thanks again to Showpad for inviting us and confirming that I am in the right place at the right time to be in Sales Enablement. There is nothing I’m more passionate about than enabling all of our customer-facing professionals at Abstrakt to create a meaningful journey for our partners. Now go enable sales, and if you’re interested in joining our incredible team—the time is now!
By: Sr. Director of Training and Sales Enablement, Amie Milner.
