Sales coaching programs typically take a customized approach, tailoring guidance around the seller’s unique strengths to help them develop and refine the skills needed to have meaningful customer interactions and achieve their quotas. Behind every sales coaching program is a sales manager, and it should come as no surprise that effective coaching requires effective managers. According to Gartner, managers who understand how to be a good coach can help individuals increase performance by as much as 8%.

Optimizing sales coaching with software

Coaching sellers poses challenges for sales managers due to the added complexity of managing remote teams. Additionally, the lack of experience and knowledge in modeling the right behaviors makes it more complicated. These obstacles are just a few reasons why most managers spend less than 5% of their time coaching sellers.

To create a scalable sales coaching program that delivers the personalized feedback that sellers require, sales managers need sales coaching software. Just as frontline teams depend on various technologies to do their jobs successfully, sales coaching software is an essential tool that makes it possible to create an online sales coaching program that enables sellers to practice, receive feedback, and track progress over time.

8 qualities every sales coaching program needs

To create the best sales coaching program for your organization, you should start by identifying your objectives and then determine the technology you need to achieve them. Below are the top eight qualities that you should look for and implement as you develop your sales coaching programs:

Customization

Customization is one of the most critical qualities of any sales coaching program. Tailor coaching sessions to address individual and team needs, considering factors like experience level, strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles. This helps sellers and teams capitalize on their strengths and address problem areas faster.

Clear objectives

If you don’t measure it, you can’t track it. Setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for coaching sessions provides clear direction and focus. This ensures that coaching efforts align with organizational goals and sales targets. SMART goals also hold individuals and teams accountable, making it more likely that they’ll follow through and take the steps needed to improve performance.

Continuous feedback

Sales coaching programs should offer feedback to sales reps in the moment — whether it’s positive reinforcement or constructive criticism — to help them adjust their behavior quickly. It’s important to deliver continuous feedback to promote learning and facilitate improvement.

Role-playing exercises

Practice makes progress. Prepare sellers for new challenges by incorporating role-playing scenarios to simulate real-world sales situations in a risk-free environment. Sales coaching software makes it easy to deliver scenario-based training at scale, helping sales reps enhance skills, confidence, and adaptability. This tool also enables sales leaders to identify problem areas and know where to correct them.

Data-driven insights

All sales leaders need data to determine what’s working and what isn’t. Utilize sales data and analytics to identify performance trends, areas for improvement, and coaching priorities. Sales coaching software should provide easy access to dashboards and custom reporting to help leaders make data-driven decisions and track the ROI of their coaching efforts.

Skill development

The business landscape is constantly changing, making it critical for sales leaders to prioritize learning and development for their teams. Supplement coaching conversations with training to help sellers master a wide range of sales skills, including prospecting, objection handling, negotiation, closing techniques, and relationship-building.

Offering training and coaching doesn’t just contribute to better performance, it can also improve retention. Seismic’s Value of Enablement Report found that companies that provide on-the-job coaching increase seller retention by an average of 20% each year.

Peer-to-peer learning

Facilitating opportunities for sales team members to learn from each other’s successes and failures through peer-to-peer coaching or knowledge-sharing sessions is a great way to communicate best practices. Sales coaching software enables teams to scale winning strategies by easily distributing playbooks, choreography, and content across the sales organization.

Tech integrations

There are several essential technologies that sales teams rely on to perform their roles. Consider sales coaching software that integrates with your sales enablement tools, CRM systems, and other technology platforms to streamline coaching processes, track progress, and provide access to resources. Connecting with your systems of record helps maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your sales coaching programs.

Scale your sales coaching program with Seismic

Empowering your sales reps to meet their quotas and beyond is not a one-and-done activity. It requires a commitment to sales coaching that’s ongoing and tailored to every sales rep’s specific needs. Seismic’s learning and coaching solution equips sales leaders to assess skills, deliver personalized coaching, and track development — all within the flow of work. Our coaching software enables sales teams to train their teams 62% faster and reach their goals more often. 

Are you ready to experience a modern coaching platform? Jump into this free lesson to see Seismic Learning firsthand.

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Daniel Pink, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of To Sell is Human, sums up the “art” part well: “The ability to move others to exchange what they have for what we offer is the art of the pitch.” It takes significant training and coaching to perfect a sales pitch and refine any seller’s soft skills.

As for the “science,” sellers need the right content, skills, insights, and analytics to connect with prospects and prove their product or service’s value. Without a doubt, one of the most vital pieces of sales content they need in their toolkit is an excellent sales pitch deck. 

A sales pitch deck is a visual representation of the value your organization provides. It’s an indispensable piece of sales collateral that anchors millions of virtual and in-person pitches each year. 

Most decks combine data, storytelling, and emotional engagement to create a compelling narrative — a narrative that convinces buyers to move forward in the sales cycle and eventually make a purchase.

So, what do the most successful sellers include in their pitch decks? In this post, we’ll share five key components of a winning, revenue-driving sales pitch deck. 

What should a sales pitch deck include?

Most markets are saturated with good options for buyers to choose from, so your pitch deck has to stand out and answer this question: Why should people buy your product or service instead of someone else’s?

An impactful sales pitch deck includes: 

1. Your solution to a burdensome problem
2. The standout features of your product or service 
3. Proof that your product is better than your competitors
4. Real stories from happy customers
5. Pricing information

We’ll dig into each of these five things shortly, but remember that the overarching goal of your deck is to combine visuals and concise text in a way that communicates your value proposition loud and clear. 

But here’s the kicker: No two customers are the same, and neither are the best sales decks.

Source: Zendesk, 2023

That’s why personalization is the backbone of any great pitch deck for sales. (Hint: Tools like Seismic’s pitch deck generator make it simple for sellers to customize every pitch deck to their prospect’s interests, industry, and potential use cases in seconds).

With personalization in mind, let’s dive into the five elements your sales deck design should address to make the best impression.

1. Challenges and pain points

A great place to start is with the specific challenges and pain points your prospect is experiencing. Every impactful sales deck outline shows a clear understanding of the prospect’s pain, right from the get-go.  

This shows the prospect you’ve done your homework and have a deep understanding of their world. This slide (or a couple of slides) should always be personalized based on any initial conversations or past interactions you’ve had with a prospect before the call.

2. Your solution and value proposition

This part of the deck is where you demonstrate how you’re the pain relief they’ve been looking for. Share what your product or service can do and how it’s going to make a difference. 

Don’t be afraid to dive into the details of your solution. Highlight, at the highest level, the value you provide by showcasing a benefit or two that demonstrate your competitive edge. Charts, graphs, and data points are powerful elements that bring your value prop to life in this section.

This is the moment in your sales pitch deck that needs a compelling narrative. In other words, there is a better time to list off features.

3. Product features and capabilities

Once you have a solid narrative, transition to the highlight reel of your business. A great sales pitch deck outline includes slides showing key features and personalized product screenshots and GIFs.

The goal is to provide a comprehensive overview of what you offer, complete with technical specifications prospects will care about, like integrations, and any unique capabilities your product offers that your competitors may not.

A word of advice for this section: Your prospects will either tune in to what you’re saying in this section or tune you out if what you’re saying doesn’t apply to them. Know who you’re talking to. If it’s a champion who’ll be an end user or, perhaps, an Ops person who’ll be responsible for implementation, share the technical details you feel are relevant. But if it’s a C-suite decision maker, they want value and proof of ROI — not a list of features.

4. Industry-specific customer testimonials

“When people are uncertain, they are more likely to use others’ actions to decide on proper behavior for themselves.” 

Robert Cialdini, the author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion said this, and it couldn’t be more true.

Social proof is everything. Seeing how others in the same space solve problems with your product is often just the push prospects need to affirm their decision. Be sure your sales pitch deck includes real customer feedback, complete with the exact wins they enjoyed because of your solution. Short quotes, headshots, and stats often work well on these kinds of slides.

Again, personalization is so important here. Work to find a story or two that will resonate most with your prospect. 

5. Pricing and packages

As you approach the end of a pitch, it’s time to talk numbers. The best thing you can do in these concluding slides is be transparent about your pricing model.

Outline the cost structure and all available packages or options. Cover all pricing tiers, any discounts or incentives, and what’s in it for the customer. Your prospects should leave this meeting with a clear understanding of how you can help them, and what it looks like to partner with you. 

One last bit of advice: A sales pitch should never feel like a monologue. Engaged prospects will have questions along the way, so be sure your deck isn’t so inflexible or that you don’t have time to listen to the prospect and address their questions and concerns.

Personalize every single pitch deck with Seismic

A one-size-fits-all approach to sales pitching simply doesn’t cut it anymore. 

To create the best sales deck and pitch experience for sellers and prospects alike, consider Seismic’s suite of revenue enablement tools, including Guided Assembly and Seismic for PowerPoint. These two tools enable thousands of global sellers to create personalized, informative B2B sale pitch decks that incorporate all five elements above and resonate deeply with prospects.

Personalized selling at scale is possible with Seismic.Think you’re ready to see Seismic’s pitch deck personalization in action? We’d be thrilled to show you our platform.

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It’s not all doom and gloom, though. There are scrappy, “we’ll-figure-it-out” sellers and leaders around the globe navigating today’s challenges excellently. Most of them are leaning on sales enablement tools to adapt their messaging, strategy, and workflows to the needs of their target market.

In fact, 92% of global revenue leaders who plan to increase or retain their sales enablement tech agree that it’s integral to weathering difficult economic times.

Whether you’re part of a more mature sales organization with sales enablement software in place, or your company hasn’t gotten there yet, we invite you to read on. We’ll review data from the 2023 Value of Enablement Report that proves why it’s the prime time to invest in better sales enablement to boost buyer engagement. 

But first, a quick note: It’s easy for companies to say things like “Now more than ever is the time for [OUR PRODUCT].” These statements always feel biased and sales-y. Our goal here is just to publicize what our data says about the impact of using a top sales enablement software.

The people have spoken: Sales enablement is worth it

Here at Seismic, we, of course, believe that sales enablement software is a competitive differentiator. But this is also supported by the enablers and sellers who use the technology day in and day out.

As mentioned above, we published a report earlier this year where we surveyed and then studied more than 1,200 full-time sales, enablement, and customer success professionals. These people work in managerial and leadership roles throughout the United States and Europe. 

75% of them — whether they have a sales enablement solution in place or not — say that implementing new enablement tools is a priority for their company in 2024. Here are the four main reasons why.

1. Sellers are facing a tough crowd, day in and day out

Closing deals is not what it once was. By the time a prospective client is on a first call with an AE at a tech company or a private banker in the financial services space, they’ve already done their homework. They’re largely informed about what you do, and they expect you to know what they need. 

Prospects expect a personalized sales experience because that’s what your best competitors offer. But this takes so much time.

On top of this, new companies and products are entering the market regularly and clients’ priorities and behavior are constantly evolving. Sales enablement software empowers leaders to better equip their salespeople with the skills, content, insights, and tools they need to engage with clients and close deals.

In fact, 97% of survey respondents who use sales enablement software say it gives them quick access to content, information, and/or coaching, so they can consistently speak to clients from a more informed standpoint.

2. Sellers expect top-of-the-line tech

If you want to attract or retain top sales talent, an intuitive, modern tech stack is non-negotiable. Period. 

Sellers who have experience working at companies with robust customer relationship management (CRM) platform integrations, data analytics tools, and sales automation tech expect sales enablement tech. They want to:

• Be in the know about new processes and market trends
• Streamline tedious tasks so they can focus on client relationships
• Go to a single place to go for all of their learning and content.

Case in point: Based on our data, a seller who’s working without enablement tech spends an average of 10 hours per week tracking down, comparing, or revisiting content to send to clients. And 74% are currently considering leaving their company due to a lack of tools to support their success.

3. Sellers will stay (or go) where they can grow

This goes hand in hand with the top-of-the-line tech reason above. 59% of our respondents went so far to say that they won’t work for a company without enablement tools. Good enablement software and programs make sellers better in their current roles. But great ones make them better sellers, leaders, teammates, and client advocates for their entire careers.

Continuous learning is a major priority for today’s sellers. With a sales enablement solution, you can easily disseminate relevant industry trends and product knowledge, yes — but also selling techniques, certifications, mock practice scenarios, and more to make your sales team more skilled for even future roles they’ll take.

Here’s the best part: When organizations prioritize ongoing training and development for sales representatives with enablement, sellers want to stay. Nearly 80% of the respondents we surveyed believe that their company’s enablement tools will help them retain and attract more employees in 2024. And 100% of those with plans to decrease enablement efforts are concerned that it will lead to lower employee retention.

4. Sellers want to work for agile, adaptable employers

Last, but not least, the best sales enablement tools equip sellers with everything they need to operate with agility, even in times of economic uncertainty. 

Compare these results from the report:

Organizations, especially hybrid or remote ones, without an enablement tool can’t pivot quite as quickly if they notice a new sales tactic that’s closing deals 20% better. They can’t prevent sellers from finding, let alone sending dated content. They can’t create a highly-personalized slide deck in less than five minutes.

Sellers want to work for organizations that are built with resilience in mind and who have the tech and infrastructure in place to handle the ever-evolving landscape they’re working in.

The bottom line about top-notch enablement

It pays big dividends to prioritize sales enablement. The report reveals that an investment in sales enablement grows revenue, retains and attracts great sellers, and gives clients an experience that’s on par (or better than) their expectations. 

If you’d like to learn how you can go to market quickly and smoothly, download our eBook, Kick Go-to-Market Chaos to the Curb.

The post Why sales enablement is worth prioritizing in 2024 and beyond appeared first on Seismic.

Sellers, you know the feeling, too: Your marketing team creates new versions of your go-to-market collateral and you don’t know where to find it. And if you do, you don’t have time to personalize it or demonstrate that it helps move the needle with your clients.

Enablement practitioners, you are the solution to this content chaos. With an excellent sales enablement content strategy, your sellers shouldn’t waste time searching for content.

A 2023 study we commissioned revealed this: 97% of people who said that sales enablement software gives them quick access to content also said that such quick access lets them communicate with their clients from a more informed standpoint. As an enablement professional, it’s your job to make it easier for your client-facing teammates to grow revenue. Reducing content chaos plays a big part in that.

Picture your content chaos, solved

At this point, we’ve established that sales enablement is an efficient, scalable way to control content chaos. Now let’s dig deeper. 

Here are just four (of many) reasons why including a sales content management system keeps your content organized, accessible, and up-to-date. 

1. Sellers find what they need faster

Right now, sellers without sales enablement tech spend an average of 10 hours per week tracking down, comparing, or revisiting content to send to their clients. There’s a better way with content management software. See what we mean by checking out this video.

The best sales enablement practitioners leverage sales content management tech that gives sellers:

• AI-powered search capabilities
• In-context content recommendations (right in their inboxes and CRM instances)
• Custom fields to personalize and send always-compliant content 

One quick note here: Watch for sales enablement content management software that lets admins create content libraries for various profiles and personas, complete with tagging functionality and easy version control. This helps sellers find, customize, and send content at lightning speed. After all, your sellers didn’t join your organization to chase their tails for content; they want to sell. 

The ability to find content quickly and efficiently is actually a recruiting point. The 2023 Value of Enablement Report revealed that 91% of respondents who don’t use sales enablement tools to organize their content have noticed a dip in morale because sellers have to focus on non-revenue generating activities at work, which negatively affects their income. In short, give your sellers fast access to the content they need and you’ll attract and keep top talent.

2. Sellers rest easy because their content tells a cohesive story

With a sales enablement platform, content isn’t being created in ad-hoc, one-off ways. Everything internal (think playbooks and process documentation) and external (think client presentations, case studies, product one-pagers) can be well-planned out and cohesive.

Sales enablement software empowers admins to control who can create or modify content. This allows practitioners to partner with their product marketing teammates to equip sellers only with the most up-to-date messaging. This aligns sales and marketing departments — which historically has been no small feat — and, more importantly, it makes it so your content resonates with clients. They should find the same information on your website as they do in sales conversations and the follow-up content from your sales reps.

3. Sellers personalize content without going off-script

An all-too-common content chaos struggle is rogue content; sometimes sellers create their own materials. Occasionally, these ad-hoc slide decks and PDFs are good, but more often than not, they’re off-brand, noncompliant, and untracked, so no one knows how they perform.

Sellers have no bad intentions in customizing content for their clients. In fact, a desire to personalize content is a sure sign of a great salesperson. But savvy enablement practitioners will give sellers a way to easily personalize their content to make it industry-specific, use-case-specific, and even client-specific.

Earlier this year, we surveyed more than 1,200 full-time sales, enablement, and customer success professionals. 63% of them said that the content they use at work right now is not personalizable enough for their customers. You can solve this with technology that prioritizes sales enablement and marketing content personalization, making it easy for sellers to update fields and send all of their content from one platform. 

This is critical in solving content chaos. Case in point: Companies that prioritize personalization experience a 57% increase in buyer engagement.

4. Most importantly, sellers deliver a “wow” buyer experience

Fact: It’s nearly impossible to deliver exceptional buyer experiences at scale without well-enabled sellers who have powerful content management tools at their fingertips. 

Clients don’t really care if you have an organized content repository; they care that you’re sending them relevant content when they really need it. So, find a sales enablement platform that offers AI-guided sales content recommendations. The best tech should be able to suggest high-performing content across different deal stages based on what’s converted clients in the past. This doesn’t take the humanity out of selling — just the gut feelings and guesswork.

It’s possible and worth it to solve content chaos

From the largest enterprises to the smallest businesses, it’s possible to solve content chaos with a sales enablement platform that’ll scale as you grow. As you consider whether or not better sales content management is something you need, consider these stats:

• 95% of buying decisions are made with the help of sales content
• 82% of buyers view at least five pieces of content before purchasing
• 95% of sales reps say they don’t have access to high-value, shareable content
• 65% of content that’s created by marketing goes unused without enablement 

The numbers speak for themselves. Sellers need a better way to distribute great content. The solution is sales enablement. 

Think it’s time to level up your content organization, distribution, and analysis? Check out some G2 reviews, watch a few led-by-you demo videos, or reach out to the Seismic team today for a glimpse of how we help 2,200+ companies put their best foot forward with better content.

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Evaluating sales performance requires a strategic blend of analysis, assessment, and a commitment to continuous improvement. By embracing a comprehensive evaluation process, you can ensure that your sales team operates efficiently and contributes to your organization’s goals and objectives. 

Evaluating vs. measuring sales performance

The words ‘evaluating’ and ‘measuring’ are often used similarly when referring to sales performance. Both are equally important for sales leaders to focus on, but evaluating performance and measuring performance are two different things.

Sales performance measurement involves quantifiable metrics and numerical data. It assesses and tracks KPIs related to revenue, conversion rates, and deal volume. The goal of measuring sales performance is to understand how certain areas of the sales process or team operate.

Sales performance evaluation is a broader concept and considers several different factors. Evaluating sales performance includes data and metrics as well as customer satisfaction, sales strategies, and greater alignment across the organization. Ultimately, evaluating sales performance provides a comprehensive understanding of how the entire sales function contributes to the organization’s success. 

This blog post explores essential strategies and tips for evaluating your team’s sales performance. Let’s dive in.

1. Define and monitor clear sales performance metrics

Sales performance indicators act as the compass that guides your team toward success. To effectively assess your team’s performance, clearly define the indicators you want to track. Identify metrics like conversion rates, average deal size, and customer acquisition cost (CAC). Then, regularly monitor these performance indicators to gain insights into the effectiveness of your team’s efforts. Tracking these metrics helps identify trends, set benchmarks, and make informed decisions based on real-time data.

2. Implement regular performance reviews

When it comes to analyzing individual rep performance, scheduled performance reviews are essential. Conduct regular one-on-one performance reviews to explore individual and collective achievements, challenges, and trends. During these sessions, emphasize open communication and encourage sellers to share insights on their experiences. Documenting these reviews over time will identify patterns and provide a historical perspective for more accurate assessments.

3. Leverage technology for data

Sales teams generate extensive amounts of data, and leveraging technology is key to meaningful analysis. Integrate a comprehensive dashboard for sales performance to visualize and interpret your team’s data effectively. This consolidates your sales performance metrics into an easily digestible format and facilitates a quick overview of your team’s performance. Then, combine this with specialized sales performance tracking tools, such as CRM systems and analytics platforms, to conduct in-depth analyses. These sales tools provide actionable insights, enabling sales leaders to make informed decisions based on real-time data.

4. Encourage peer feedback

We can’t stress this enough — assessing sales team performance is not just about numbers. It’s also about the team’s dynamics, culture, and collaboration. Foster a culture of peer evaluation where team members provide constructive feedback to one another. This feedback can uncover insights that traditional performance indicators might not capture. Additionally, observe how sellers collaborate during joint projects or initiatives. How well team members work together, share information, celebrate wins, and contribute to shared goals can provide valuable insights into the team’s effectiveness.

5. Complete a training needs assessment

It’s also essential to identify skill gaps within your team. To do this, regularly assess the skill set of each seller using targeted sales performance indicators. You can also create a skills matrix to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of each seller. This matrix will assist with the development of a personalized training and coaching strategy for each rep. Remember, the goal is to identify gaps and address them through continuous learning opportunities. This approach ensures that your team has the skills and knowledge needed to excel in a competitive sales landscape.

Drive sales performance with Seismic

Effective enablement directly impacts sales performance. That’s why the Seismic Enablement Cloud is purpose-built to help sales organizations equip sellers with the right content, tools, and training to meet and exceed performance goals. Ready to learn more? Get a demo to see how teams drive greater performance and growth with Seismic.

The post 5 strategies to evaluate sales performance appeared first on Seismic.

From how to get better sleep to how to be more productive at work, the advice feels endless. 

However, in the sea of suggestions we’ve seen, one bit of advice stands out — 2024 is the year to develop a world-class sales enablement framework. After all, according to The 2023 Value of Enablement Report, 81% of revenue professionals say that having quick access to information and/or content helps them prepare for client meetings and presentations and succeed in their roles. This “quick access” simply doesn’t happen without the proper systems in place. 

That’s why a solid sales enablement framework lies at the heart of an excellent sales enablement strategy. It serves as the blueprint that defines how you’ll empower your sales team with the resources, tools, and knowledge they need to succeed.

The goal of establishing a framework is to enhance the productivity and performance of your sales force.

There are four stages to follow when building a sales enablement framework:

1. Plan
2. Enable
3. Engage
4. Improve

In this blog, we dive into how you can build a framework that lasts and scales as your team evolves. 

Stage 1: Plan your sales enablement framework  

Imagine your sales enablement strategy as your house — the framework is the foundation. 

Here’s what’s involved:

1. Define your goals and objectives: First, ensure your sales enablement framework supports your business and sales enablement goals. 

2. Assess the current state of your revenue teams: Next, take a look at your current team. What are their strengths and weaknesses? What knowledge gaps need attention? Do they have the right tools and resources? Gather feedback from the team (and maybe even a few trusted customers) on the current sales process. 

3. Design your framework: Make sure all of your GTM counterparts understand (and are bought into) your sales methodology. This is a great time to determine the essential collateral and training your team needs. In addition to the collateral, it’s important to understand if you’ve got the right sales enablement platform in place. 

4. Build a measurement plan: You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Develop KPIs and processes to measure within your sales engagement plan. 

With goals set and a comprehensive framework established, you’re ready to move to the next stage: enabling your team.

Stage 2: Enable and equip your sales team for success 

With a solid foundation in place, it’s time to add the finishing touches to make it shine. 

Here’s what’s involved: 

Content delivery

Sales collateral like pitch decks, videos, case studies, and whitepapers are only useful if they can be found, right?

HubSpot shared that their reps were spending five hours per week, and sometimes more, just searching for resources and content to do their job. Be sure you’re supplying reps with updated content that’s tailored to resonate with specific customer segments and buying journeys. 

Learning and coaching

It’s vital that your team knows how to apply their skills and knowledge in real-world scenarios. Our recommendation? Invest in coaching software and sales enablement tools to give them safe environments to practice in.

If you implement bite-sized coaching and informal training programs, you’ll soon notice all of the benefits below.

Steady feedback loops

This is an important piece of your sales enablement plan. It’s up to you as an enablement professional to foster and facilitate a culture of open communication. 

So, gather feedback directly from the people you’re enabling and make adjustments accordingly. This “Enable” phase requires continuous monitoring but, by providing your team with the support and resources they need, you can ensure your sales enablement framework is driving results. 

They’ve got the resources they need, and you’re ready to move to the next stage.

Stage 3: Engage and put your sales team into action 

Your metaphorical house has a rock-solid foundation and good craftsmanship; now it’s time for the grand reveal. 

Here’s what’s involved: 

The implementation of new content and skills

This is where you see your hard work come to fruition. During the “Engage” phase, your team applies the knowledge and skills they’ve learned to their sales interactions, tailoring their approach to meet specific needs and situations. 

Bonus points if reps start using data to drive their decisions throughout the sales process or leaning on a tool like Seismic for a hand with AI-guided selling. 

Excellent measurement

Top enablement leaders look at KPIs like win rates, sales cycle length, and customer satisfaction to gauge their framework’s effectiveness. During this stage, even though things are up and running, don’t forget to routinely gather feedback from your reps to find out what’s working and what’s not. Use this feedback to refine your framework and content. 

Extra motivation and engagement

If your revenue-generating teammates are adopting your framework, collateral, and training, recognize them for it and reward the wins. Keep morale high by driving enthusiasm and momentum for the framework with ongoing learning and development across your team, too.

After all of this, you’re ready to move to the final stage, and the process continues. 

Stage 4: Enhance and fine-tune your sales enablement framework  

At this stage, you’re living in your dream house, and all of your hard work has paid off. 

But it doesn’t stop here. This is, and will continue to be, an ongoing process. Every good sales enablement specialist and leader needs to:

• Continuously look at how sellers performed
• Audit content and identify opportunities for improvement

The sales enablement process starts again, so your team can plan, enable, and engage all over again.

New Year, new sales enablement framework

The start of a new year is the perfect time to reset. 

While we can’t provide you with the magic tip for better sleep, we can help you achieve results like a 39% increase in average deal size and a 54% increase in quota attainment.

These results, as seen by Aerogen’s success with Seismic, showcase the power of a well-crafted sales enablement framework.

Think it’s time to chat with someone from Seismic? Request a demo to connect with our team and learn more about our platform, or lead the demo yourself. 

The post How to build a world-class sales enablement framework appeared first on Seismic.

It takes commitment and ongoing effort to ensure your sales teams function like a well-oiled machine. As a leader in sales enablement, we know a thing or two about best practices, so let’s get into them. 

#1. Create valuable content and manage it well

A vital piece of the enablement puzzle is content. As an enablement leader, you need to create (or orchestrate the creation of) content that not only resonates well with your audience, but also aligns with your overall business objectives. 

Valuable sales enablement content does the following: 

• Empowers your sellers: Sales enablement content equips your team with valuable insights, product knowledge, and resources, enabling them to engage customers more effectively by personalizing existing high-quality assets.
• Builds credibility: Quality content positions your brand as an industry leader, instilling trust and authority, which are crucial for successful interactions.
• Streamlines communication: Consistent, up-to-date messaging gives every customer-facing individual a consistent and shared narrative to use with customers. Using the same verbiage reinforces your brand identity — and your customers will notice.
• Accelerates the sales process: Well-crafted content addresses pain points efficiently, expediting the sales cycle, enhancing customer satisfaction, and boosting revenue.
• Adapts to market dynamics: ​​An agile content strategy that can pivot with market trends keeps your sales enablement efforts fresh, seizing emerging opportunities.

Video suggestion: Watch this video that goes into more detail about how personalized content specifically helps sales reps win more deals. 

#2. Align the go-to-market organization

Effective sales enablement requires the alignment of sales, marketing, and customer success (CS) teams. Where there is GTM alignment, there is consistent messaging, smoother operations, and typically, happier customers. The most successful enablement leaders bring together all aspects of the GTM organization to get everyone marching to the beat of the same drum. 

Hubspot, for instance, saved $18 million in one year by increasing their sales team’s productivity and aligning their sales and CS teams through Seismic’s sales enablement software. 

#3.  Ensure there’s up-to-date training and onboarding

Top-notch onboarding and training are table stakes for great enablement programs. And a seller’s success hinges on having on-demand access to quality training content.

The 2023 Value of Enablement report confirms this: 76% of respondents say rapid access to coaching and training content prevents second-guessing, emphasizing the importance of swift training for confidence and success.

Enter sales enablement training software.  Platforms such as Seismic Learning equip reps with knowledge to quickly get the hang of things and stay in the loop on messaging, new products, and industry tricks. This sharpens their ability to connect with buyers and nail down deals.

#4. Implement and support frameworks for sales coaching

Have you ever wondered what sets top-notch sales teams apart? Part of the equation is a solid sales enablement framework for coaching. 

Sales coaching polishes individual skills and amps up the overall strength of your sales crew. Coaches — and coaching software that scales their expertise — are the secret ingredient to identifying strengths, shoring up weaknesses, and turning learning into a natural part of being a seller. 

#5. Create healthy feedback loops

Sellers need to be able to translate field insights back to the broader team to shape future strategies. This feedback should influence the product roadmap, marketing priorities, sales processes, and beyond. Enablement leaders play a vital role in attentively listening and driving impactful changes.

#6. Measure your work to prove your impact

Monitoring sales enablement metrics is challenging, but measurement is crucial to improving your strategy and proving your value. Key stats like conversion rates, deals impacted, and overall customer engagement help you identify what’s working and what needs improvement. These numbers allow you to adjust your approach and stay sharp in a changing market. 

Pro tip: This short blog post just scratches the surface of what you can learn in chapter 4 of our latest book, Tomorrow’s Enablement For Today’s Leaders. Head there to find resources to help you track your metrics!

#7. Evolve and optimize your tech stack 

Sales enablement technology offers several benefits, including improved efficiency, streamlined workflows, and reduced operational costs. With the right tech tools, your sales team gets the goods — relevant content and resources that speed up deal closures, training to sharpen their skills, and tactical feedback to help them hit quota. 

Plus, evolving and optimizing your tech stack ensures you stay ahead of your competitors and give your customers the most modern, “wow!” experience possible.

#8. Establish sales playbooks everyone’s bought into

A sales playbook that everyone agrees on standardizes the way GTM organizations work together to achieve better results. 

Be sure to create (and more importantly, communicate) a few different sales playbooks for sellers to run depending on the industry, territory, or customer segment they’re focused on. But remember — a clear framework isn’t dictatorial. Instead, it should be flexible and collaborative as sellers learn new information in their deal cycles that could help future deals close. 

In short, create playbooks with the help of frontline sellers and other GTM leaders, and revisit them often.

#9. Keep processes relevant to reality

In 2023, earning new customers, especially in SaaS, was no walk in the park. But smart enablement leaders didn’t just weather the storm; they stayed nimble and strategic. By keeping their processes in tune with the ever-changing reality, they tackled challenges head-on and stayed ahead of the game.

As an enablement leader, consider joining enablement-focused communities to network with others and see what’s working for them. Three great ones are the Revenue Enablement Society, the Sales Enablement Collective, and Women in Sales Enablement (WiSE). Or, if you’re a current Seismic user, join our customer community.

 #10. Be present today without forgetting about tomorrow

To stay ahead of the game and be ready for tomorrow, it’s important to focus on the present while keeping an eye on the future. 

Our latest book, Tomorrow’s Enablement for Today’s Leaders, talks all about this, and it’s written by two of Seismic’s brightest enablement leaders. It’s available for free as an EPUB or for purchase on Kindle. 

A bonus #11: Partner with Seismic for sales enablement

Sales enablement leaders choose Seismic for its unmatched ability to streamline processes, foster collaboration, and adapt to dynamic market demands. In fact, 80% of sales leaders say enablement technology like Seismic frees up time to focus on revenue-generating experiences based on research from The 2023 Value of Enablement Report. 

Think your team might need Seismic? Request a demo to see how Seismic could partner with you. Whether you opt for a team-led walkthrough or prefer to lead the demo yourself, you’ll discover why Seismic is the preferred choice for a future-ready approach to revenue success.

The post 10 sales enablement best practices for proactive leaders appeared first on Seismic.

That’s why the best sales training programs don’t end after onboarding. As sellers mature and your company evolves, training objectives and methodologies will naturally evolve too — and that’s a good thing. We wrote this post to help teams like yours better prioritize their sales training efforts to improve their performance at all stages of their tenure.

Let’s explore five high-level sales training objectives that great sales managers focus on.

1. Equip your sellers with the right product knowledge and content

New and experienced sellers both need to know the products and services they’re selling inside and out. Over time, these offerings will fluctuate, so the best sales training should only ever focus on the most up-to-date features and benefits of their products and services. 

When it comes to training sales teams, there are many different sales training methods and tools that make communicating this information easier. At first, it may take some trial and error to determine which training approach works best for your organization, but one of the most important things to keep in mind is this: You need to meet sales reps where they’re at and avoid overwhelming them with too much information upfront.

Some of the most popular sales training methods include online sales training courses, sales training videos, and individual coaching. Combining technology and hands-on training usually produces the best results. (More on that in objective #5!)

2. Refine their soft skills with coaching 

Sellers are relationship builders. Developing their soft skills is essential if you want to see ongoing sales success. Though product knowledge and technical skills are vital, soft skills are really what make or break deals. To see consistent sales success, train your team to:

1. Actively listen
2. Ask probing questions
3. Manage their time excellently
4. Empathize with customers
5. Adapt and be patient — no two deals are the same

The most effective way to refine your team’s soft skills is with learning and coaching, which is significantly easier with a tool like Seismic Learning. With Seismic, sales leaders can offer their teams a safe space for learning, coaching, and skill development. This video shares more about how sellers can hone their skills and receive constructive feedback to strengthen their areas of opportunity all in one place.

3. Help everyone understand and master the sales process

Every company has its unique way of doing things, and sales training plays a significant role in getting everyone on the same page, from the very first interaction with a prospect to a successful handoff to their customer success counterparts. 

Make it an objective to give everyone a unified understanding of the products and services you offer. It’s been proven that organizations that invest in employee training and development see 11% greater profitability year-over-year than those that don’t, so prioritize this alignment because it pays off.

Not only will this improve your internal harmony, but it’ll also enhance the overall customer experience. From the first touchpoint to post-sale support, make sure all of your team members work together seamlessly and create an environment where success is a collaborative effort.

4. Double-down on end-of-deal interactions

When a deal is reaching the finish line, there’s a surge of pressure on sellers to convert potential wins into revenue. In B2B sales training, it’s important to equip your reps with the skills to navigate these important situations effectively. 

During sales training, focus on teaching reps how to handle common objections that may arise, navigate negotiations, and ultimately bring about the successful closing of the deal. If you need a few sales training ideas, consider providing practical strategies and simulated scenarios in sales training to help prepare reps for these critical moments. This will help them more confidently address challenges and turn prospects into customers. 

5. Invest in technology and train sellers to use each tool

There’s no one-size-fits-all tech stack on the market. Regardless of what tools you select to roll out your training initiatives, prioritize these two things:

1. The simplicity and decluttering of a seller’s tech stack
2. Accessible training for anyone in the sales process — think SDRs, AEs, Sales Engineers, and their managers — around how to use the tools at their disposal

Every tool must serve a purpose and bring value to the table, which is why we can’t overstate the importance of training your team with a tool like Seismic enough; it brings together training, coaching, content, analytics, and more.

To share a bit more about Seismic…

The Seismic Enablement Cloud is a sales enablement platform that’s helping more than two million sellers from 2,200+ companies gain the confidence and readiness they need to win deals. 

Case in point, The Seismic 2023 Value of Enablement report revealed that 79% of respondents agree that enablement technology gives them quick access to content, information, and/or coaching, which lets them speak to clients from a more informed standpoint. What’s more is that 76% of respondents also said that quick access to coaching and training content keeps them from second-guessing themselves with customers. 

The bottom line is this: Sales enablement training that’s delivered via technology gives sellers the training and confidence they need to build relationships, right in their moment of need. To see how tangibly sales training impacts the bottom line, we suggest you read this guide next: The Business Impact of Sales Training and Enablement. 

The post 5 sales training objectives to master for stronger revenue results appeared first on Seismic.

What is sales synergy?

Synergy is defined as the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. Sales synergy refers to the collaboration and combined efforts of individual sellers within a sales team to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency in reaching sales goals.

Sales synergy goes beyond working side by side to complete a task or project. Instead, it implies a level of cooperation, communication, and shared goals that lead to a cohesive and streamlined approach to selling and closing deals. Key elements of sales synergy include:

• Effective communication
• Alignment on goals and objectives
• Mutual support
• Leveraging every team member’s strengths

The ultimate goal of fostering sales synergy is creating a high-performing team that consistently exceeds sales targets and adapts to challenges more effectively. In this post, we’ll explore three strategies that teams can implement to enhance their sales synergy.

Let’s dive in!

3 tips for stronger alignment

1. Deliver ongoing education. A foundational step for synergy is to ensure that every seller understands your organization’s sales operations and processes. This includes familiarity on products, your team’s sales tech stack, and the expectations regarding pipeline management. In order to provide adequate education on these items, it’s crucial to establish an onboarding program that provides new sellers with easy access to this information. It’s also important to recognize that training is an ongoing process, so sellers also need access to on-demand training and knowledge so they can stay up-to-date with business processes and best practices. This ensures that your sellers remain agile and adaptable, stay aligned on new information and evolving strategies, and meet business goals.
   
2. Open lines of communication. Regardless of your sellers’ experience levels, the ever-evolving nature of the sales landscape ensures that new questions and challenges will continually arise. To ensure that sales teams  thrive amid these changes, it’s crucial to create a culture of open communication. Vertical and horizontal communication pathways—both upward and downward within the organizational structure—are a great way to share insights, address questions, and refine strategies. Look for ways to plan recurring meetings where team members can openly discuss challenges, share wins, and collaboratively problem solve.
3. Create shared goals. While effective education and communication lay the groundwork for success, their full impact can’t be reached until they’re aligned with shared goals across the entire team. It’s not just about meeting individual milestones — it’s about forging a collective path towards hitting goals as an entire team. In addition to individual monthly or quarterly quotas, consider introducing team-wide goals that transcend individual achievements. These shared objectives should serve as rallying points, motivating team members to pool their efforts for a greater cause. By fostering a sense of collective investment, team members find a shared purpose beyond individual tasks. This not only bolsters motivation but also instills a collaborative spirit. Whether navigating challenges or celebrating successes, by emphasizing the journey as a shared one, you’ll reinforce the idea that the strength of the team lies in the shared pursuit of goals that extend beyond individual endeavors.

Improving your team’s synergy will lead to higher morale, better teamwork, and ultimately more closed deals. These three strategies aren’t the only ways to improve sales synergy, but taking the steps to educate, communicate, and create collective goals for your team is a great place to start.

How we can help…

The Seismic Enablement Cloud, ensures that go-to-market organizations drive collaboration, consistency, and adaptability in order to hit business goals. Interested in learning how sales teams across the globe use Seismic to drive synergy across their sellers? Click here to get a demo!

The post 3 Ways to Improve Sales Synergy appeared first on Seismic.

For more than 12 years, we’ve had a front-row seat to what great sales coaching can do for sellers, sales culture, and the bottom line. High-quality, meaningful sales coaching is something sellers want, and it’s something managers should prioritize.

However, the Seismic 2023 Value of Enablement Report revealed this troubling stat: 36% of respondents say their company does not offer coaching right now.

A sales organization that lacks sales coaching is leaving money on the table, and we’d like to change that, starting with this blog post. If you’re a sales or enablement leader looking to roll out sales coaching programs or optimize your current tactics, peruse 10 of our best sales coaching tips below.

1. Establish clear outcomes

In order to start or refine any sales coaching framework, leaders need to cast a clear vision of what success should look like. So, decide which outcomes you’re after, and work backward. Some common goals sales leaders set before they deliver effective sales coaching are:

• Improve productivity: Could your reps accomplish more in less time with better processes? Could they more efficiently navigate their customer interactions without sacrificing quality?

• Increase engagement: Does it seem like your reps are a bit checked out or maybe doing the bare minimum? A coach who cares could be just the re-engagement incentive they need.

• Decrease turnover: This goes hand-in-hand with increasing engagement. Reps who feel invested in and well-supported by their management and leadership are 20% more likely to stay.

• Grow revenue: Are you hoping for higher average close values (ACV)? Maybe stronger win rates? When done well, coaching refines a seller’s natural skills and gives them a chance to work on their weaknesses, leading to better overall company performance.

2. Coach from a place of expertise

To become (and stay) a great sales coach, you’ll need to find a coach or two for yourself. Before you ever start coaching others, seek out enablement and mentoring from admirable, effective sales coaches.

You’ll quickly notice that the way they provide feedback isn’t sporadic or chaotic; it’s methodical, consistent, and deliberate. If you study their ways and learn the sales playbook(s) at your organization inside and out, you’ll deliver feedback that’s exponentially more impactful to the sellers on your team.

3. Provide coaching regularly and in different formats

After you have a good understanding of your goals, it’s time to think about the logistics and frequency of your coaching. The best coaches offer coaching on an ongoing, regular basis, but remember this: Coaching does not always have to happen in live, 1:1 sessions.

In fact, our recent survey of 1,200 GTM professionals found that 76% of people who have quick access to coaching and training content say it keeps them from second-guessing themselves when they’re interacting with customers.

Consider making asynchronous coaching and feedback using a tool like Seismic Learning one of the types of sales coaching you focus on. You’ll be able to create data-driven sales coaching plans that focus on each rep’s knowledge gaps and offer that coaching on a self-serve basis.

4. Practice common sales scenarios

This advice may feel basic, but it’s important: You should practice the most common and most difficult situations sellers face with them. You can do this at scale with automated coaching software, and skip the endless hours of role-play.

With sales coaching software like Seismic Learning, you can ask reps to record and share their latest elevator pitch, or maybe even practice a personalized pitch for a specific persona. Reps can practice during a time that works well for them, and you can evaluate their submissions at a time that works well for you. It’s a win-win.

5. Shadow sellers and provide constructive feedback

We also recommend hopping on live calls with your sales reps every once in a while to evaluate them and provide constructive feedback directly after. As long as you approach this from a place of support and kindness, this is a setting to deliver highly-tailored feedback and get some quality facetime with your reps. This is especially helpful for newer reps who are ramping.

6. Celebrate wins, both publicly and privately

Yep, part of a great sales coaching strategy is celebrating when sellers do outstanding work. This could look like sharing a video snippet from a recent successful call, sending an email or Slack message to the broader sales organization about what a seller did and why it worked, or even sending a DM to that seller to recognize their work and progress.

7. Encourage self-reflection and assessment

A great coach teaches salespeople how to be more self-sufficient, and part of that looks like coaching them well enough that they notice when they do something well or when there’s room for improvement. Offer them frequent opportunities, ideally via sales coaching technology, to evaluate themselves and their performance progress over time.

8. Offer coaching via various channels

In the same way sellers interact with their prospects on phone calls, video calls, in-person meetings, and email, you should do the same. Give your sellers a way to receive coaching and refine their craft on their own time using a learning library of content.

Case in point, our research shows that 79% of people who use enablement technology to give them quick access to content, information, and/or coaching agree that it empowers them to speak to clients from a more informed standpoint. Enablement technology is a critical coaching channel.

9. Don’t be their only coaching resource

We can’t stress this enough: A good sales coach scales their efforts so they aren’t the entire team’s sole source of professional development. Set up peer coaching groups. Encourage sellers to attend training and webinars. Push for your organization to send them to conferences. Recommend books and people who they should add to their network to grow and learn from.

10. Lean on data

The best sales coaching also happens when coaches are constantly asking themselves, “Are my words, actions, and efforts really making a difference?”

In sales coaching specifically, “making a difference” looks like supporting the bottom line and getting reps in your charge closer to quota. With an enablement platform that handles learning and coaching and integrates seamlessly with your CRM, you can easily generate reports to see what kind of training is moving the needle. You can also see where reps are falling short, and this intel can inform your future coaching efforts so you know what to focus on in future months.

Maximize your potential with Seismic Learning

As we’ve mentioned a few times throughout this blog post, Seismic Learning is a loved-by-thousands coaching tool for sales leaders and managers around the globe. It leans on AI to recommend onboarding, training, and coaching materials to managers. Our latest AI-focused research revealed that only 45% of GTM professionals already use AI tools to support their learning efforts. So if you’re ready to get ahead of the curve and amplify your sales coaching techniques with AI, Seismic is the answer.

Ready to learn more about Seismic Learning? We’re ready to chat with you about our sales coaching tools whenever you’re ready.

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