The global telecom market has experienced unprecedented growth and change over the last few decades. The increasing demand for high-speed technology, competitive pressure from other providers, and the way that buyers purchase tech has fundamentally changed how telecom companies do business.
In such a saturated and evolving marketplace, telecom providers are realizing that they need to expand and improve upon their current go-to-market (GTM) strategies. This requires strategic alignment between sales and marketing teams in order to optimize the sales cycle. It also requires the prioritization of improved buyer and customer experiences.
So, how can telecom companies achieve these goals? We firmly believe that the answer lies with sales enablement.
Why is enablement advantageous for telecom companies?
Sales enablement comes with many positive benefits. From more confident and efficient sellers to better prospect and customer interactions, all of these elements add up to powerful enablement ROI. In fact, the Aberdeen Group found that companies with successful sales enablement programs experience 32% higher sales team quota attainment and 24% better individual seller quota attainment.
But making a clear case for investing in sales enablement requires thoughtful planning and intentionality in order to gain buy-in across your organization. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at 5 key steps that GTM leaders can use to build a strong case for better enablement.
Do your research
Effective sales enablement includes a lot of moving parts like content management and automation, learning and coaching, and analytics. So before you craft and deliver your presentation, it’s important to take the time to research the market. This will help you answer questions that may come up and explain how your proposal will help the organization address key challenges.
To get started, make a list of the various sales enablement tools available that fit the needs of your organization. To begin, you can turn to trusted third-party sources and studies like The Forrester Wave™ or The Aragon Hot Vendor Report for an honest assessment of the platforms in the space. Leaning on independent research provides an unbiased review of each solution and the confidence that you’re gathering accurate information. This will enable you to create a list of vendors that you’ll want to research more in-depth.
Talk to stakeholders
The goal of sales enablement is to remove barriers for sellers so they can do their jobs effectively. And this requires alignment across sales, marketing, and enablement teams. Therefore, it’s important to get a baseline understanding of how each of these teams operate. It’s also a good idea to find out what their biggest challenges and goals are. By knowing the ins and outs of how they operate and what they want to achieve, you can build a better business case that speaks directly to those areas.
It’s also imperative to learn more about the pain points across the entire GTM organization. You can do this by conducting interviews with sellers and those who produce content on an ongoing basis. Asking pinpointed questions across various roles will provide a bigger picture of the gaps in content creation, management, engagement, usage, and more.
Never stop growing.
Identify your needs and goals
If you ask stakeholders the right questions, you can easily produce data that directly proves the need for a sales enablement solution. For example, if sellers say they spend nearly ⅓ of their week searching for content, you can highlight the need for a sales content management system. By addressing this need and how an investment in technology can help your organization’s bottom line, executives will be more likely to see a direct correlation between the investment and your goals.
Depending on the size of your team and the maturity of your current enablement program, you’ll likely identify a number of different needs and opportunities. In order to craft a strong business case, we suggest prioritizing these needs and outlining how long it will take to address each area. Remember, enablement is an ongoing process, so it won’t be feasible to tackle all of your needs and goals all at once.
Craft the perfect pitch
Now that you’ve done your homework, collaborated with team members, and prioritized your greatest needs, it’s time to craft the perfect story. Remember, the audience of your presentation may not be aware of the challenges that your GTM team is facing, so it’s important to make this context apparent first. Back up this information with the data and feedback that you collected instead of sharing general information or observations.
Rather than presenting the sales enablement platform as an incurred cost, position it as something that will quickly pay for itself. Be sure to show how this investment will be beneficial to your telecom organization in the short and long-run. It’s also important to reiterate the roadmap you have created for implementation including timelines, key stakeholders, and expected deliverables.
Lay the groundwork for the evaluation process
After presenting the human and financial stakes of the project, lay out the evaluation process you went through with the vendors. First, detail how you went about the vendor selection process. Did you access industry reports, speak to other customers, or receive a referral from another business partner? It’s also a good idea to include other stakeholders that were involved with the vetting process and the methods used to narrow down your choices. Showcasing the thoroughness of your vetting process with these relevant details will help you prove how serious this business need is.
Once you’ve provided the details on your final vendor recommendations, it’s time to identify the next steps. Be sure that everyone comes to an agreement on what needs to happen, who is responsible for what, and the timelines for any follow-up tasks. It’s also a good idea to share your enablement charter checklist to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Discover what greater enablement can do for you
If your telecom organization is ready to go to market faster, close deals sooner, and boost revenue, we’re here to help. The Seismic Enablement Cloud™ enables industry leaders like you to streamline content management, drive buyer engagement, and scale training so that you can stand out from the competition. Ready to learn more? Get a demo and we’ll show you Seismic in action.
