Whether you’re a chief executive, team manager or sales rep, sales enablement leadership requires versatility in behaviors, skills, attitude and the ability to take on many different roles.
So what kinds of roles must the best sales enablement leaders refine to be successful?
The Magnificent Seven
- Strategist
Winning deals requires constant assessment of your sales and marketing environment. A sales enablement leader must be able to assess and execute quicker than the competition – and in some cases, quicker than the prospect or customer – while still accounting for all the moving parts of a sales first organization.
- Coach
Unlike in most team sports, there’s no bench in sales. From devising plays and strategies, to settling inter-team disputes, sales enablement leaders have to keep their time motivated and executing non-stop. Analagous to coaching someone in a game of “Whack-a-Mole.”
- Psychologist
Everyone’s a psychologist when they’ve had a couple drinks, but for sales enablement leaders, it’s more than the occasional heart-to-heart. Understanding the psychology behind your prospect and customer’s pain points, initiatives and overall motivation is foundational to managing a relevant sales process. Now rinse and repeat for each of your sales reps.
- Mathematician
Sorry, right-brainers. As a sales enablement leader, it’s necessary to accurately track the deals, discounts, and incentives that are fair to your customer, your company and your sales team.
- Spokesperson
Sales enablement leaders are passionate promoters of the company, communicating brand messaging to those who need to hear it most. Who needs to hear it most? Everyone! Sales enablement leaders promote internally as well as externally.
- Customer service representative
Sales enablement leaders also develop and maintain deep relationships with customers, serving as the front line when problems or opportunities arise.
- Business manager
What is the state of the sales operations? It’s the job of sales enablement leaders to know this and make sure executives, sales reps, and other supporting teams know it as well.
Which Role Will You Wear Today?
Sales enablement leaders cultivate and share a compelling, inspiring vision that inspires their teams and their customers to excellence. They challenge colleagues and peers alike to over-perform – both as a team, and as individuals.
Sales and marketing have never had such great potential for beneficial alignment, but it’s a complicated journey. Sales enablement leaders display, cultivate and advocate the best practices that lead to alignment and success.
What role do you believe is most important for a sales enablement leader…and why?
