The stakes are higher than ever in today’s sales environment. Lofty goals, fierce competition, and relentless pressure are the new normal. Here’s a telling stat: SaaS companies can only expect 50-60% of their ramped reps to hit quota.
So, what separates the top performers from the rest? Hint: It’s not strictly effort — it’s the tools they use.Business2Community states, “Successful salespeople know that the right tools in their arsenal can mean the difference between a deal and a dud.” In this article, we’ll walk through seven clear signs that it’s time to invest in sales enablement software. These signs highlight the challenges your sales team might face and how the right tools can help give them the competitive edge they need to close more deals.
1. Your new sales reps take too long to ramp up
Onboarding should help new hires hit the ground running, but reality often tells a different story. It often takes 12 months for a rep to become completely competent and ready to take on a full quota or target. That’s a lot of time spent onboarding and training for every hire.
To make things worse, people forget 70% of this training after a week, and they lose almost 90% after a month. Sales enablement tools bridge this gap by delivering ongoing, contextual support. They ensure reps have the resources they need at the right time, making training a continuous process rather than a one-time onboarding event.
How sales enablement software helps
With the right sales enablement tools, you can reduce ramp time and make your new hires productive faster. These tools streamline training and provide sales guidance at scale. Content automation tools provide access to the right content, right when they need it. The result? Shorter onboarding times, fewer mistakes, and happier, more productive sales teams.
2. Your sales team suffers from a lack of productivity
According to Salesforce’s State of Sales report, sales reps spend just 28% of their total time selling. The time spent “not selling” directly and undeniably impacts revenue.
Productivity killers are everywhere, from tedious tasks to inefficient processes. Digital sales enablement shines in this area, automating repetitive tasks and streamlining workflows to give reps more time to sell.
How sales enablement solves this
With less time to sell, productivity is critical. AI-driven sales enablement tools help by automating the non-core tasks. For example:
- HubSpot spent an average of five hours per week searching for resources and content to do their job.
- With Seismic, they made everything easily discoverable alongside courses in Seismic Learning.
- Now, each rep saves two hours a week, which amounts to $18M in annual efficiency savings. Yes, please.
Rob Giglio
Chief Customer Officer
3. Your sales team uses a one-size-fits all approach to selling
Gone are the days when pitching products was enough to close a deal. Today’s buyers expect more. They expect an individualized purchasing experience that addresses their unique challenges and priorities.
McKinsey found that more than 70% of today’s buyers expect companies to deliver a personalized experience. Additionally, 76% will move to another organization if they’re unhappy with their experience. In other words, buyers expect advanced, tailored experiences that only technology can provide — ones that reps can only provide when they have the skills, content, and tools they need.
How sales enablement tools make personalization possible
Personalized selling is no longer optional; it’s expected. sales enablement tool that integrates with your CRM and other software allows teams to deliver excellent buyer experiences that cut through the noise and capture buyers’ attention. This isn’t just a “nice to have” — it’s a proven way to drive results. Case in point, our report, The Personalization Payoff, found that buyer engagement increases by 57% when tailored content is used.
With a sales enablement platform, your team can:
- Use analytics to recommend the most relevant content and messaging based on the persona, industry, and stage in the sales cycle.
- Make data-backed recommendations that improve the buyer experience and build trust.
- Deliver value-driven conversations that address specific pain points and priorities.
The result? Better engagement, better buyer alignment, and ultimately, stronger sales outcomes.
4. Your sales team doesn’t know how to move a deal forward
Deals that linger in the pipeline often stall. The longer they stay stuck, the less likely they are to close. But why? One of the biggest reasons is a lack of urgency. Without a clear and compelling reason to make a change now, they’ll stay in no man’s land and drag their feet.
To keep deals moving, sales reps must show the value of their solution, highlight the cost of inaction, and create a compelling reason to change.
How sales enablement tools keep deals moving forward
Advancing a sale takes more than persistence. It requires strategic guidance and access to the right resources at the right time. With sales enablement software, your team can:
- Leverage sales playbooks to guide reps on how to move prospects from one stage to the next.
- Use just-in-time coaching, giving everyone the tools and insights they need to navigate tricky sales situations.
- Gain instant access to persona-based tips, talk tracks, training materials, and content at every stage.
Giving your sales team these resources will reduce deal delay and stagnation. This will create urgency and help your reps close deals faster and more effectively.
5. A high percentage of deals end with “no decision”
It’s frustrating but common: Many forecasted deals end in no decision. In a Harvard Business Review study of 2.5 million sales conversations, 40-60% of B2B deals ended in no decision. Why? The answer often lies in the status quo.
The status quo feels safe and low-risk, even if it means sacrificing potential gains in efficiency and productivity. Overcoming this requires more than persistence; it demands a strategy that highlights the costs of doing nothing.
How sales enablement tools combat no-decision deals
Breaking free from the status quo starts with demonstrating value. B2B buyers want partners who truly understand their business and challenges, not just vendors pitching solutions. Sales teams that challenge and engage prospects are twice as likely to hit quota, but achieving this requires a tailored approach.
Sales enablement platforms give your team the tools they need to:
- Recommend relevant content based on the buyer’s stage in the sales process. Every interaction adds value.
- Provide engaging collateral that speaks directly to their prospect’s pain points and priorities. This helps create a compelling case for change.
- Help buyers visualize the cost of inaction, using data and insights to highlight the risks of staying stagnant.
With the right tools, your team can guide prospects out of their comfort zone and into confident, informed buying decisions. As a result, you can close more deals and lower the “no decision” rate.
6. Marketing content isn’t utilized
Content is critical for successful B2B sales, but most of it never sees the light of day. Part of this is because sales reps spend most of their time looking for or building their own content to share.
Forrester reports that while 82% of company leaders believe their sales and marketing functions are aligned. However, nearly two-thirds of sales and marketing professionals don’t agree. They continue to say that to succeed, marketing and sales teams need to center their partnerships on buyer and customer needs. Another way of thinking of this is to ensure that the right content is available — and used — when it matters most.
How sales enablement drives content usage
With B2B deals influenced so heavily by content, reps need to know what to use and when to use it. Having a central hub for content powered by a sales content management system ensures easy access to the resources reps need to engage prospects effectively:
- Real-time content recommendations: Tools look at deal data to surface the most effective content for moving deals forward, right inside your CRM and/or email platforms.
- Content performance insights: Reps receive data-driven guidance on what content generates the highest ROI and when to use it during the sales cycle.
- Improved alignment: Sales and marketing teams can collaborate more effectively, meaning content is optimized for buyer engagement and easy consumption.
7. You have limited insight into what works and what doesn’t
Making decisions without data is a recipe for missed opportunities. Today, a data-driven sales strategy is essential for reducing costs, improving productivity, and driving revenue growth. It all starts with knowing which training and content engages reps and levels up sales performance — and that all starts with easy-to-understand analytics.
How sales enablement software powers data-driven decisions
Sales enablement tools identify the content and strategies top performers use to succeed and make it easy to replicate those best practices across the entire team. The result? A more consistent, high-performing sales organization. By understanding what drives success, delivering the right content at the right time, and continuously improving strategies, your team can operate at its full potential.
Invest in sales enablement software to drive success
If any of these seven signs hit close to home, it’s time to make a change. A sales enablement platform is the secret weapon that helps teams like yours work smarter, sell better, and win more.
From speeding up onboarding and personalizing the buyer journey, to breaking through stalled deals and making data-driven decisions, the right platform can completely change how your team works. Seismic is built to solve these challenges and give your sales team the edge they need to thrive.
Why wait? Schedule a demo today to see how we can help your team close more deals, drive growth, and take your sales game to the next level.
