I, like many of us, have been inspired by Simon Sinek’s notion of the Golden Circle and the notion that people don’t buy what you do, they buy WHY you do it. It is founded on our human condition of following those people that have shared beliefs.
I often think about WHY organizations invest in Sales Enablement. Who inspired them to take action? What is the motivation? (Note for the purposes of this blog, I’m defining Sales Enablement as the processes, content and technology that enable sellers be their best.)
We normally see the business motivation is based on acute pain or annoyances.
- My boss told me to; hence, it’s part of my job and next paycheck.
- I’m being yelled at by sales people and I want to get them off my back.
- I attended an industry conference and I feel I’m behind the times.
- We need to grow revenue by 10%
Fixing these pains are more results of Sales Enablement and not WHY you do it.
With Sales Enablement programs, sellers are the beneficiaries! They are the ones utilizing and engaging in sales enablement investments and receiving the immediate and direct value.
We suggest the reason to invest in Sales Enablement is to ensure that sellers are as prepared as they can be and have the best interaction with a buyer as possible. Every time! What seller on the planet (good or bad) does not want the best interaction with a buyer?
The RESULTS of this will be a happy boss, happy sales people, use of thought leadership and more revenue!
Given you’re with me so far, then the next section of the Golden Circle is identifying HOW? What is the method?
An effective Sales Enablement program connects your business initiatives to “experiences” (sometimes characterized as use cases) that connect sellers to the WHY above. Experiences that directly connect to helping sellers be more competent with their skills and confident in front of a buyer.
Reasons to Invest in Sales Enablement
- Create a single place to search, find, learn and discover based on role and/or geography
- Prescribe the right resources (communications, content, coaching, experts) based on specific situations they are in with a buyer.
- Actual buyer engagement tools such as personalized, data driven content.
- Seller crowdsourcing and collaboration where tribal knowledge and successes are shared.
- Give sellers more time to sell.
- Enable sellers to deliver a customized experience.
- Increase sellers’ effectiveness.
- Marketers can understand the ROI of unique content assets.
Creating these experiences requires a full understanding of what is motivating seller’s actions, their success and compensation.
As a Sales Enablement professional, examine the experiences you create for your sellers, test your intention and ask them if they believe what you believe.
