SAN DIEGO (June 5, 2024) – Seismic, the global leader in enablement, today announced the inaugural World Enablement Day taking place on June 10. World Enablement Day recognizes and celebrates one of the fastest-growing professions across the globe and the heartbeat of successful businesses — the 300,000+ enablement professionals worldwide who drive growth, foster empowerment, and shape the future of customer experiences.
The origin of enablement
Modern enablement’s roots were planted back in 1999, when sales consulting firms began to uncover a sales execution problem: too often, organizational red tape and roadblocks prevented sellers from focusing on what they were hired to do: sell. To make matters worse, this challenge wasn’t limited to a certain industry, location, or company size; it was widespread amongst many organizations with a large customer-facing presence.
To address this sales execution problem, John Aiello, a former brand manager, and Drew Larsen, a telecom consultant, joined forces to pioneer and evangelize sales enablement to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of salespeople.
Fast forward to the early 2010s, growing interest in enablement led to the emergence of companies in North America, Oceania, and Europe dedicated to developing advanced enablement technology solutions: Seismic (2010 in San Diego, CA), Bigtincan (2011 in Sydney, Australia) and Showpad (2011 in Ghent, Belgium).
Enablement today and tomorrow
Enablement and the technology that supports it has skyrocketed in popularity since the early days:
- In 2017, 59% of companies had a dedicated sales enablement person, initiative, or function. In 2023, that figure exceeded 80% as enablement became a strategic imperative for companies.
- A mere 3,233 LinkedIn users held sales enablement jobs in 2017. Fast forward to today, and more than 300,000 professionals worldwide have enablement in their title or job description – a 9,000% jump in just seven years.
- “Sales enablement specialist” ranked as the sixth fastest-growing job title on LinkedIn in 2023.
And the momentum continues: In a 2024 survey of nearly 2,000 go-to-market leaders, four out of five said they use enablement technology at work. Professional organizations like Revenue Enablement Society, The Enablement Squad, and Sales Enablement Collective are expanding to new cities, countries, and continents. Today, the category is estimated to have a $5 billion USD global market valuation with expectations to grow to $13 billion USD by 2030.
“We believe there’s no better time than the present to recognize the rapid rise of enablement. No matter the industry or size, businesses everywhere are investing in enablement as a strategic imperative to their success,” said Doug Winter, co-founder and CEO, Seismic. “Now, artificial intelligence and cutting-edge enablement tools propel the industry and its practitioners into a new era – an era we are proud to lead hand-in-hand with our customers, partners, and team around the globe.”
“Sales enablement tools and solutions have evolved over the last two decades to meet the critical needs of remote and hybrid sales teams, giving them the knowledge, resources, and support they need to close more deals,” said Michelle Morgan, Research Manager, WW Sales Force Productivity and Performance, IDC. “As modern selling approaches continue to evolve, enablement tools and teams are poised to grow in both influence and impact as they help organizations stay ahead of the curve.”
How to celebrate the inaugural World Enablement Day:
- Join the conversation on social media with the hashtag #WorldEnablementDay.
- Show off your love for enablement with special merch available on Aftershock.
- Stay tuned for a list of Seismic’s Top 50 in Enablement, recognizing the movers and shakers of the enablement industry, to be revealed here on Seismic’s website on June 10.
- Register for a live webinar presented by The Enablement Squad on June 10, “Celebrating World Enablement Day: The Evolution and Future of Go-to-Market’s Competitive Edge,” featuring Seismic’s Irina Soriano and Meganne Brezina.
- Get your copy of the newly-released paperback version of Tomorrow’s Enablement for Today’s Leaders, the acclaimed book on modern enablement.
About Seismic
Seismic is the global leader in enablement, helping organizations engage customers, enable teams, and ignite revenue growth. The Seismic Enablement CloudTM is the most powerful, unified enablement platform that equips customer-facing teams with the right skills, content, tools, and insights to grow and win. From the world’s largest enterprises to startups and small businesses, more than 2,000 organizations around the globe trust Seismic for their enablement needs. Seismic is headquartered in San Diego with offices across North America, Europe, and Australia.
To learn more, visit Seismic.com and follow us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.
Media Contact
Natalie Beaulieu
Communications Director, Seismic
[email protected]
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