How to Create a Culture of Sales Enablement - 19 Oaks

When sales are lagging, the first thing many business leaders do is blame the company’s sales team. They often decide that the salespeople need more training on how to close sales. But sales training won’t fix underlying organizational issues, which is why 95% of companies invest in sales training, but only 9% see meaningful results.

If you want to make a real impact on your sales and boost your bottom line, you need to go beyond sales training and look at your organization’s culture and environment. What barriers impede your sales team’s chance of success?

Success in sales isn’t about finding outgoing people with outsized personalities to sell, sell, sell. Even the best salespeople will not be successful without organizational infrastructure to support and reinforce sales training and sales processes. This includes:

• Clear goals
• Defined responsibilities
• Easy-to-access customer data
• Relevant content materials / lead nurturing tools

Before you point the finger at your sales reps, take a good look at your organization. Are the right systems in place, and does the environment support the sales process and reps? Do you understand why and where in the sales process things went off track?

Here are the basics you need to know:

1. What products or services are selling well?
2. Who is buying them?
3. What products are the most profitable?

Customers want the people they buy from to understand their business needs and be able to provide relevant solutions. That means you must share customer information with your sales people, in a way they can use and understand.   

When you realize that your sales numbers aren’t where you want them to be, and you’re tempted to blame your sales team, stop. Take a look at your organization. Are you using the strategies and processes that lead to a successful environment?

How to build a successful sales environment:

1. 1. Know the persona of your customers. 
      Who are your customers? What do they do? What do they care about? How do they spend their time? How do they want to be communicated with? What are their pain points?
   2. Communicate customer personas throughout the organization. 
      Make sure all your employees know who your customers are and how they want to be interacted with.
   3. Ensure marketing and sales are moving the same direction and aligned in objectives. 
      Do your salespeople have the collateral they need? Are your marketing messages in line with what they hear your customers saying?
   4. Communicate regularly with successful salespeople and front line managers.  
      Work together to create tactical and strategic solutions for removing barriers.
   5. Document and enable sales strategy communication to all new hires. 
      Make this an essential part of your onboarding–even for those employees who are not considered “salespeople.”
   6. Celebrate success. 
      Make sure everyone knows the role they play in your company’s success.

When your salespeople are on the phone, you want them calling on prospects and customers, not looking for new job opportunities for themselves. If you build a positive and rewarding culture with clear goals and defined responsibilities, you will increase sales. You’ll also improve your staff retention and recruitment. It’s a lot of work, but you don’t have to do it alone. Consider hiring outside experts to assess your current sales process and help you build the organizational structure you need to succeed. The sooner you do, the sooner your sales numbers will rise, and the closer you’ll be to meeting your company’s goals.