Scrutiny on company spending has never been higher. Therefore it is not surprising that over the years more people have become involved in a purchase decision. Developing sales enablement tools that answer the questions of all those involved is therefore not an easy task.

Creating quality sales enablement tools for the entire sales cycle is a cross discipline job for sales and marketing. In fact if anything it puts marketing – through client information gathering and subsequent message development – at the head of the sales process. Having these two functions work together to develop quality sales tools ensures adherence to the known and agreed set of company brand and messaging guidelines. 

Pre-sale Sales Tools

Developing Messages – The sales process does not begin and end with a telephone call. Even before the process of marketing your product or service begins time should be spent clarifying what differentiates your company offering from competitors. This process begins to solidify the key features of your company and thus what key messages should run through your marketing material and sales enablement tools. Getting the messages right influences the quality of the sales enablement tools you produce for your sales force.

Web presence- Essentially these days, your website is your shop front. It is a key sales tool for all clients to evaluate – in the first instance -what you can do for them. Case studies, free yet valuable information and reasons – such as upcoming free events or webinars – to take their enquiry further can work well as sales enablement tools on the website.  

Collecting and collating customer insight – information is as useful for the sales person as for the customer. Developing ways to understand your customer better will enable your sales team to sell products that fit their specific need.  If your product or service is web based you can track customer journeys easily and begin to build a picture of how they interact with your product. This insight can then be used as a sales enablement tool to up-sell or re-promote certain products.

Sales Tools

Internal messaging information – ensure your sales and marketing teams know the up-to-date stats, case studies and features they should be emphasising in conversation and at meetings. Using internal cheat sheet as a sales tool ensures messages are congruent across the company.

Presentations – Gone are the days of behemoth PowerPoint presentations which told or more aptly bored a client about your company. Agile and bespoke presentations with targeted case studies and references have to be quickly turned around to secure business. Laced with prominent messages the sales presentation, although evolved, remains one of the key sales tools available.  

Post Purchase Sales Tools

Email Newsletters – in this digital age keeping in touch with new, current and perhaps lapsed customers is an essential sales enablement tool. Using a newsletter you can update clients with offers, recommendations and industry news as well as promote your own products through savvy content marketing.

Evaluation forms – asking a customer to comment on their overall experience gives you quality information on how you are doing but also allows you to check and recheck the quality of your sales enablement tools.

The whole point of a sales enablement tool is to make it easier for your sales team to get a sale.  By working with marketing and staying congruent to agreed messages, a number of sales tools that span the entire sales cycle can be developed.