Why Invest in Sales Enablement?

How much money is your organization losing by not investing in Sales Enablement? Perhaps you believe you have already invested because you purchased a Sales Enablement platform or adopted a new sales methodology promising increased revenue. However, the reality is that we have all experienced the tech garage sale of widgets and tools that promised increased sales or productivity but when the contract renewal comes, it is forgone because the solution failed to deliver the promised value.

While tools and platforms promoting Sales Enablement can boost sales performance, their effectiveness depends on the time, effort, and ability invested by the organization to make them truly valuable to the revenue team.

Partnering with a Sales Enablement Consultant to establish the framework for sales success is a fraction of the money and time wasted in the constant cycle of recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and off-boarding sales reps. Sales Enablement represents a genuine investment in collaborating with experts dedicated to articulating the story of your solution and organization to your revenue team, equipping them with the toolkit for successful selling. Sales reps have their own natural way of selling, so it's essential to coach them on what they sell and the resources available, rather than leaving them to navigate alone with outdated materials.

A study by the DePaul University Center for Sales Leadership 12 years ago found that it costs an average of $29,159 to hire, $36,290 to train, and $49,508 to replace a sales rep, totaling an average of $114,957. Imagine what that cost is today!

After investing time and money to onboard a new sales rep, they are often handed outdated guides or vague instructions, leaving them to figure out what they're selling and how to sell it independently. While some may leverage networks for quick wins, many find themselves navigating a dark winding road in search of prospects.

What happens next? Frustrated by the lack of support, reps may leave for better offers elsewhere, wasting 18 months of time, effort, and hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in an employee. And the cycle of wasted time and money continues.

The reality is daunting: significant amounts of money and time are squandered in the pursuit of generating sales activities and motivating sales teams. While reps are naturally motivated by monetary gains, their success hinges upon the narrative provided to them to sell the solution they've been tasked with. The question isn't "what is the value of Sales Enablement?" but rather, "how have we been operating without Sales Enablement?"

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Photo by Joey Kyber on Unsplash