Has anyone hired a sales enablement consultant before? How did you find the right company or person to work with? Looking for some guidance on how to approach this.
Yes, have hired a consultant.75%
No, never hired a consultant.25%
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CSO8 months ago
This really depends on what you want the sales enablement consultant to do for your sales organization. Do you have some specifics you can share?Director of Sales Enablement in Telecommunication8 months ago
There are many definitions of what Sales Enablement actually is, for us it is about the people and their performance. Consultants are a great value if t they can actually assist with teaching/facilitation. However, general sales enablement mixed with revenue operations isn't that helpful. Enablement is about people, and that is a unique skill. Make sure that the skills of the consultant are grounded in what you need them to help design or teach about.Sales Enablement Advisory Executive8 months ago
Yes - I have BOTH hired and BEEN an Enablement consultant. The first thing that I recommend you do is define the specific area Sales Enablement (or Revenue Enablement ...as the SES rebranded to RESociety.global last year in 4Q) in which you seek "Enablement" support. There is a wide variety of expertise among the enablement ranks. But the best of the best lead through the lens of outside-in customer value, and are the champions of your people internally too. Focused on eliminating the friction from the sales environment / revenue engine rather than putting the crosshairs solely on the sales person.I always recommend you begin by considering the importance of the foundation - an Enablement Charter and Strategy ...ideally including a cross-functional Center of Excellence for ongoing governance, or "CoE."
That said, the following are examples of a few core areas / Enablement Domains from my point of view, including a bit of a "click down" for additional color in a few...
Talent Enablement - much of what is referred to as Enablement today resides in this domain. Also includes / referred to as Sales Readiness.
> Onboarding
> Ever-boarding
> Skills training
> Tools training
> Sales Methodology training
> Sales Coaching (generally in tandem with Sales Management, and can include "train the trainers" to get SMs up to speed as effective coaching ...which can also fall into the above skills training.)
Note: In some companies this also includes the training content creation which can call for instructional design expertise.
Message Enablement - Focused on marketing content and can involve the product team directly. Many companies do not consider this "part of" Enablement. But it is critical that the message be architected through the outside-in lens of value to the customer vs. products / features / benefits. The messaging must also empower sales to share a story that lands with a SPECIFIC human being, not just a generic persona.
> Sales Playbook Creation (in tandem with Talent Enablement)
> Core presentations
> Quick reference "battlecards" or one-pagers
> Campaign Content
> Social Media
Pipeline Enablement - May not be considered "part of" Enablement. Sometimes it sits with, for instance, Sales Operations instead. Regardless the pipeline strategy is a critical element.
> Funnel definitions
> "Sweet spot accounts" targeting
> Strategic Opportunity Management
> Account Planning Sessions
> War Room (generally reserved for companies going after Strategic / Key Accounts)
Operational Enablement - Most likely owned by CRO/COO/CMO + Sales / Revenue Operations, but it is critical that Enablement be intimately aware the GTM/GTC strategy at a minimum, and ideally with a seat at the table to help the entire company pivot accordingly when change or even transformation is needed. Without a seat Enablement will be hard pressed to assist in closing the gaps between strategy and execution.
> Overall GTM (I prefer Go To Customer) Strategy
> Market Planning (if in a General Manager model)
Platform Enablement - Tools + Tech Stack. Most likely owned by a combination of operations and IT, but again it is essential that there be an Enablement element, and not just the training. Enablement, when done right from the early days of tech/tool planning, can be the absolute difference in effectively moving from strategy to execution in a manner the ensures optimum end-user value and therefore adoption.
> Tech Stack Health Check and right-sizing
> New technology implementation strategy
> "Voice of Sales" - to ensure each new tech clearly fits into "a productive day in the life of a rep." Not to mention that a subsection of the customer facing front line and their management is involved in the process so that "their DNA is in it."
Partner Enablement - Ensuring Partnerships + Alliances are properly enabled and well represented. The era of "nearbound" is upon us. The existing relationships of partners who already have the trust - the close proximity - with the accounts you are targeting is a key element to customer acquisition strategy. The days of breaking down that barrier solely with cold calling is sunsetting, and digital outreach is becoming more and more challenging.
Cross-Functional Commercial Enterprise Enablement - My favorite. But a rare commodity. It is critical there be alignment with all of the above domains, with the true north architected by the C-suite. In a few companies Enablement plays that role to the full: orchestrating the cross-functional revenue engine. Operating as a business-within-a-business to drive productivity and profitability ...even when many of the cross-functional leads don't report in directly.
I welcome any additional questions, and hope that the above framework was of "customer value" to you as you take your next steps in the vetting process.
CEO in Services (non-Government)8 months ago
Always, when hiring a consultant, have a defined project and outcome. Sales enablement can be a very broad bucket. What is the maturity of your organization and the specific role you need for the consultant? The more specific, the higher the likelihood of successful outcomes.