5 Sales Enablement Tech Tools to Leverage in 2021
5 Impactful Sales Enablement Technology Solutions For 2021
Leveraging Trends for Greater Prospect Engagement
2020 changed many things, including totally redefining those tech clichés of “disruption” and “transformation.” Sales enablement and content management solutions help you communicate and engage with prospects, and the value of leveraging content within these solutions has vastly increased.
When it comes to what sales enablement and content management solutions can do for you in a constantly evolving “new normal,” what are some of the key trends to look for?
5 Sales Enablement Technology Solutions to Consider in 2021
1.Social Integration
If LinkedIn or any other social platform is an active communication channel with engaged prospects, this social integration can be quite useful. This tends to vary, however, by industry. The important thing here is that the more tailored the content can be, the better. Attention should also be paid to when the conversation is ready to move to another channel, such as a deal portal. (See below for more information.)
One potential solution in this sector is Grapevine6, which Seismic recently acquired.
"When it comes to what content management and sales enablement solutions can do for you in a constantly evolving “new normal,” what are some of the key trends to look for?"
2. Content Automation
Many solutions are offering new ways to generate and to personalize content. That data is usually pulled from a customer relationship management (CRM) tool or other available data. Content automation can be taken even further to include more interactive presentations that solicit information from the prospect, gather reactions via surveys, and more. This goes well beyond on-the-fly presentations during live meetings, though that is still a very useful asset to utilize.
Successful automation depends on you really knowing the building blocks of your prospects and what, how, and why those blocks fit together—and don’t! Remember, the more automated the personalization of the content is based on prospect data, the more that data needs to be accurate. Also, sellers still always need to review and adjust content before making it available to prospects.
Potential solutions in this sector include Bigtincan, Flipdeck, Highspot, Mediafly, SalesHood, and Seismic.
"Without careful attention, though, a deal portal risks becoming Wiki 2.0—a dumping ground for generic content that loses sight of its value as a place to engage and to stimulate communication and collaboration."
3. Integration and Leveraging of Sales-Focused Learning Platforms
There was a flurry of sales enablement solutions acquiring training capabilities in the late 2010s, but the value of integration between sales enablement and content management vendors and sales training platforms will continue to have even greater impact. That integration can and should include more “legacy” learning management system (LMS) solutions where appropriate.
There are, however, some solutions built from the ground up that include enablement content, training, and coaching. SalesHood is just one such example.
Then there’s coaching. Any automated approach to coaching, from alerting managers when they need to coach a seller to how to do it and what to tell the trainee, depends on accurately tracking what the seller is doing. Several vendors highlight coaching in one form or another, but examine the data used to trigger coaching in order to evaluate how well it fits with your organization.
4. Microportals versus Deal Rooms
A microportal refers to a personalized URL containing multiple pieces of content. While allowing for easy tracking of engagement, the collaborative aspects can be even more interesting. Many sales enablement solutions support microportals, but consider the level they allow for collaboration, comments, and collecting other data. Generally, these microportals are more external facing, and active moderation and curation are needed to ensure the deal portal (to combine terms) is engaging for prospects, especially when there are multiple buyers.
Without careful attention, though, a deal portal risks becoming Wiki 2.0—a dumping ground for generic content that loses sight of its value as a place to engage and to stimulate communication and collaboration.
5. Text versus Email
Text as a communication channel is probably more prevalent than sales management or marketing even knows. After all, it stands to reason that Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z are all engaging via text often, and these interactions are out of sight of marketing and sales.
Full engagement tracking, along with leveraging personalization, could be a powerful means of harnessing the perceived authenticity and credibility of texting. Without strategy and forethought, though, it does come at the risk of compromising that credibility.
Food for Thought…MarTech versus Sales Tech
Are content management and sales enablement solutions martech (marketing technology) or sales tech? Or both?
It really depends. It’s as much about who bought the solution as who is using it. Obviously, marketing is going to create a large percentage of content, but who will actively build, moderate, and curate that content? What often gets lost is leveraging sales enablement content management capabilities for internally facing content, such as competitive data, how-tos, processes, and more. Much of that is not as visible to marketing.
Interested in learning what sales enablement tools align with your company’s most pressing priorities? Check out our quick, easy, free sales technology selector tool. If you have any questions about your results or want to talk through what’s the best fit for your organization, you can always feel free to contact us.