Russell Wurth
Vice President of Worldwide Sales Enablement
All professionals are under the gun to maximize return on investment, but arguably no one is more committed to boosting the ROI of sales enablement than the people responsible for implementing it.
After all, sales enablement directors are not only accountable for putting enablement plans into practice, but aligning them to company goals and reporting the results to leadership.
From creating content to securing support from sales managers, it falls on these frontline professionals to ensure sellers have the content, tools, knowledge, skills and coaching they need to succeed.
As highlighted in our new eBook, “No more half measures: How to identify and maximize sales enablement ROI,” the combination of the right strategy and technology can help sales enablement directors drive well over a million dollars in revenue for their organizations.
But while top-line metrics are necessary for sales enablement directors to prove the value of their efforts to decision-makers, it’s vital to recognize both the quantifiable and unquantifiable ROI of sales enablement in order to learn and leverage its full potential.
Quantifiable sales enablement ROI for the sales enablement director
Organizations that take a formal and strategic approach to sales enablement achieve much better results than those that don’t, according to CSO Insights’ “Fifth Annual Sales Enablement Study,” including an 18.8% improvement in win rates.
And this starts with onboarding and training.
Among other advantages, a comprehensive sales enablement strategy powered by sales enablement technology is proven to shorten the time it takes to onboard and train salespeople, allowing sales enablement directors to help reps start selling faster.
The improvement in onboarding and training efficiency can be measured using key performance indicators such as:
- Time to first deal
- Time to ramping quota attainment
- Time to full quota attainment
Yet there are benefits that are equally valuable, if less quantitative, to sales enablement directors than those associated with scaling onboarding and training for growing teams.
Unquantifiable sales enablement ROI for the sales enablement director
Successful sales enablement doesn’t occur in a silo.
The role of individual sales managers is integral to reinforcing sales enablement strategy and promoting adoption among reps, which has a direct impact on how effectively sales enablement brings about increases in win rates and quota attainment.
Unfortunately, reconciling competing internal priorities and goals is difficult, especially when sales managers feel too busy to properly coach their sellers or must contend with large, geographically dispersed teams.
Empowering sales managers with the tools and tactics necessary to reinforce onboarding and training – a key aspect of successful sales enablement strategies – helps them feel more engaged in the process and likely to advocate for prescribed strategies among their team members.
While improved support from managers may be less tangible than faster onboarding and training, the results speak for themselves.
Fully engaged sales managers are more likely to have fully engaged sales teams, according to CSO Insights’ “Fifth Annual Sales Enablement Study,” and fully engaged sellers see better results, including 8.5 points higher revenue attainment on average.
Meanwhile, fully engaged sales teams are also less likely to experience turnover, a major money-saver when you consider the average cost to replace an employee is one-and-a-half to two times their annual salary, according to The Center for Sales Strategy.
Assessing sales enablement ROI as a sales enablement director
Sales enablement addresses the everyday challenges of sales enablement practitioners, allowing them to translate tips and techniques into digestible steps sellers can use to maximize positive results through onboarding, training and beyond.
But it also gives sales enablement directors a way to overcome conflicting priorities and potential resistance, making it easier to obtain endorsement from sales managers in order to sustain and strengthen strategy.
These benefits exceed common KPIs, allowing sales enablement directors to enhance their organizations as a whole.
Download our new eBook, “No more half measures: How to identify and maximize sales enablement ROI,” to see how sales enablement directors can boost favorable outcomes and ultimately deliver the best buyer experience possible alongside other key business functions.
