The document outlines the concept of sales enablement, which is defined as optimizing the sales organization's ability to communicate value effectively. It highlights the key components, challenges, and best practices related to sales enablement, emphasizing the importance of alignment between sales and marketing departments. Additionally, it provides insights into sales productivity, information management, and strategic initiatives for improving sales performance.

1. Don’t Understand Sales Enablement? You’re Not Alone! Lee Levitt Director, Sales Advisory Practice www.SalesAdvisoryPractice.com

2. Agenda What is Sales Enablement? Key Research Findings Sales Enablement Maturity Model IDC Executive Guidance & Next Steps

3. Sales Management Sales Enablement Customer Intelligence Sales Methodology Talent Management Source: IDC 2009 Staff Planning Recruit Hiring On-boarding Training & Development Retention, Repurposing & Replacement FLSM & Coaching Strategy & Planning Performance Management Quality Improvement & Change Management/ Governance Account Planning Channel Strategy & Optimization Coverage Model Content Creation Customer Intelligence Product Content Vertical Marketing Content Solution Content Content Management Content Governance Content Delivery Role Based The IDC Sales Productivity Framework Purchase & Relationship History Share of Wallet Role-based Intelligence Company-based Intelligence Industry/Vertical Intelligence Sales Productivity

4. Buyer – Seller Alignment Buyer Business opportunity/problem Multiple, conflicting priorities Ability to make informed decision Organizational challenges Time limitations Budget constraints Financial pressures Information Needs Product/Service Offering Seller Revenue targets Share of wallet growth Ability to Communicate Value Organizational Challenges Profitability/Productivity Budget constraints Financial pressures Information Resources Organizational Needs Market Opportunities Shareholder Value

5. What is Sales Enablement?

6. What is Sales Enablement? Sales Enablement is Often Thought to Include: Resource Planning Recruiting Hiring Onboarding Training Coaching Mentoring Marketing Collateral Sales Engineers SFA Executive Support Employee Retention Lead Generation Territory Planning

7. What is Sales Enablement? This article may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Sales enablement at its core is maximizing the sales organization’s ability to communicate value and differentiation in clear, consistent and compelling ways . Or without quite as many buzzwords, it is... ... a collection of disciplines and best practices that give your sales people the power to more effectively communicate why your solutions are better than your competitors ... the ability to keep all of your sales people on the same page when different people in your organization talk to different buyers at each of your clients ... ensuring that your marketing material that proves your clients can not live without your services and products makes it from your marketing department to your clients Another way to look at this is that it facilitates the communication and interaction between your marketing and sales departments so they are each able to do what they do best without stepping on each other's toes. More recently, the concept has been expanded to the idea that any individual in the company may have information that might be valuable to a sales team . While not all material may be appropriate to show to the client, white papers on products and case studies on other clients or competitors may assist in selling at the next sales call.

8. What is Sales Enablement? IDC defines Sales Enablement as: “ The delivery of the right information to the right person at the right time and in the right place to assist in moving a specific sales opportunity forward” Source: IDC 2009

9. What is Sales Enablement? Where does sales information come from? Sales People Other Sales People Other Field People Marketing Finance Product Management Peers in Other Companies Operations Tech Support Email Content services Customers Prospects The News Google

10. What is Sales Enablement? Where should sales information go? Global Account Manager Inside Sales Field Sales Engineer Implementation Specialist Product Specialist Services Overlay … anyone that touches the account

11. The Buyer’s Perspective Source: IDC Customer Experience Panel, January 2009 Number of respondents = 296

12. Buyer – Seller Alignment Q: Thinking of your initial meeting, what percent of reps were: Source: IDC Customer Experience Panel, January, 2009

13. Buyer – Seller Alignment Q: What percent did not win your business primarily due to: Source: IDC Customer Experience Panel, January, 2009

14. Buyer – Seller Alignment Q: Are vendors in general doing a good job at “solution selling”? Source: IDC Customer Experience Panel, January, 2009

15. Buyer – Seller Alignment Q: Which one of the following areas do sales reps need to know better about you and your company in order to improve the value of your relationship with the vendor they represent? Source: IDC Customer Experience Panel, January, 2009

16. Buyer – Seller Alignment Q: Which of the following is the #1 thing a rep can do to improve the value of your relationship with the sales team and the vendor they represent? Source: IDC Customer Experience Panel, January, 2009

17. Sales Enablement: What does “Good” Look Like? Source: IDC Sales Enablement Study, November 2008 Number of participants = 48

18. Sales Enablement Realities Q: How would you rate the overall sales productivity of your sales organization? Source: IDC 2009

19. Sales Enablement Realities What keeps your sales productivity from ranking higher? Systems and processes Tools Organizational structure, complexity and strategy Lack of leads or unqualified leads Knowledge of the sales teams regarding company’s products/services Source: IDC 2009

20. Sales Enablement Realities What do we mean by a “High-performance Sales Organization?” January 27 th , 2009

21. Sales Enablement Realities Q: Do you employ a common sales process or methodology, common SFA environment? Source: IDC 2009

22. Sales Enablement Realities What’s your biggest concern regarding sales productivity? Sales Processes Sales Skills & Knowledge Sales Support Strategy & Focus Tools and Systems Measurements Governance Source: IDC 2009

23. Sales Enablement Realities Q: On average, how much time does your typical rep spend on each of the following (in hours per week)? Source: IDC 2009 High Low Average Mode Median IDC Benchmark Customer Interaction 24 4 12 10 12 10 Prospect Interaction 20 1 8 5 6 10 Territory/Lead Development 10 2 5 2 5 5 Sales Call Preparation 20 1 8 5 6.5 15 Administrative Time 26 1 10 10 10 5

24. Sales Enablement Realities Q: On average, how much time does your typical rep spend on each of the following sales prep activities (in hours per week)? Source: IDC 2009 High Low Average Mode Median IDC Benchmark Looking for Marketing Collateral 25 .5 5 1 2 .5 Creating Presentations, Documents for Customers/ Prospects 30 1 8 5 5 5 Searching for Customer Info Inside Organization 30 0 5 5 4 1 Searching for Customer Info Outside Organization 25 0 4 2 3 1

25. Sales Enablement: Organizational Strategies

26. Sales Enablement Organizational Strategies Source: IDC 2009

27. Sales Enablement: Information Management

28. Sales Enablement Realities: Information Management Q: For all of the marketing collateral and sales tools provided to the sales organization, what percent is…? Source: IDC 2009 High Low Average Mode Median IDC benchmark Product-Centric 90% 0% 56% 50% 60% 20% Industry-Specific 80% 2% 21% 10% 20% 30% Customer-Specific 50% 0% 16% 5% 15% 35% Stage of Sales Cycle 25% 0% 10% 20% 10% 15%

29. Sales Enablement Realities Q: How is information distributed to your sales organization? Source: IDC, 2009 *Almost half of all respondents had more than one portal, with almost 10% reporting 10 or more portals High Low Average Mode Median IDC Benchmark Email 80% 5% 49% 50% 50% 5% Podcast 33% 0% 8% 10% 5% 15% CRM/SFA 80% 0% 14% 0% 8.5% 20% *Sales Portal w/Product/Service Hierarchy 70% 0% 25% 20% 20% 5% Sales Portal w/Industry/Solution Hierarchy 50% 0% 16% 5% 10% 50% Other 25% 0% 7% 0% 5% 0%

30. Sales Enablement: Goals

31. Sales Enablement Realities Q: Does your sales portal (or portals) provide the ability to: Source: IDC 2009

32. Sales Enablement Realities Q: What are the primary goals of your current strategic initiatives? Source: IDC 2009

33. Sales Enablement – Why do you care?

34. Sales Enablement – Why do you care? 10 minutes = $57,000

35. IDC Executive Guidance: Sales Enablement Best Practices

36. The Maturation of Sales Enablement Source: IDC 2009

37. Key Issues in Sales Enablement Governance Content Creation & Management Internal Development External Resourcing Structured Data Analysis Customer Intelligence Industry Knowledge Product Information Process Management & Governance Requirements Analysis “ Metering” Prioritization Delivery Vehicle Selection & Management Stage of Sales Cycle Role of User Usage Management Behavior Modification Metrics & Reporting Usage Content Development Best Practice Sharing Consumption & Delivery to Customer Feedback to Other Content Owners Marketing Sales Operations Sales Source: IDC 2009

38. Executive Guidance Critical Success Factors & Best Practices in Sales Enablement Let go of your current paradigm Focus on customer buying processes and issues (i.e., the BUY cycle) Sales enablement is not enterprise content management Existing content assets cannot dictate your strategy Employ a Six Sigma type approach to identifying problems Involve sales, sales operations, marketing, IT & more Set specific goals, milestones & metrics Start small – you can achieve immediate results with simple changes Integrate SE activities with training, coaching & first line sales management activities Sales Enablement must align with and support your sales methodology Benchmark, evaluate & improve Sales enablement is a process and governance issue

39. Next Steps For an impact on 2009 revenues: Evaluate your current Sales Enablement environment Benchmark your organization against best-in-class companies Identify the specific Sales Enablement processes that will help improve your overall sales productivity Start small…but start now! IDC Resources: Sales Enablement survey & best practices report available now Sales Enablement assessment and blueprint available on request Sales Enablement expert community available to clients

40. The Sales Advisory Practice Team Lee Levitt Program Director Sales Advisory Practice Phone: 508-988-7974 Michael Gerard Research Vice President Executive Advisory Group Phone: 508-988-6758