Maximizing Sales Potential: The Ultimate Guide to Sales Enablement Training

Buyers are more inquisitive and discerning than ever before, which means sales teams have to be as well. Before the modern buyer ever speaks with a salesperson, they research the product they’re interested in, compare it to competitors’ products, watch demos or testimonials, and read reviews. When the modern buyer finally meets with a salesperson, they are looking for precise and detailed answers. And sales teams must be well-educated and well-equipped to provide them.

Not only do sales professionals need to know the ins and outs of the products they’re selling, they also need to know their customers’ pain points, but the state of the industry, any regulations or guidelines that buyers must keep in mind—and the list also continues. Working in sales today is significantly more complex than in years past. To keep up with the demands of prospects and continue closing deals, sales enablement training must be modernized, improved, and made more accessible to sales teams. And this can all be accomplished with a digital LMS platform.

Digital LMS software is the best training tool for sales managers and is critical for an effective sales enablement training process. Whether you’re building your training program from the ground up with a new team or are ready to transfer your existing sales enablement resources to a better platform, you need a training platform that modernizes the learning experience, caters to your team’s needs, and provides growth opportunities.

Here’s everything you need to know to build a winning sales enablement strategy.

What is sales enablement training?

Sales enablement training is any type of learning that helps sales personnel become more effective in the field. From training during ramp time to ongoing, annual upskilling initiatives, sales enablement training exists to make your sales team more effective and to maximize your sales potential. It can include courses to teach specific skills or tangible resources that provide sales personnel with information about the products they are selling or the regions that they sell in.

Sales enablement training can include digital sales training courses, coaching (in-person and online), onboarding, and ongoing performance support.

Sales enablement challenges and solutions

Challenge: Sales onboarding is costly.

Bringing new sales personnel into your organization is a costly process because of the length of ramp time. The ROI on that initial phase of training for your sales team can be low, especially if the process is not efficient.

Solution: Streamline sales onboarding with a digital LMS.

New sales team members should be able to access essential training immediately, so they can get a quick start on learning. Additionally, sales training should be personalized and targeted to individual learners’ needs, so that they get access to the most relevant content at the most critical time.

Challenge: Lagging close rates put pressure on sales teams.

Most companies assess their sales programs when they are failing, to identify gaps and determine why close rates are lacking. Ultimately, this puts pressure on the sales team to perform. But perhaps it’s not a lack of skill among your sales team members — it’s a training failure.

Solution: Improve sales close rates through sales training.

Sales team training can improve your sales close rates and make your team more effective. Not only does training equip your team with essential resources needed to understand your products or services, but it also provides sales personnel with the information they need to sell effectively.

Challenge: Sales enablement training content is forgotten.

If you spend weeks putting your sales team through enablement training only to find that they’ve forgotten that learning weeks later, you’ve wasted their time and your money. But this is a problem that many companies face in sales enablement. A high volume of content at the beginning of a salesperson’s tenure is overwhelming and can easily be forgotten.

Solution: Deliver microlearning opportunities in the flow of work.

The best way to ensure knowledge retention and develop an effective sales team is to provide training in the flow of work. This means that your sales enablement training strategy should be ongoing. Microlearning is a key strategy here and keeps your learners engaged time and time again.

Challenge: Making sales connections is challenging and requires multiple tools.

Digital sales strategies are increasingly preferred in today’s market and it can be challenging to know which format or channel is best for engaging with prospects. Your sales team can’t be effective if they are constantly juggling multiple tools to make a sale.

Solution: Use apps to create a learning ecosystem and enable outreach to customers who use Slack and Salesforce.

Connect learning to sales through LMS apps for Slack LMS and Salesforce LMS so that your sales team can connect with prospects and customers in the apps they are already engaged with. Streamline the sales process for your customers and, simultaneously, connect training data to sales outcomes to determine the most effective strategies.

Why is sales enablement training important for companies?

The short answer is this: without a well-equipped sales team, you won’t make money. And your company needs money to thrive. That’s just business. But the long answer is that sales enablement training is important for companies because it’s a strategy and an investment that can nudge them ahead of their competitors. With today’s informed buyer, the company with the most knowledgable and informed sales team will have the edge—and strong sales enablement training that is engaging, accessible, and impactful is the best method for building your team’s knowledge. Sales enablement training is the process that connects your sales team to the strategies, resources, and information that enable them to succeed.

Here are the benefits of sales enablement training:

Improve sales performance with sales enablement training.

Whether your team is struggling or you simply want to give them a boost, sales enablement training is designed to improve sales performance. Learning both the nuances of a company’s product or service roster alongside the ins and outs of the industry can be challenging, even for the most experienced salespeople. Sales enablement training can help clarify the buyer’s journey, help salespeople identify or recognize customer needs, and provide in-depth information about the company’s products and services.

The key for sales managers is determining what topics your team needs to be trained on and having the right resources to quickly create that training. With a digital LMS platform that has a rapid LMS authoring tool, creating a sales enablement course to fill a training need is simple.

Reduce time-to-productivity through sales training.

Ramp time is an essential part of a salesperson’s role, but that doesn’t mean it should be a months-long process. With strategic sales enablement solutions, companies can reduce ramp time and get sales representatives out in the field faster. Sales enablement software, like the ExpertusONE digital LMS, is a key factor in reducing time to productivity through training because it streamlines learning and provides each salesperson with content that is specific and relevant to their role.

Provide a consistent brand experience for your customers.

Sales teams are notoriously distributed. One sales representative may work in a part of the country selling one tool, and another sales rep may work in an entirely different region selling a completely different product. You must ensure that your brand is accurately and effectively represented no matter where your team is located or which product they are selling.

Ongoing sales enablement training.

Yes, your team should be presented with a clear concept of your brand and its messaging during the ramp period. But training shouldn’t stop there! Provide upskilling opportunities and sales enablement resources so that your brand message is clarified and at the top of your team’s mind every time they are making a sale.

Leverage sales training to get ahead of your competition.

This should go without saying, but we’ll repeat it here: sales training can be a competitive differentiator. With a plan in place to equip and enable the sales team, your company will be more strategic and effective in winning customers over. Your team will be better equipped to respond to market changes, customer needs, and competitive threats.

Sales enablement training can also be a competitive advantage when hiring new sales personnel. Employees are increasingly interested in training and growth opportunities at work. By demonstrating an investment in training, you can win over the best sales talent for your organization.

Sales enablement best practices

When managed and distributed effectively, sales enablement training can increase profits and drive revenue. There are a handful of best practices that are essential for an effective sales enablement strategy.

Choose the best sales enablement platform.

Don’t let your tech stack be the factor that hinders the success of your sales enablement strategy. A digital LMS platform is key for sales enablement. Beyond simplifying course creation,  a digital LMS platform can distribute sales enablement content based on each learner’s needs and ensure that your team meets sales training goals on time. Look for an enterprise LMS that can manage a high volume of content, provide personalized learning recommendations for your team, and offer multiple ways to engage with training.

Prioritize sales process alignment with an LMS app for Salesforce.

Keep your sales team aligned with the buyer’s journey by integrating sales enablement training with other sales software. Use an LMS app for Salesforce to provide training and growth opportunities alongside essential customer data. Ensure that your sales process runs parallel to the customer’s journey so that your team can engage with customers—and be equipped to engage with them—at the right time.

Set clear performance goals and metrics.

Performance metrics are used to track the effectiveness of sales enablement activities and, in short, can tell you whether or not your training program is effective. Just like with any training program, you need a clear benchmark to understand where your team is succeeding and where it is struggling—so that you can improve your program and encourage their success. Set clear performance goals and metrics to make sure that you and your team understand the expectations for each role and the resources available to improve performance.

How to incorporate coaching and collaborative learning into your sales enablement program

Sales is a people-centered job and requires a variety of face-to-face interactions, from internal team meetings to time spent with the client. Coaching and collaborative learning should certainly be a part of the sales enablement process. They provide sales representatives with the support, feedback, and knowledge they need to improve their performance and meet sales targets.

Managing a sales enablement program that offers coaching and collaborative learning opportunities does not need to be separate from your existing sales enablement strategy. In fact, a digital LMS platform makes it possible to deliver asynchronous sales enablement training (online courses, digital resources, etc.) and synchronous coaching and collaborative learning sessions side by side on the same platform.

The ExpertusONE LMS offers sales coaching technology that makes engagement and interaction accessible anytime and anywhere. Our live meetings LMS video conferencing feature offers managers and learners alike the opportunity to engage with each other in a digital environment without the use of other applications.

This meeting feature is essential for sales enablement because it makes it possible to identify coaching needs, give feedback, practice run-throughs, and convert one-on-one sessions into courses for later use.

Using training to make your sales team more competitive

Sales enablement training makes your team more effective in the field and, therefore, more competitive. If you want to maximize your sales potential, start with training and invest in the skills of your team so that they can thrive at work and in the field.

Sales enablement training makes your team more effective by:

• Enhancing productivity: A well-trained sales team understands the nuances of your product and the broad scope of the buyer journey so that they can accurately sell to your customers. When they are equipped with relevant and accurate information, sales personnel can be more productive in the field, and sales may skyrocket.
• Boosting confidence: An uncertain salesperson won’t make a good case for your business. It’s your job, as a training manager or corporate leader, to make sure that your team feels comfortable and confident in their roles. By instilling confidence through training, you can make your team’s sales interactions more successful.
• Improving customer satisfaction: At the end of the day, your customer is most affected by your sales team and their strategy. Customer satisfaction is a critical part of the puzzle here. Through training and coaching, you can ensure that your sales team understands the needs of your customers, can answer customers’ questions, and knows how to build trust with your network.

Types of Sales Enablement Training

“Sales enablement training” is an umbrella term that covers every facet of learning within the sales department. Every sales enablement training program should include a variety of courses, sessions, and coaching opportunities.

Here are four essential types of sales enablement training:

1. Onboarding training: Get your new sales representatives out into the field quickly by using an LMS platform for onboarding training. Distribute product knowledge, involve new team members in the company culture, and answer any questions sales personnel may have before they meet with customers.
2. Skills-based training: Making a sale requires a variety of skills—negotiation, communication, diplomacy, and so on—and your team likely needs practice. Provide them with the resources and courses they need to become more competitive in the field.
3. Product training: Your team can’t sell your products (or services) without a clear understanding of what those products do. Provide your team with sales-specific training about your core offerings and make sure that, before they’re sent out in the field, they know how to communicate this information to potential customers.
4. Sales process training: This type of training is more administrative in nature, and it ensures that your entire sales team is aligned across the organization. Sales process training guarantees that your team is consistent and effective in its sales approach and that you don’t double up on efforts or waste time.

LMS features for sales enablement training

Ready to use an LMS for all of your sales enablement needs? Here are the LMS features you should prioritize.

Personalize learning with AI

The ExpertusONE LMS uses artificial intelligence to provide learners with personalized course recommendations based on their training needs. In sales enablement, this helps companies assign relevant courses specific to an individual salesperson’s needs or even territories without the added administrative effort of assigning courses.

Microlearning to support engagement

Our rapid-authoring LMS tool makes it easy to deliver micro-learning opportunities so that learners stay engaged with training and get the most out of the learning process. It provides small, easily digestible chunks of training and resources that can be accessed in response to real-time demand.

Gamification incentivizes learning

ExpertusONE utilizes LMS gamification and interactive content to make sales training more engaging and improve learning outcomes and retention for sales reps.

LMS reporting and analytics

The ExpertusONE LMS provides analytics and LMS reporting capabilities, allowing sales leaders to track sales reps’ progress and performance, identify areas for improvement, and understand which training programs are most effective. With our built-in Insights feature, you can run reports easily to get a picture of sales team training progress. Our learning record store tracks and measures all learning interactions as xAPI statements for easy reporting.

Accessible training with an LMS mobile and extensible applications

Deliver learning in the formats that your team prefers most: whether that’s desktop training or via mobile app. We also offer extensible apps, like our LMS app for Salesforce, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. This way, learners can engage with training on platforms they already know and understand.

Sales enablement training is the best way to maximize your sales potential, equip your team, and earn customer loyalty.

Ready to jump-start your sales enablement strategy with ExpertusONE? Contact us today for a free demo of our LMS for sales enablement.