B2B sales have grown increasingly complex. That’s why more and more businesses are choosing to prioritize their sales enablement efforts. Sales enablement is “a strategic approach to enhancing sales efficiency, productivity, and performance in order to increase sales… numerous interrelated activities that it encompasses, like sales coaching and training, tools and tech, data analysis, and content generation.” But what does sales enablement look like for a B2B SaaS company? And why is it important?
How are SaaS companies different?
Software and technology solutions are foundational to the success of many different businesses. Software as a service, or SaaS for short, describes companies who deliver the technology behind these software solutions. According to Software Advice, “SaaS is a method of software delivery that allows data to be accessed from any device with an Internet connection and web browser. In this web-based model, software vendors host and maintain the servers, databases, and code that constitute an application. This is a significant departure from the on-premise software delivery model. First, companies don’t have to invest in extensive hardware to host the software, and this, in turn, allows buyers to outsource most of the IT responsibilities typically required to troubleshoot and maintain the software. The SaaS vendor takes care of it all.”
By providing flexibility and convenience, this type of business model has drastically changed the way that customers use technology, interact with software, and work with technology vendors. SaaS vendors have paved the way for a more dynamic market, but have to compete with other B2B SaaS companies as competition, as well as those who offer on-premise software installations. This makes sales enablement more important than ever – how can you most effectively and efficiently reach your audience?
The top reasons for using sales enablement at B2B SaaS companies
Sales enablement is a powerful sales and marketing alignment strategy. Here’s how it can create an impact for B2B SaaS business sales and operations.
1. Better content alignment
A good sales enablement strategy helps your marketing team provide your sales team with the best content to help educate your customers. Marketers won’t waste time and resources on developing content that won’t resonate with customers – or won’t miss out on developing potentially game-changing resources that can drive more sales or improve relationships. Having the right kind of content at the right stage of the buyer’s journey matters – it helps position your brand as the right solution for your customers.
Having the right content tools for the awareness phase, for instance, might include blog posts, social media posts, and presentations while leads might need case studies, pricing, and comparison sheets, and product spec sheets and existing customers can be re-engaged with webinars, user guides, and more. One of the most important things that a company can provide for a customer is a solution and sales enablement helps sales and marketing figure out which solutions to develop and how to deploy them, saving time and increasing productivity. Providing the sales reps at B2B SaaS companies with the right information empowers them to speak more confidently to customers.
2. Better efficiency
B2B sales enablement isn’t just one tool or methodology – it’s a whole system that gives the sales team more of what they need to help them more effectively communicate with customers in an increasingly challenging sales environment. One tool often considered part of the B2B sales enablement process is a CRM, or customer relationship management, tool. This can track all relevant customer data and tracks all business interactions with customer stakeholders. Using automated technology to help improve your CRM gives salespeople more time back in their day to focus on contacting leads and working with customers. Salespeople are more effective – and sales revenue higher – when teams can focus on building relationships and not as much on administrative tasks that technology can help with.
3. Better analytics
The tools involved in sales enablement, including the aforementioned CRM, all provide data that sales and marketing teams can both use to better understand how effective their efforts are and potentially implement new strategies or methods of customer outreach. B2B SaaS companies are part of a competitive landscape and data is the best driver of sales and marketing decision-making. When sales and marketing teams are effectively employing sales enablement, they work from the same data sets and collaboratively interpret results to create new communication and sales solutions.
The subscription version of the economy is still new, but it is expansive – from clothing, beauty, and dog toy monthly subscription boxes to software subscriptions to music and content streaming subscriptions, there has been a shift in how consumers want to experience the benefits of a brand. This means that being subscription-based isn’t always enough of a differentiating feature for companies to rely on in their marketing.
Growing revenue and customer engagement is a team effort. Sales enablement strategies empower sales and marketing teams to better communicate and work from the same playbook towards the same goals. Using sales enablement to help B2B SaaS companies more effectively reach customers is a smart strategic decision.