Sales Enablement Training, Pitch Coaching, & Tools

What sales enablement best practices should you know about? How can you get the most out of sales enablement training (including pitch coaching) and tools?

Sales enablement is a strategic approach to providing sales teams with the resources, content, and training they need to sell more effectively. It’s an essential part of any successful sales organization.

We’ll take a deep dive into sales enablement training and tools. But, first, we’ll provide an overview of sales enablement. We’ll address these matters in detail:

• What is sales enablement?
• Sales enablement examples
• Sales enablement best practices
• Sales enablement training
• Sales pitch coaching
• Effective sales enablement tools

Once you get a good grasp of each these issues, you’ll know how to get your sales team hitting on all cylinders. So, let’s get started.

What Is Sales Enablement?

First, we must be clear on what we’re talking about. What is sales enablement, exactly? It encompasses a wide range of activities, such as:

• Identifying the buyer’s journey: This helps sales enablement professionals create content and training that’s relevant to the buyer’s needs at each stage.
• Creating and managing content: Sales enablement professionals create and manage white papers, case studies, presentations, and more. As a result, sales teams can educate prospects and answer common objections.
• Providing training: Sales enablement professionals provide training to sales teams on product knowledge, sales techniques, objection handling, and more. We’ll discuss sales enablement training in depth later on.
• Measuring results: Sales enablement professionals measure the number of leads generated, the number of deals closed, the amount of revenue generated, and other results. As a result, they can track the effectiveness of their programs and make necessary adjustments.

By providing sales teams with the resources, content, and training they need, sales enablement professionals can help them close more deals and generate more revenue.

Examples of Sales Enablement

To get a better handle on what we’re talking about, let’s go through a few sales enablement examples.

• Sales playbooks are a collection of best practices, scripts, and tools that sales reps can use to close deals.
• Sales training can help sales reps develop their skills and knowledge in areas such as product knowledge, sales techniques, and objection handling.
• Sales content can help sales reps educate prospects about the company’s products and services. Also, it can help them answer common objections.
• Sales tools can help sales reps close deals more effectively, such as CRM systems, lead generation tools, and sales analytics tools.
• Sales enablement platforms are software solutions that help sales teams manage their sales content, training, and tools.

Sales Enablement Best Practices

Of course, some ways of conducting sales enablement are more effective than others. So, let’s review sales enablement best practices to help you make the most of your efforts.

• Start with a clear understanding of your sales goals. Then, you can develop a sales enablement strategy that will help you achieve them.
• Identify the key challenges facing your sales team. When you do, you can develop sales enablement solutions that will help overcome them.
• Create a sales enablement plan. Outline the specific activities you’ll undertake to improve your performance. The plan should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
• Use the right tools and technology. Below, we’ll review some of the most popular sales enablement tools.
• Measure and track your results. Know what’s working and what’s not. This information will help you make necessary adjustments to your sales enablement strategy.
• Make sure your sales enablement content is relevant and up-to-date. Sales reps need to have access to the latest information about your products, services, and industry.
• Personalize your sales enablement content. The more personalized your content is, the more likely it is to resonate with your prospects.
• Make it easy for sales reps to find the content they need. Your sales enablement content should be easy to find and use.
• Provide regular training and coaching to your sales reps. Sales reps need to be continually learning and growing in order to be effective. Below, we’ll cover sales enablement training in detail.
• Create a culture of continuous improvement. Sales enablement is an ongoing process. Be sure to continuously evaluate your efforts and make adjustments as needed.

By following these sales enablement best practices, you can create a program that will help your sales team sell more effectively and achieve your sales goals.

How to Implement Sales Enablement

You can have the best sales enablement program in the world, but it’s not worth much if you don’t implement it wisely. Here are some tips for implementing a sales enablement strategy in a way that increases its chances of success.

• Get buy-in from leadership. Sales enablement is a strategic initiative that requires the support of leadership.
• Get input from sales reps. It’s important to get their input on what they need. Conduct surveys, hold focus groups, or simply ask them for feedback.
• Train your team. Educate your reps on your sales enablement best practices and resources. Below, we’ll go into detail on sales enablement training.
• Make it a continuous process. Sales enablement isn’t a one-time thing. It’s an ongoing process that needs to be constantly updated and refreshed.

Sales Enablement Training

Sales enablement training is a type of training that helps sales professionals develop the skills and knowledge they need to sell more effectively. It can cover a wide range of topics, including product knowledge, sales techniques, and objection handling.

Here are some of the things that sales enablement training can entail:

• Product knowledge: Sales enablement training can help sales professionals learn about the company’s products and services, including their features, benefits, and use cases. This knowledge can help sales professionals answer questions from prospects and customers. Also, it can help them position the company’s products and services as the best solution for their needs.
• Sales techniques: Sales enablement training can teach sales professionals how to prospect, qualify leads, build relationships, and close deals. This training can help sales professionals become more effective at selling. Also, it can help them increase their sales numbers.
• Objection handling: Sales enablement training can teach sales professionals how to handle common objections from prospects and customers. This training can help sales professionals overcome objections and close more deals.

Sales Pitch Coaching

Sales enablement training is a broad term that encompasses all the activities that help sales teams sell more effectively. This includes providing sales teams with the right tools, content, and training to help them close more deals. Sales pitch coaching is a specific type of training that helps sales reps improve their ability to deliver a persuasive pitch.

Pitch coaching typically entails the following steps:

1. Identifying the prospect’s needs: The first step in pitch coaching is to identify the prospect’s needs. This can be done by asking the prospect questions about their business, their challenges, and their goals.
2. Tailoring the pitch: Once the prospect’s needs have been identified, the pitch can be tailored to address those needs. This entails using language that the prospect can understand and that resonates with their interests.
3. Practicing the pitch: The pitch should be practiced until it’s smooth and natural. This will help the sales rep deliver the pitch confidently and effectively.
4. Giving feedback: The sales rep should receive feedback on their pitch from a coach or manager. This feedback can help the sales rep identify areas where they can improve.

Pitch coaching is an essential part of sales enablement training. By helping sales reps improve their sales pitch, pitch coaching can help them close more deals and increase their sales productivity.

AI-Powered Pitch Coaching

Sales reps can get immediate coaching and feedback on their sales pitches with the free AI-powered speech coach Yoodli. You can use its interview practice tool to record your pitch and receive real-time follow-up questions. While it’s primarily designed to help you practice being interviewed, you can use it to practice any speaking that includes follow-up questions. That will help you practice answering product questions and objections.

Here’s how:

• Sign up for a free account at yoodli.ai.
• Hover over Practice, and select Interview (or go straight to this link).
• Choose what kind of interview you’d like to practice or select “I want to practice with my own questions.”
• Choose your interview style.
• Make sure you have a microphone and a webcam set up.
• When you’re ready, click Start.
• Follow the prompts to pause, go to the next question, or stop.
• When you’re done, Yoodli will generate an analysis of your word choices and delivery.

Learn more about Yoodli’s interview coach by watching this brief video.

How to Practice Answering Follow-Up Questions

It’s wise to prepare answering questions you expect to be asked. But, you don’t always know what to expect. For sales pitch practice, Yoodli’s AI tool can generate follow-up questions based on a starter question that you feed it. This will give you valuable experience. Here’s how to use this feature:

• Hover over Practice, and select Interview.
• Click on “I want to practice with my own questions.”
• In the My Questions area, manually enter a question you think you might be asked during the pitch. For example, you could add “How is this better than the competition?” or “What are the product’s benefits?”
• Toggle on the Ask Me AI Follow-Ups. (This option works for one question at a time because it generates the next question based on your answer to the first question.)
• When you’re ready, click on Start Practicing.

This video walks you through the AI Follow-Ups feature.

We believe that you’ll find Yoodli’s analytics helpful. The AI follow-up questions give you experience in quick thinking and impromptu speaking, and they help you know what you can expect. And, much of the app’s value is the way it lets you practice on your terms, as much as you want.

Methods of Sales Enablement Training & Pitch Coaching

Sales enablement training, including pitch coaching, can be delivered in a variety of ways. Here are the most common:

• In-person training: In-person training is a traditional method of training that involves a trainer delivering the training to a group of sales professionals in a classroom setting.
• Online training: Online training is a more modern method of training that allows sales professionals to learn at their own pace and on their own time. Online training can be delivered through a variety of formats, including video tutorials, interactive exercises, and webinars.
• Blended learning: Blended learning is a combination of in-person training and online training. Because it allows sales professionals to get the best of both worlds, this approach can be particularly effective. Reps can get the personalized attention of an instructor in an in-person setting, and they can learn at their own pace and on their own time through online training.

Sales enablement training is an important investment for any company that wants to improve its sales performance. By providing sales professionals with the training they need, companies can help them close more deals and generate more revenue.

Sales Enablement Tools

There are many effective sales enablement tools available. We’ll share some of the most popular and highest rated.

• Ambition is a sales management and coaching software that provides customizable workflows, data visibility and insights, and employee experience tools.
• Bigtincan includes adaptable solutions for learning, content, and engagement. Resources include reports, case studies, and an ebook on sales enablement metrics.
• Brainshark offers sales enablement and readiness services to empower client-facing teams. It’s a recognized leader in sales enablement and readiness, with high daily content asset views and course enrollments.
• Guru is a knowledge management solution for sales enablement. It provides sales teams with quick access to information.
• Highspot offers features such as sales content management, sales plays and playbooks, buyer engagement, sales training, and sales coaching.
• HubSpot is a CRM platform that connects marketing, sales, content management, and customer service.
• Membrain is a sales enablement platform that helps sales teams engage with leads in a more human way. It provides tools for integrating educational information and sales collateral into the sales process.
• MindTickle is rated #1 in sales enablement, onboarding, and training software. It offers revenue enablement, operations solutions, sales content management, conversation intelligence, and sales coaching.
• PandaDoc helps shorten the sales cycle by allowing for quick pre-configuration of customizable templates and creation of personalized sales documents.
• Seismic is the #1 sales enablement platform according to leading analyst reports. It empowers your customer-facing organization with skills, content, tools, and insights.
• Showpad is a sales enablement operating system that aligns sales and marketing teams around content and training. It helps them optimize buyer interactions through sales content management, seller effectiveness, buyer engagement, and analytics and insights.

These are just a few of the many effective sales enablement tools available. The best tool for you will depend on your needs and budget.

Considerations for Choosing the Right Tools for You

When choosing a sales enablement tool, it is important to consider the following factors:

• Your company’s needs: What are your sales team’s specific needs? What features are most important to you?
• Your budget: How much are you willing to spend on a sales enablement tool?
• The ease of use: How easy is the tool to use? Will your sales team be able to use it without a lot of training?
• The level of support: What kind of support does the tool offer? Will you be able to get help if you have any problems?

By considering these factors, you can choose a sales enablement tool that will help your sales team sell more effectively and generate more revenue.

Wrapping Up

If your team is ready to implement or improve upon your sales enablement strategy or sales enablement training, we hope you’ve found valuable information and tools here. You should be well on your way to making your sales team more efficient, more skilled, and more effective.