As the world recovers from the excitement of the 2024 Olympics, sales teams are channeling that competitive energy into their own fields, with a focus on sales enablement. According to the latest Salesforce State of Sales report, sales enablement has emerged as a crucial strategy for driving success, helping teams meet their quotas and achieve growth. If you're looking to optimize your sales strategy in the latter half of 2024, here’s how sales enablement can be your gold medal play.
Why Sales Enablement is the Key to Hitting Quotas
Olympic athletes rely on expert coaching to succeed. And so do sales reps - increasingly turning to sales enablement programs to hit their targets. The report highlights that 76% of sales reps believe their enablement training prepares them to meet their quotas. With access to essential support materials, product-specific training, and one-on-one coaching, reps are more equipped than ever to succeed. These programs are proving to be a worthwhile investment, exactly like the training athletes undergo before the Olympics.
Boosting Sales Performance Through Strategic Training
The Olympic Games ended this past weekend but that doesn't mean sales teams aren't doubling down on their training efforts. In fact, they’re prioritizing enablement strategies that help reps understand customer needs, address pain points, and clearly communicate value. Over 50% of sales teams are incorporating strategy and performance reviews into their training routines, ensuring that reps are always prepared to perform at their best. However, some areas, like roleplay sessions, are still catching on, much like athletes who need a few more practice runs to perfect their technique.
Leveraging AI as Your Sales Enablement Coach
AI is revolutionizing sales enablement, much like how technology has transformed training for athletes (Daryl Morey, anyone?). Sales teams are using AI for real-time selling guidance and personalized training, allowing reps to improve their performance on the go. Nearly half of the teams utilizing AI are incorporating it into call coaching, identifying critical moments in conversations that can seal the deal—similar to how athletes review game footage to refine their strategies.
The Path to Sales Success
With the 2024 Olympics now behind us, the spirit of competition lives on in the sales world. Sales teams that invest in enablement, leverage AI, and focus on continuous improvement are the ones that will stay ahead of the competition. Just as athletes rely on their training to reach the podium, sales reps who embrace sales enablement will achieve their own victories in the fast-paced world of sales.
This is part three of a four-part series summarizing the Salesforce State of Sales report. Visit our blog page for future posts.
By Anthony Trinh. Anthony is the Founder and Principal Salesforce Consultant at Efforceless.
About Efforceless
Efforceless helps business leaders scale their teams. Founded only by seasoned current and former Shopify, Google and Salesforce employees, we combine Revenue Operations with a polished Salesforce implementation, and as a result, our clients have the smartest Salesforce team working for them at less than the cost of one Salesforce hire. For more information about Efforceless’ Salesforce consulting services and solutions, visit: www.efforceless.com
About Salesforce
Salesforce, the global CRM leader, empowers companies of every size and industry to digitally transform and create a 360° view of their customers. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: www.salesforce.com