Choose the Right Sales Enablement Tool for Your Team

Selling is a lot more complex than it used to be. Gone are the days when a little wit, a few product samples, and a firm handshake would close the deal. Sellers today need to do more. They need to communicate with and win the attention and trust of buyers. They need to “make the sale,” but do it in a way that upholds the integrity and image of the brand they represent. And they need to move fast. Doing all of this requires 24/7, on-demand access to the latest marketing brochures, demo videos, one-pagers, pitch decks, and more. 

The pace and demands are dizzying — even for the most well-oiled operations. As a result, more and more businesses are turning to sales enablement tools to help them close the gap between sales and marketing. But with hundreds of platforms out there, how do you decide which tool is right for your team? Let’s discuss.

What makes a great sales enablement platform? 

A great sales enablement platform facilitates stronger and more efficient marketing-to-sales collaboration. It'll help your salesforce attract more, win more, and keep more customers. And, over time, it will more than pay for itself in business gains.

But, the platform that’s right for one organization isn’t always the answer for another. Only after assessing your unique needs and workflows can you identify the best solution for your team. With that said, there are a handful of defining characteristics that separate the platform “greats” from all the rest. 

The best sales enablement tools will: 

• Provide sales teams with a quick and reliable way to find and discover the most effective materials for a specific application, need, or buyer.
   
• Reduce friction by enabling the smooth distribution and sharing of information and resources from marketing to sales and beyond.  
   
• Give organizations peace of mind that their teams are only using approved materials that are on-brand and up-to-date.
   
• Automate and accelerate workflows throughout the entire content lifecycle, from creation to preservation.
   
• Offer scalable solutions that can grow with the organization and meet the storage and management needs of an expanding content library.
   
• Safeguard valuable content to ensure that only the right people have access to the right assets.
   
• Empower sales to tailor marketing materials to meet the needs of unique prospects, regions, and audiences — without the risk of going off-brand.
   
• Give users 24/7, self-service, on-demand access to the materials they need to reduce reliance on individuals (aka the “finders of stuff”).
   
• Integrate with your other key marketing and sales tools to reduce duplicate efforts and inefficient workflows.
   
• Help you optimize your content efforts by providing insights into who is using particular sales materials, when, where, and how.
   
• Have a helpful and knowledgeable customer support team behind it, so you never have to go it alone.
   
• Dedicate a product team to maintain and enhance the software, so it meets the needs of users today and in the future.

Turn your DAM system into a sales enablement tool

An effective digital asset management (DAM) strategy can make all the difference in your sales success. Without it, the efficiency of your efforts may suffer. Without the right tools and plan in place, it’s more challenging to support and empower your teams with the content they need to communicate with their audiences. When positioned at the center of an organization's marketing technologies, a DAM solution can serve as the backbone and central source of truth for the entire organization — including the sales team. 

But for the majority of organizations, DAM and sales enablement live in somewhat different worlds. That’s a huge missed opportunity. What’s the reason for it? Well, for starters, many businesses don’t think about DAM software as a type of sales enablement. They know there’s some overlap, but the different nomenclature tends to throw people for a loop. 

DAM solutions are built to facilitate the streamlined management, organization, and distribution of assets – including sales assets. What some people may not realize is that DAM software can be a powerful sales enablement solution on its own, but it can also be integrated with other sales enablement tools.

Look at our DAM platform, Acquia DAM (Widen), for example. Thanks to integrations, you can connect it with sales enablement tools like Showpad. Sellers benefit from an integration like this because they can move faster. They have instant access to the same consistent, accurate, and up-to-date content across systems, so no duplicate efforts are needed. Everything is right there in Showpad. This means that they can quickly pull brand assets into sales presentations, without needing to download and upload between systems.

Jay Wooley, Director of Marketing at HARMAN International (a Samsung Company) said it best: “The Widen-Showpad integration will save us hours and hours of moving assets around. This will allow us to get key assets to our salespeople faster, which is a win for everyone.”

Make creating content easier with Templates 

By giving your salesforce the support materials they need, you’re helping them drive more sales and retain more business. But as a marketer, it’s tough to scale and customize your content efforts to meet the unique needs of each salesperson and their buyers. 

Salespeople need flexibility. They’re on the front lines hearing about the challenges and priorities of different buyer groups. To personalize the experience, salespeople can’t always rely on standardized marketing materials. They need the ability to create their own materials or adapt existing materials. Only then can they meet the unique needs, cultural expectations, and language requirements of different buying groups. 

So, how can marketers maintain control over their brand, while still giving salespeople the flexibility they need? Our answer: Templates. 

Templates are a powerful product add-on that allows sales teams to customize marketing materials. Creative teams simply create a template for a piece of collateral and specify which elements are static and which are editable. Then, sales teams can get to work! This gives organizations the best of both worlds — brand control with flexibility. 

Where to go from here

Finding the right sales enablement tool for your team takes time. Start by understanding your goals and researching your options. Once you understand what you need, you can look at the tools and vendors that offer features to meet those needs. 

Learn more about how Widen DAM can extend the value of your marketing tools and empower your sales team. And if you think our solution has what you’re looking for — or you want to explore it for yourself — request, watch, or click through a demo today.

Note: This article was originally published on Widen.com.