In the B2B world, sales enablement is a hot buzzword, and for a good reason - it's something that all businesses need, but aren't necessarily doing.
But what is Sales Enablement, exactly? Why does it matter? And can HubSpot help you achieve it? Let's dig in.
What is Sales Enablement?
The definition of sales enablement is simple, but covers a lot of ground:
Sales enablement is making sure your sales team has the tools and resources to help them close deals.
Put another way: are you providing your team with things to make their jobs easier, or are you sending them into the sales wilderness to survive on their own?
The "tools and resources" part of the definition is where sales enablement becomes more complex - the right tools and resources depend on your industry, ideal market, size of your team and budget. Additionally, while your sales team is the primary focus of your sales enablement strategy, the collective process also includes the other teams that work alongside sales, including marketing and customer service.
So now that you know the general idea of sales enablement, can HubSpot help?
Yes! Sales enablement is one of the key features of HubSpot. To understand how, let's walk through a typical sales enablement strategy.
The Components of Sales Enablement
& HubSpot's Sales Enablement Features
Sales enablement can be as broad or as narrow as is logical for your team(s), but every sales enablement strategy should have these core components. The six items listed below are your make-it-or-break-it kit for a fully enabled sales team. Each of these items can be built in HubSpot.
1. Lead Qualification
Implementing a lead scoring system will help your sales team easily filter and identify the likelihood of a lead to convert, so they can allocate their time toward converting those leads instead of chasing down tire-kickers.
Tools like predictive lead scoring in HubSpot automatically rank leads based on criteria you decide, so your sales team doesn't need to spend extra time manually combing through bad leads to weed them out.
For example - if you only want to work with locally-based leads, you may automatically want to qualify international businesses with an "F." On the flip side, a lead within a certain industry, location, and size might be qualified with a "B" grade so your sales team knows to prioritize them.
2. Content Resources
Another important resource for sales enablement is providing content assets for your team to use in their sales process. This is where marketing and sales align so sales has an easy reference material to share with prospects. These include resources like:
- Pricing sheets
- Online demos
- Case studies
- eBooks
All of these can be sorted into content libraries within HubSpot and categorized for quick reference and use. The process can also be automated further using smart content - for example, you can create an automated email that each prospect receives after they book a meeting or demo, and each email can include assets related to the prospect's industry.
→ Related Content: How to Use Smart Content in HubSpot
3. Automated Prospecting
Making it easy as possible for both prospects and your sales team to book meetings is critical for sales enablement.
First, use the calendar tool in HubSpot to create real-time calendar links (real-life example) for your sales team to share with prospects. This makes booking meetings fast and painless - since the HubSpot calendar hooks into your sales teams' Google and/or Office 365 calendar, they don't run the risk of being double-booked.
Next, automate the prospecting process by creating automated prospecting emails to prospects likely to convert. These automated emails invite prospects to schedule a meeting with a salesperson using their calendar link.
The end result is an automated, seamless process to encourage prospects to book a meeting.
4. Email Sequencing
Speaking of automation, one of the key ways you can make life easier for your sales team is by streamlining repetitive follow-up emails. Email sequencing in HubSpot allows you to create set-it-and-forget-it emails that trigger automatically based on actions, criteria and or/timing that you define.
For example, you might set an email sequence after a prospect tries an online demo. They'll start receiving emails from a salesperson with relevant content assets, calendar links, videos or other follow-up actions. Your sales team is likely already sending similar emails already, but sequencing makes the process automatic instead of manual so they can focus their time on hot leads.
→ Related Content: How To Follow Up With Leads Immediately With HubSpot
5. Centralized Reporting
Another key component of sales enablement is visibility - both on an individual level and for the entire team. Centralized reporting and dashboarding tools in HubSpot make it easy to craft detailed reporting that breaks down key information including:
- Activity by salesperson
- New deals
- Deals won/lost
- Call outcomes
- Target accounts
- Pipeline forecast
And more. Automating and centralizing this data allows your team to get critical information at a glance.
→ Related Content: 5 HubSpot Sales Dashboard Templates to Try
6. A CRM to Tie it All Together
Finally, every good sales enablement strategy needs a solid foundation to tie it all together. HubSpot offers access to a powerful customer relationship management (CRM), alongside the tools listed above. Ultimately, great CRM is key to a sales enablement strategy. A CRM lets you collect, track and nurture every visitor, contact, prospect, lead and customer. HubSpot makes it easy.
Get the Most out of HubSpot Pro with a HubSpot Partner Agency
BizzyWeb is a HubSpot Platinum Partner: we offer full-service HubSpot onboarding, enablement and strategy for all hubs. Our team has over 196 certifications in HubSpot (and constantly growing). No matter what your HubSpot needs are, our team is ready to handle them.
Plus, we are the only agency in Minnesota with a Platform Enablement Accreditation from HubSpot - sounds fancy, but it means we're top-notch in making HubSpot work within your business.
BizzyWeb is a Minneapolis-based digital marketing and web design agency that helps companies get the high-quality leads they need to grow and thrive. Our tactics include inbound marketing, SEO, advertising, web design, content creation and sales automation. We are an accredited HubSpot Platinum Partner and we offer full-service HubSpot onboarding, enablement and strategy for new and current users.
