TL;DR
In this article:
- What is sales enablement, and why you need a sales enablement strategy ASAP
- The best 20 examples of sales enablement materials (and why you may not need all of them)
- How to implement your sales enablement strategy
We all want more deals and faster closings. But to make that happen, we need the right tools and resources to support our sales efforts.
Sales enablement is key.
Sales enablement is a strategic approach to providing your sales teams with the content, knowledge, and tools they need to engage and convert potential customers into actual buyers effectively. When done correctly, it can lead to higher conversion rates, increased revenue, and improved customer satisfaction.
And yes, more deals (arguably a better buying process.)
But what exactly does sales enablement entail? In this guide, we’ll break down great sales enablement content that every business should have in their arsenal.
What are sales enablement materials?
Sales enablement content is resources that provide your sales team with the tools, information, and strategies they need to engage effectively with prospects and close deals. These materials include product brochures, sales scripts, case studies, and training documents.
Sales enablement assets are essential for a well-organized and successful sales strategy. They help your team address potential customers’ needs and concerns, enabling communication of your product’s value propositions.
Your sales reps will forever thank you if you have high-quality sales enablement content. Their onboarding will last the blink of an eye, and they can soon focus on driving higher engagement with prospective customers and making compelling pitches. Plus, consistency builds trust and reinforces your brand value.
Spoiler: you can create great internal and external sales enablement content even without a full-time sales enablement team.
The 20 types of sales enablement materials
There is so much sales enablement content around. These assets cover a broad spectrum, from internal content (such as training documents) to external sales enablement content, aka customer-facing content.
Below is our short and sweet list of sales enablement content examples.
A) Internal sales enablement content
Internal sales enablement content is designed to prepare your sales team for success. It focuses on providing the information, strategies, and templates necessary for efficient and effective sales operations.
1. Sales onboarding and training
Sales onboarding and training programs help new sales reps quickly understand your products, market, and sales processes. They provide comprehensive guidance to ensure that new team members are well-prepared and effective from the start.
These programs typically include comprehensive workflow documentation, product overviews, market insights, and sales techniques. To streamline and enhance your training efforts, consider using Adobe LMS to create and deliver interactive, scalable training modules that ensure consistent and effective onboarding for all new sales reps.
Tip: Develop comprehensive training programs to help new sales reps quickly understand your products, market, and processes.
2. Ideal customer profile
An ideal customer profile provides detailed descriptions of your target customers, including demographics, pain points, and buying behavior. This profile helps each sales rep focus on high-potential leads and tailor their approach accordingly.
Understanding your ideal customer is crucial for targeted marketing and sales efforts and can significantly improve conversion rates.
Tip: Create detailed profiles of your target customers, including demographics and pain points, to help your team focus on high-potential leads.
3. Talk tracks
Talk tracks are predefined conversation paths that guide sales reps through different stages of a sale. They cover all essential points, ensuring reps deliver consistent and persuasive messages.
Using talk tracks can make sales conversations more structured and effective. Consistent messaging improves engagement and helps close deals more effectively.
Tip: Develop predefined conversation paths to guide sales reps through different stages of a sale.
4. Sales scripts
Sales scripts provide standardized dialogues for various scenarios, such as cold calling or follow-ups. By providing clear guidelines on what to say and when, these scripts help maintain consistency and improve communication.
Well-crafted scripts can boost confidence and effectiveness during sales calls.
Tip: Use standardized scripts for various sales scenarios to maintain consistency and improve communication.
5. Sales playbooks
Sales playbooks are comprehensive guides with best practices, strategies, and tactics (usually including a sales script or more) tailored to your business needs. It is a valuable resource for your sales team, offering actionable insights and solutions for various sales situations. A well-designed playbook enhances overall sales performance.
Tip: Compile a comprehensive guide with best practices and strategies tailored to your business.
6. Proposal and quotation templates
Proposal and quotation templates streamline the process of creating professional documents. These ready-made templates save time and ensure accuracy, allowing your sales team to quickly deliver polished proposals and quotations.
Consistency in these documents also reinforces your brand’s professionalism.
Tip: Use ready-made templates for proposals and quotations to streamline the creation process.
7. Competitor analysis documents
Competitor analysis documents provide detailed insights into competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. These analyses help your team position your products more effectively and anticipate competitive moves.
By understanding the competition, you can develop strategies to differentiate your offerings.
Tip: Conduct detailed competitor analyses to understand strengths, weaknesses, and more. Use a tool like Unkover to automate your competitor research and monitor all your competitors. Grab your free trial today.
8. Battlecards
Battlecards are quick reference guides that provide key information on handling objections and differentiating your product from competitors.
They equip sales reps with the knowledge needed to address common challenges during pitches. Effective battlecards can significantly improve sales outcomes.
Tip: Create quick reference guides to help sales reps handle objections and differentiate your product.
9. Product demo script or flowchart
Product demo scripts or flowcharts provide structured outlines for product demonstrations. They ensure reps highlight the most important features and benefits, making the demos more impactful and engaging.
A well-organized demo script can enhance the overall presentation and customer experience.
Tip: Develop structured outlines for product demonstrations to highlight key features and benefits.
10. Win/lost stories
Win/lost stories are detailed accounts of why certain deals were won or lost. They provide valuable insights for refining sales strategies and improving performance. Learning from past experiences and analyzing these stories helps refine sales strategies and improve future performance.
Tip: Document detailed stories of why deals were won or lost to gain valuable insights.
11. Message maps
A message map visually represents how your product or service solves customer pain points and meets their needs. It helps sales reps stay on track during presentations and ensures they effectively communicate the value proposition to potential customers.
Tip: Create a message map to visually depict how your product or service addresses customer pain points and highlights its unique value proposition.
B) External sales enablement content
External sales enablement content is designed to engage your prospects and customers directly. These materials help educate, inform, and persuade by showcasing the value of your products or services.
12. Slide decks
Slide decks are visually appealing presentations used during sales meetings to highlight key points, showcase products, and reinforce your message. A sales presentation helps keep the audience engaged through compelling visuals and succinct bullet points.
Additionally, slide decks provide a structured flow to your sales presentation, ensuring your message is delivered clearly and effectively.
Tip: Use visually engaging presentations to highlight key points during sales meetings.
13. Case studies
Case studies are detailed accounts of how your product or service helped solve a specific problem for a client. They demonstrate real-world applications and success stories, lending credibility to your offerings.
By showing tangible results, case studies encourage prospects to envision similar outcomes for their own businesses, making them more likely to engage with you.
Tip: Demonstrate real-world success stories where your product or service solved specific client problems.
14. One pagers
One-pagers are concise, single-page documents summarizing your product’s key features, benefits, and differentiators. Perfect for quick reference, they provide essential information at a glance.
One-pagers can be easily shared with decision-makers, making them an effective tool for supporting sales conversations and fostering quick decision-making.
Tip: Provide concise, single-page summaries of your product’s key features and benefits.
15. Email templates
Email templates are pre-written emails for various sales process stages, such as initial outreach, follow-ups, and post-meeting summaries. These templates save time for your sales team and ensure consistent, professional communication.
Standardizing your email outreach ensures high quality and brand consistency in every interaction.
Tip: Develop pre-written emails for the various stages of the sales cycle, such as initial outreach and follow-ups.
16. White papers
White papers are in-depth reports on industry-specific issues, challenges, or trends that your product addresses. They position you as a thought leader by providing valuable insights and comprehensive analyses.
White papers can influence purchasing decisions by offering well-researched solutions and demonstrating your expertise in the field.
Tip: Offer in-depth reports on industry-specific issues that your product addresses.
17. eBooks
eBooks are comprehensive guides that delve into topics relevant to your audience, offering valuable information and practical advice. They help build trust and establish your authority in the industry.
By providing in-depth content, eBooks engage readers and nurture leads, positioning your brand as a knowledgeable resource.
Tip: Create comprehensive guides on topics relevant to your audience, offering them valuable information and practical advice.
18. Blog posts
Blog posts are informative articles that address common pain points, offer solutions, and share industry knowledge. High-value blog posts drive traffic to your website, nurture leads, and position your brand effectively as a go-to resource.
Regularly updated blog content keeps your audience informed and engaged, fostering long-term relationships.
Tip: Write at least one informative blog post that addresses a specific challenge and offers solutions.
19. Customer testimonials
Customer testimonials are authentic quotes from satisfied customers that highlight positive experiences and outcomes. They build trust and provide social proof, making prospects more likely to consider your offerings.
Customer testimonials can be a powerful tool in showcasing the real-world impact of your products and reinforcing your credibility. To maximize their impact, you can embed LinkedIn feed on the website, allowing visitors to see real-time testimonials and professional endorsements.
Tip: Share authentic customer success stories from satisfied buyers to highlight positive experiences and outcomes.
20. Webinars
Webinars are live or recorded online seminars that provide in-depth information on specific topics. They allow you to engage with your audience in real time, answer questions, and showcase your expertise.
Webinars offer a platform for demonstrating your products, discussing industry trends, and connecting directly with potential customers.
Tip: Host live or recorded online seminars to provide in-depth information on specific topics.
How to create an effective sales enablement content strategy
It’s all good, but. You may wonder if you must create sales enablement content for all different uses. While producing content for every conceivable situation is tempting, focusing on strategic priorities will yield better results.
Here’s how to create an effective sales enablement content strategy:
Step one: Understand your audience. Start by thoroughly understanding your target audience. Who is your potential customer? Start with your existing customers and create buyer personas to identify pain points, needs, and decision-making processes. Tailor your content to address these aspects, ensuring it resonates with and engages your prospects.
Step two: Research your competitors. Analyze your competitors to gain insights into their strengths and weaknesses. Competitor research allows you to position your products more effectively and identify gaps in the market that you can exploit. Understanding your competitive landscape is crucial for creating distinctive and compelling content.
Use a tool like Unkover to monitor your competitors’ activities, from page changes and email marketing to company details, updates, and content strategy.
Start your free trial today (no credit card required)
Step three: Align with buyers’ journey
Your content should align with the various stages of the buyer’s journey—from awareness to consideration to decision. Each stage requires different types of content to guide prospects smoothly through the funnel.
For example, use blog posts and white papers for awareness, case studies and testimonials for consideration, and demos and consultations for decision-making.
Step four: Sales-marketing collaboration
Ensure seamless collaboration between sales and your marketing team. Both teams should work together to create content that addresses real-world sales challenges and aligns with marketing goals. Regular communication between these departments can lead to more relevant and effective content.
For example, this collaboration will inform whether you need to focus on external sales enablement content or if your sales teams need more internal materials.
Step five: Incorporate data and analytics
Use data and analytics to refine your sales enablement content strategy. Track performance metrics like engagement rates, conversion rates, and feedback from sales reps to understand what works and what doesn’t. Data-driven insights help you make informed decisions and optimize your content for better results.
Sales enablement tips and best practices
Focusing on these strategies and best practices can help you build a robust sales enablement content strategy that drives engagement and conversions.
- Personalization. Personalize your sales content to cater to specific segments of your audience. Generic content can often miss the mark, while personalized content addresses individual needs and increases engagement. Use CRM data to tailor your messaging and offers.
- Regular updates. Sales enablement content should be regularly updated to stay relevant. Market conditions, customer preferences, and competitive landscapes change over time, so ensure your content reflects the latest information and trends to maintain its effectiveness.
- Consistent branding. Maintain consistent branding across all your sales enablement content (message maps, hello!). Consistency in tone, style, and visual elements reinforces your brand identity and builds trust with your audience. This consistency also helps your sales team present a unified front.
- Cross-functional collaboration. Foster cross-functional collaboration within your organization. Involve other departments, such as your marketing team, product management, customer service, and operations, in the content creation process. Their insights can enrich your content, making it more comprehensive and accurate.
[Bonus] Distribution, access, and how to measure impact
Effectively distributing your sales enablement content and ensuring easy access for your sales team is crucial for maximizing its utility and catering to your potential customer base. Additionally, measuring the impact of these sales enablement resources helps you refine your strategy and boost sales over time.
Use centralized repositories
Centralized repositories serve as a single source of truth for all your sales enablement content. Storing all documents, templates, and resources in one place makes it easy for your sales team to find and use the content they need.
This approach also ensures that everyone uses the most up-to-date versions, maintaining consistency across the board.
Tip: Store all sales enablement content in centralized repositories. This ensures easy access and consistency for your sales team.
Ensure mobile accessibility
In today’s fast-paced business environment, mobile accessibility is essential. Ensure that your sales enablement content can be accessed on mobile devices, allowing your sales team to retrieve information and resources on the go.
Mobile-friendly content improves flexibility and responsiveness, enabling your team to engage with prospects effectively.
Tip: Make your sales enablement content accessible on mobile devices. This will enhance flexibility and allow your sales professionals to engage with prospects anytime, anywhere.
Integrate with CRM systems
Integrate your sales enablement content with your CRM system or sales management software to streamline workflows and provide seamless access to relevant content during the sales enablement process.
This integration helps your sales teams work more quickly and find and use the suitable materials at the right time, improving efficiency and effectiveness.
Tip: Integrate sales enablement content with your CRM system. Seamless access to marketing content during the sales process enhances efficiency and effectiveness.
Update and implement version control
Update your sales enablement content regularly to ensure it remains relevant and accurate. Implementing version control helps track changes and maintain the integrity of your sales content, as does having a sales enablement platform (you could also consider sales enablement tools to support your org).
Tip: Regularly update your sales enablement content and implement version control. This ensures your materials remain relevant and reflect the latest market trends.
Measure the impact of your sales enablement materials
Measuring the impact of your sales enablement content is critical for understanding its effectiveness and making data-driven improvements.
- Engagement analytics. Analyze engagement metrics like content views, downloads, and shares to measure content usage. High engagement levels suggest that the sales content is valuable and relevant. These analytics help you identify the most effective materials and the ones that need improvement.
- Feedback from sales teams. Gather feedback directly from your sales teams to understand how they are using the sales content and what improvements can be made. Their frontline experience provides valuable insights into the practical utility of your content. Don’t let your sales professional feel alone in this process–their feedback is essential for creating truly effective sales content.
- ROI analysis. Conduct an ROI analysis to assess the financial impact of your sales enablement efforts. Compare creating and distributing content costs with the revenue generated from improved sales performance. This analysis helps justify investment in sales enablement initiatives.
Start building your sales enablement strategy today!
Creating an effective sales enablement content strategy requires a thorough understanding of your audience, strategic alignment with the buying process, and seamless collaboration between sales and marketing teams.
That’s the theory, but.
What types of sales enablement content do you need to create? As we have seen, it really depends on what your sales organization is focusing on. It can be sales materials such as sales presentations, something pretty standard as a sales script, or a more complex sales playbook.
In the end, the right sales enablement content empowers your sales professional teams to build a solid sales pipeline and ultimately close more sales.
No matter what content you create, you should always use competitive intelligence to understand your market, target audience, and competition. This will help you tailor your content to better resonate with potential buyers and stand out from the competition.
Use Unkover to monitor your competitors’ content and sales strategies, gather insights, and stay ahead of the game. Grab your free trial today.
FAQs
Below are some frequently asked questions about sales enablement and how to implement it in your organization effectively.
What is a sales enablement kit?
A sales enablement kit (or sales playbook) is a collection of sales assets, resources, and tools designed to support sales teams throughout the selling process. This kit typically includes product information, competitive analysis, case studies, email templates, sales presentations, and training documentation. The goal is to equip sales reps with everything they need to engage prospects, address objections, and close deals efficiently.
What is sales enablement collateral?
Sales collateral refers to the content and resources created to aid sales teams in their efforts to sell more effectively. This includes items like brochures, white papers, slide decks, one-pagers, and videos. These materials are used to educate prospects, highlight product benefits, and provide evidence of success through case studies and testimonials. High-quality sales collateral helps build trust and credibility with potential buyers.
How to organize sales enablement content?
Organizing sales enablement content involves creating a structured repository to access and update all materials easily. A centralized platform or content management system (CMS) can be used to store and categorize documents by type, purpose, and stage of the customer journey. Ensure that materials are tagged appropriately for quick searchability. Regularly review and update the content to keep it relevant and ensure version control to maintain consistency.
How to build a sales enablement strategy?
Building a sales enablement strategy requires a systematic approach aligning with your business goals. Start by understanding your target audience and the specific challenges they face. Develop content that addresses these pain points and supports each stage of the buyer’s journey. Foster collaboration between sales and marketing teams to ensure alignment. Incorporate data and analytics to track performance and refine your strategy based on insights. Regular training and feedback loops will help keep the strategy dynamic and effective.
Why is sales enablement content important?
Sales enablement content is essential because it equips sales organizations with the resources and information they need to engage prospects effectively as they progress down the sales funnel. It provides them with a valuable sales playbook that can include product information, case studies, or internal content like training materials so your reps can target the sales conversation effectively.
With slight modifications, some of the existing marketing content can be used for sales enablement. For instance, a blog post can serve as educational content to help buyers get an overview of the problem that your product addresses and why it’s important to act now.
Additionally, well-crafted enablement content ensures consistency in messaging, builds credibility, and supports each stage of the sales cycle–you address prospects’ concerns and demonstrate real-world benefits; it helps each sales rep work more efficiently and confidently, ultimately driving boost conversions and revenue growth.
What is the difference between internal sales enablement content and external sales enablement content?
Internal sales enablement content is designed to train and support your sales professionals within the organization. It includes materials like training manuals, onboarding guides, internal best practices, talk tracks, and sales scripts. This content helps sales reps develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.
External sales enablement content is created to engage prospects and clients. External content includes sales materials such as product brochures, case studies, white papers, presentations, and demo videos. The right sales enablement content for external use aims to educate buyers, demonstrate value, and address objections.
Sales leaders focus on ensuring that both types of content are well-organized and accessible, empowering each sales rep with the tools they need to drive successful sales outcomes.