AMA: Mode Analytics Director of Product Marketing, Hien Phan on Sales Enablement

This is a tough question to answer because it is so multifaceted. So let's start with the basics when you are moving from product to platform, you're moving from selling one solution to selling multiple solutions. My first recommendation is to hire a separate role that focuses on Sales Enablement. The reason is that you will have to shift from application marketing to solution marketing and this also means shifting to solutions selling, and you will need someone who has a sales background.  If y ...Read More

This is a tough question to answer because this problem isn't all a PMM problem. This problem is also a sales organization problem. An SMB/Mid Market rep isn't an enterprise rep. A sales leader who only has managed SMB/Mid-market isn't an enterprise sales leader. However, you inherit what you inherit, so here are my recommendations. First, you will need to spend money to get a sales trainer who can train the sales team to sell to the enterprise. Second, make sure you as a PMM clearly define what ...Read More

This question will depend on the size of your org. Generally, sales enablement shouldn't just fall on one person, even though PMMs are most involved and get most of the requests. There are two models: (1) PMM as a function become a centralized place to get requests and you filter requests down to the owners: case studies - customer marketing, any campaigns - demand gen and field marketing, and anything product related - PMM. The second model will entail the PMM providing request instructions, wh ...Read More

I see a few issues: (1) not think about the sales process and the customer journey (CS version, not the marketing version). You need to think about when they will need collateral and what kind of collateral. This will help you with effectiveness. (2) build persona and product messaging without context, meaning just shipping an internal guide without thinking about the situations and scripts will not land. Anything you send out needs to be actionable and in the context of reps workflow (SDR, CS, ...Read More

There are two ways to measure the effectiveness of your content - qualitative and quantitatively. However, before you even build anything, you must understand when and where your sales collaterals are being used in the sales process or rather where and when does your sales team need collateral.  From a quantitative perspective, I would use software like Highspot, ShowPad to see how often they are sending content out, and whether your content is actually being view and shared by customers and pro ...Read More