Medium- to large-sized companies typically have a sales enablement team that focuses on this exact problem. In a smaller company, sales enablement often falls on product marketing. In that case, how can you make sales enablement work?
- Collaborate closely with sales leadership. Make sure that the sales tools you're producing will actually help sellers.
- Make sure that your sales tools are self-explanatory (in spite of recommendation #4). Include clear and concise messaging, answers to any questions or objections they may encounter, and frequently asked questions. Include detailed speaker notes on presentations. (I can't believe I have to say this, but I see slides delivered with no notes all the time!)
- For anything that you expect a seller to read out loud, read it out loud yourself. Multiple times. Get rid of tech jargon and wordy descriptions that don't roll off the tongue.
- Test sales tools with a few key sellers before rolling them out.
- Do a live training. Recruit a seller to co-present with you and encourage questions. Record the session for those who can't make it.
- Answer your email and Slack messages when people ask for help! Better yet, create Slack groups dedicated to specific types of sales tools (e.g. competitive-plays, sales-play-1).
- Encourage feedback and release new versions on a regular basis (but not so frequently that people lose track of what the latest version is).