SiriusDecisions, a leading global B2B research and advisory firm, surveyed over 200 B2B sales, sales enablement and sales operations leaders to understand the key obstacles to achieving revenue growth goals. A whopping 71 percent stated that it was the “inability of their reps to connect their offerings to the business issues of their buyers.”
“Sales enablement will need to work with product marketing to create messaging that resonates with line-of-business buyers—where business value is sold. Enablement will need to provide continuous learning, coupled with a rigorous certification process, to ensure reps are competent and confident in their ability to have these conversations,” says Jim Ninivaggi, Service Director of Sales Enablement Strategies for SiriusDecisions.
In the same study, 65 percent of respondents shared that one of their biggest challenges is that “reps spent too much time on non-sales activities.” Also cited as concerns going forward: finding and onboarding sales talent, and continuing to build programs that nurture second-year reps. “High voluntary and involuntary turnover of early-tenured reps can have a devastating negative impact on sales productivity. Minimizing that turnover is a key objective for sales enablement,” Ninivaggi states.
