When sales and marketing alignment meets real-time enablement

If revenue teams described 2020 in a single word, they would probably choose “pivot.” Sales teams had to quickly adapt to virtual sales and work to move deals forward in new and different ways.

Now, the world is opening more and more each day, and we revenue teams find ourselves facing a quick-moving global market. Expectations were already high — they’ll likely only be higher.

After a year of pivoting, we must pivot again. So, how do we meet the moment?

We get even more intentional around alignment, working together around the same goals to make it through another period of change.

That’s where real-time enablement comes in.

Real-Time Enablement for Sales and Marketing Alignment … Why Now?

Real-time enablement means creating a better buying experience for both customers and sellers. The backbone is modern technology, helping to capture key moments during live conversations, provide in-the-moment coaching, and deliver critical sales content exactly when reps need it.

It’s been on the radar of revenue teams everywhere for some time now. So, why do sales and marketing teams need it now more than ever?

We already mentioned the quick-moving global market. Businesses develop new products at a rapid pace, competition seems to emerge overnight, and internal positioning shifts to match customers’ evolving needs. It’s not enough for marketing to package content, revenue enablement teams to train on it, and then sales to go into the field with it. Everyone must move faster.

It’s not only about moving faster, though. It’s about putting buyers at the center of the conversation and strategy, as our own global innovation evangelist Mary Shea recently shared. How? By helping reps understand next best actions to take, while marketing and sales leaders better understand how customers respond — all backed by the most innovative sales technologies.

When buyers are at the center of the conversation, everyone speaks the same language. And greater speed comes from speaking that language at the same time. This combination gives revenue teams a true competitive edge over their competition.

3 Ways Real-Time Enablement Tees Up Sales and Marketing Alignment

We’ve talked about how real-time enablement helps scale sales coaching, and we’ve shared tips to align sales and marketing strategy. Now, let’s dive into what happens when real-time enablement meets sales and marketing alignment.

1. It puts buyers at the center of the conversation.

Often, sales teams work reactively. Sometimes it’s a question a rep can’t answer in the moment. Other times, it’s a sales manager analyzing red flags from one of their reps’ prospect meetings.

Whatever the case, revenue teams want to work proactively to deliver a better customer experience. And buyers expect it, especially since their consumer experiences have shifted their attitudes.

With real-time enablement, every customer conversation is more productive.

Sales gets access to the latest, most relevant enablement content during live meetings to effectively answer customer questions on cue. Sales managers gain more insight from every customer experience to sharpen coaching. And buyers have a better overall experience. It’s a win-win.

2. Agility and speed to market are clear.

What does it look like when marketing releases new product messaging to the public?

In the “before” picture without real-time enablement, it means everyone is on a different page. Sales enablement may not have time to train reps on the new messaging until weeks later. Meanwhile, customers bombard sales and customer success teams with questions about the product press release they just saw.

With real-time enablement, field teams already have on-demand access to the product messaging in the moment they need it, regardless of whether they received formal training.

Sales and marketing can now operate on a predictable process. Marketing incorporates the latest talking points into sales pitch decks, scripts, and materials. Sales knows they’ll have the right content in hand, and they can answer customer questions because they know the highlights from the press release. And enablement can deliver training and reinforcement on their terms. 

3. There are fewer gaps in the feedback loop.

Every team wants to have strong feedback loops. But the process often has lags or gaps, especially when teams feel under pressure.

With real-time enablement, every member gains visibility into what’s working (or what’s not). For example, revenue teams can see precisely how reps are communicating the value proposition and gauge how customers respond. Then, marketing can finesse the messaging before it even hits external channels because they’ve vetted it with sales first. And everyone can see which actions drove the strongest results.

Ultimately, the feedback loop is more effective.

How real-time enablement changes the way we operate

Modern revenue teams get that we can’t operate in the same way we always have. Adopting real-time enablement has the power to elevate every member of the revenue team and the buyer experience.