Welcome to the world of sales enablement, where strategic planning meets measurable success. In the competitive landscape of modern business, it’s no longer enough to rely on intuition or gut feelings when it comes to sales enablement initiatives.  Organizations with a defined sales enablement function see a 13.7% increase in deal size and see an 8.2% higher revenue growth rate. To truly maximize the impact of your efforts, it’s crucial to establish key performance metrics that provide actionable insights and drive continuous improvement.

It’s important to understand how to establish these metrics, when and how to define them, the types of metrics to consider, and who owns the creation and execution of sales enablement metrics. When an organization really invests in a sales enablement program, success, and growth are sure to follow. Sales enablement can lead to a 350% increase in content usage by sales reps.

So, let’s dive in and unlock the path to success!

When to Establish Metrics

Establishing metrics for sales enablement should be a priority from the very beginning. As you embark on your sales enablement journey, it’s important to define your goals and objectives. By setting clear expectations and outcomes, you create a foundation for measuring success. Whether you are launching a new product, entering a new market, or improving sales team performance, identifying and defining metrics early on will provide you with a roadmap for progress.

Why Establish Metrics:

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.
– Peter Drucker

Metrics play a crucial role in guiding decision-making, tracking progress, and evaluating the effectiveness of your sales enablement initiatives. Here are a few key reasons why establishing metrics is essential:

1. Data-Driven Decision Making: Metrics provide actionable data that helps you make informed decisions and optimize your sales enablement strategies. By tracking and analyzing metrics, you gain valuable insights into what’s working and what needs improvement, enabling you to make data-driven decisions that drive results.
2. Accountability and Measurement: Metrics provide a clear way to measure and evaluate the success of your sales enablement efforts. They allow you to hold teams accountable, set benchmarks, and identify areas for improvement. With defined metrics, you can quantify the impact of your initiatives and demonstrate the value of sales enablement to stakeholders.
3. Continuous Improvement: Establishing metrics enables you to continually refine and enhance your sales enablement initiatives. By tracking progress over time, you can identify trends, patterns, and best practices that lead to improved performance. Metrics serve as a compass, guiding you toward continuous improvement and growth.

How to Establish Metrics

Establishing effective sales enablement metrics requires a thoughtful and strategic approach. Here’s a step-by-step process to guide you:

1. Define Goals and Objectives: Start by clearly defining your sales enablement goals and objectives. What outcomes are you aiming to achieve? Be specific and align these goals with your overall business objectives.
2. Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Determine the key metrics that align with your goals and objectives. These should be measurable, relevant, and tied directly to the success of your sales enablement efforts. For example, if your goal is to increase sales revenue, relevant KPIs might include conversion rate, average deal size, or sales velocity.
3. Establish Baseline Metrics: Assess your current performance and establish baseline metrics. This provides a benchmark against which you can measure progress. It also helps you identify gaps and areas of improvement.
4. Track and Analyze Metrics: Implement a system to track and analyze your metrics. This can be done through CRM platforms, sales enablement software, or custom-built analytics solutions. Regularly review your metrics, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions to optimize your sales enablement strategies.

Types of Metrics to Consider

When it comes to establishing key performance metrics for sales enablement, there are a variety of quantitative metrics that can be important to include. These metrics can help you understand how well your sales team is performing and identify areas for improvement. Here are some examples:

Quantitative Metrics:

• Conversion Rate: The percentage of leads that convert into customers.
• Sales Cycle Length: The average time it takes to close a deal.
• Win Rate: The percentage of deals won compared to the total number of opportunities pursued.
• Average deal size: The amount of money an average customer spends on a solution.
• Revenue Growth: The increase in revenue over a specified period.
• ROI (Return on Investment): The financial return generated from sales enablement initiatives.
• CAC (Customer acquisition cos): The cost of acquiring a new customer.
• CLTV (Customer lifetime value): The total value of the customer over the course of their relationship with your company.

Qualitative Metrics:

• Sales rep feedback: Gather feedback from sales reps on the effectiveness of sales enablement resources and tools.
• Sales rep engagement and adoption: Evaluate how, when, and how much sales reps are engaging with sales enablement tools, if they are consistent in their use of these tools, and if there is buy-in to your sales enablement and training programs.
• Sales observations: Gather anecdotal evidence based on observations and feedback from sales managers and trainers.
• Content relevance: Assess the quality and relevance of sales enablement content through surveys or feedback sessions.
• Sales and marketing alignment: Measure the level of collaboration and alignment between sales and marketing teams.
• Customer satisfaction: Gather anecdotal evidence and case studies to assess the level of customer satisfaction to determine if bottom-of-the-funnel support needs to be improved.

Ownership of Sales Enablement Metrics

Creating and executing sales enablement metrics should be a collaborative effort between sales enablement, marketing, and sales operations teams. Companies with aligned sales and marketing teams see 36% higher customer retention rates. While sales enablement managers may take the lead in defining and tracking metrics, it’s important to involve stakeholders from other departments to ensure alignment and shared responsibility. Regular communication, collaboration, and feedback loops are key to success.

Measuring Success

To determine if you have achieved your sales enablement metrics, regularly evaluate and analyze the data you collect. Compare your actual results against your defined metrics and assess your progress. If you meet or exceed your metrics, celebrate your success and identify opportunities for further improvement. If you fall short, use the insights gained to identify areas for adjustment and take corrective actions.

Platforms to Simplify the Process

Sales reps spend only 35.9% of their time selling, while the rest is spent on administrative tasks and non-sales activities. Fortunately, several platforms and tools are available to streamline the process of establishing and tracking sales enablement metrics. CRM systems like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Microsoft Dynamics offer built-in analytics and reporting capabilities. Sales enablement platforms such as Highspot, Seismic, Content Camel, or Showpad provide comprehensive metrics and analytics specific to sales enablement activities. Sales enablement platforms are software tools that help organizations optimize their sales processes and improve sales performance. These platforms can include a range of features such as content management, sales training, analytics, and collaboration tools. By using a sales enablement platform, organizations can streamline their sales processes, improve communication between sales teams and customers, and ultimately drive more revenue. These platforms can significantly simplify the process and provide real-time visibility into the effectiveness of your sales enablement initiatives.

Conclusion:

Establishing key performance metrics for sales enablement is a crucial step toward driving success and achieving remarkable results. By defining clear goals, tracking relevant metrics, and leveraging the power of data, you can make informed decisions, measure progress, and continuously improve your sales enablement efforts. Remember, sales enablement is a dynamic process, and adapting your metrics over time is essential to stay aligned with your evolving goals. Embrace the power of metrics, collaborate across teams, and unlock the full potential of your sales enablement initiatives.