Sales Enablement Turns Good Leads Into Great Leads

At RVLVR, we’ve had the opportunity to lead countless go-to-market teams, and many have one thing in common – a disconnect between the sales team and the marketing team.

The sales team claims the leads are junk.
The marketing team claims no one follows up on the leads.

In all honesty, both sides are right. But we’re not here to take sides. Let’s look at it from the lead’s perspective. After all, they should be at the center of everything you do.

The lead has spent hours, if not days, learning about possible solutions to their problems. They’ve learned about the industry and the options available to them. They’ve looked in depth at your website (and your competitors’). They may have even read what others are saying about you and your solution.

When they get to the point where they reach out to ask for a conversation, they want to keep moving forward. But what does the sales team get? A name and maybe some very general information (i.e. “This lead MIGHT be interested in buying SOMETHING”), so when the salesperson calls, they can’t continue the lead’s journey. They can only start from the beginning—and the lead doesn’t want to. The lead will ghost the salesperson to find someone on the same page.

And you’re back to the same old tune:

Both sides are right.

A lead without context and guided next steps is junk.
A lead without context and guided next steps won’t be followed up on.

So, what do you do?

You need to connect the sales team and the marketing team using modern sales enablement. In addition to making sure that the sales team is informed about the campaign and equipped with the tools they need to convert, you need to make sure the leads are always handed off with context and guided next steps.

There are 4 key elements to modern sales enablement:

PREPARATION

The sales team needs to be educated about the campaign—its message and tactics—so they can stay aligned. You have to do more than tell the sales team about the campaign. They need to fully understand the messaging, assets, and target list.

CONTEXT

The sales team needs to know the lead’s engagement, journey, and propensity—what they’ve already learned about and experienced, and what they likely need and want to learn next. If you’re only sharing a lead’s contact information, you are missing important context. Tell the sales team which emails the lead responded to, what ad they clicked on, and how often the lead visited.

GUIDANCE

While the sales team might have proven methods of nurturing a lead, additional actions that help the lead further their journey should also be provided in the handoff. Offering action prompts and even copy for messages that they can tailor is a great way to help the sales team stay on message.

TOOLS

The sales team needs easy-to-access, easy-to-use, impactful sales tools in one place. Be sure to share the same high-value assets offered in the campaign with the sales team. If you can, share relevant sales tools or additional assets they can use with the contact during follow-up.

If it sounds like the marketing team is the one on the hook for these 4 elements, you’re right to some degree. But when sales enablement is done correctly, the sales team feels empowered to convert leads. It’s not a marketing versus sales thing. When the lead feels heard and nurtured, everyone wins—sales, marketing, and the lead.

At RVLVR, we’ve built a sales enablement component that is an extension of your marketing campaign. This makes it easy to see an overview of the campaign, visualize data about the lead’s journey, provide guided sales actions, and house the most important resources the team will need all in one place. Clients who use our sales enablement platform report higher conversions, more engaged sales teams, and happier leads.

With modern sales enablement in place, sales conversations no longer sound like cold calls, but rather the natural progression for a lead who is looking to learn more and ready to commit: