sales
The “1, 2, 3, Not It!” of Digital Transformation
Digital transformation was a huge topic at the SiriusDecisions 2018 Summit earlier this month. If you’re not too familiar with the term, SiriusDecisions has an excellent definition: “the application of technology for business change.”
To dig deeper, SiriousDecisions identifies three specific types of business change that digital transformation enables:
- Relate: to change how a business interacts with the marketplace and customers
- Operate: to change the business’ operational systems and processes
- Evolve: to change the fundamental, core attributes of the business
We’d all agree that those three aspects of digital transformation can be positive, right?
So why is it that when we start talking about actually pursuing digital transformation, it becomes a game of “1, 2, 3, not it!” among marketing, sales, and management?
Everybody wants a piece of the digital transformation pie, but nobody wants to start baking.
So here’s the hard truth that we’ve all been avoiding: we’re all responsible. If you’re relying on one business sector to make real, impactful, positive change in the way the entire business relates to the marketplace, operates as a whole, or positions itself fundamentally, you’re setting everyone up for failure.
It’s hard work! It takes time, communication, effort, and a tiny bit of luck. After all, we’re talking about digital transformation here, not digital augmentation. It’s a significant shift in the way your business leverages technology.
Okay, so we’re all on the same page about all departments stepping up to the plate. But how does that even work for enterprise-level B2B organizations? Each department has its own technology, its own processes, and even its own fundamental attributes that all contribute to the whole. It’s simply unrealistic to try to standardize these disparate departments on the same technology, right? Right?
Difficult? Yes. Unrealistic? No.
That’s what sales enablement is all about. It’s the problem that sales enablement was invented to solve!
We’ve talked about the definition of digital transformation. Now let’s talk about the definition of sales enablement:
Sales enablement is the act of implementing strategies, tools and processes that continually increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your sales ecosystem.
We break down that definition in full detail here, but at a high level, does any of that sound familiar?
If digital transformation allows businesses to better relate, operate, and evolve, then sales enablement is the key method of enacting digital transformation.
So we know that it’s not unrealistic to standardize sales, marketing, and management on the same technology because we do it all the time.
One sales enablement platform brings together the data, content, processes, and tools from all your departments. It enables sharing of information and resources in a way that is effortless and natural for the end user. It breaks down siloes, reveals new opportunities to improve, and allows businesses to better define what they want to be and how they’re going to pursue change.
It is, simply put, incredible. And we love showing it just as much as we love talking about it, so please do your business a favor and take 15 minutes to walk through a demo with us. We’ll show you digital transformation in action.