6 Things About Sales Enablement Your Boss Wants to Know

No sales enablement project happens without the approval and buy-in of executive leadership. Time is valuable for executives, so how do you present a comprehensive plan without drowning them in the details?

For starters, make sure your message is focused on what’s most important and highlights what THEY care about.

Here are 6 things you should focus on when pitching your sales enablement plan to your boss.

Let’s start with the most important…

1. The Challenge

You may want to jump straight into the promise of this exciting solution and how it will make life easier for your sales reps, but hold off.

Like every good storyteller, you must start at the beginning- what is the specific problem and how does that problem impact them? If the pain of the problem and it’s affect on the organization is understood, you will have their full attention.

Stating the challenge clearly at the beginning of your presentation will help everyone get on the same page and understand exactly what you are targeting.

2. The Solution

The next logical step is to outline how that challenge will be solved. For this pitch, keep the message high-level. Briefly go over the value of the solution and how it will address the key issues.

Deeper conversations will follow if the solution seems like a good fit and that is the time for details. Try to keep your initial proposal focused on the big picture unless your boss asks questions and wants to dive deeper.

3. The Outcome(s)

This is where you need to be prepared and have done your research. Who else has tried this approach? How did it work? Where has it failed? What are the expected outcomes and your benchmarks for success? If you are working with a sales enablement vendor, they should be able to provide you with metrics or case studies. If you’re proposing a self-made solution, this portion may be more difficult. Make sure you know the expected ROI before walking into this conversation.

SEE ALSO: Best Practices for a Successful Sales Enablement Software Implementation: Part 1 The Ramp Up

4. Needed Resources

Who will be responsible for executing your plan? What does this team look like and consist of? Will you have to work with other teams? Your boss will want to know who is going to be involved and who may need to come onboard.

Additionally, how much is this project going to cost? Not only the cost for any purchased solutions, but also the time the project is going to take and whether it’s worth it.

5. Impact Across the Entire Business

Expanding on the big picture outcome from your presentation, now is your opportunity to emphasize the tangibles the solution will bring to each team it impacts: sales reps, marketing, sales ops, sales training, the C-suite, etc. If you can prove your solution is good for the organization as a whole and a win for each individual group, how can they say no?

6. Anticipated Timeline / Roadmap

When will this project launch and more importantly, when will they start seeing results? If the initiative is planned in phases, now is the time to break down what to expect in terms of deliverables, effort, timeline and ROI. Setting expectations from the beginning will help mitigate any anxiety if the ROI is not immediate.

You may be reading this and thinking “that sounds like a lot of work and research!” The good news is you don’t have to do it alone. Give one of our sales enablement experts a call at 1-800-771-6011 for a free consultation to discuss what tools and processes would be a good fit for your business.