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ENABLEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 Introduction 19 Lead Nurturing & Qualifications
Today, the understanding of Sales Enablement seems much clearer. Many organizations are placing a heavy emphasis on sales
and marketing alignment, and Sales Enablement has proven an effective strategy for achieving better alignment and facilitating
better performance, which generates measurable results. Anyone who is part of the marketing or sales community has probably
observed that the Sales Enablement strategy has gained traction in the past few years. Where it once might have seemed like
a fad, Sales Enablement as a business strategy seems to have earned legitimacy, with an increasing number of
organizations committing to it.
Sales Enablement is a cross-functional discipline that links corporate business goals with tactical execution on the sales and
marketing front. Skura and Demand Metric collaborated to field a study that examined the extent to which organizations
are using Sales Enablement, what best practices are in use and what benefits the strategy is delivering. The results of
that study are contained in this report.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Half of this study’s participants identified as marketers, and a vast majority were in B2B organizations, of which slightly over half
reported revenue growth in the most recently completed fiscal year.
While the commitment to a Sales Enablement strategy varies, 83% of the organizations in this study have implemented it
to some degree.
The most common reasons companies in this study cited for not having a Sales Enablement function are lack of staff,
budget, systems or technology.
Organizations in this study that are mostly or totally committed to Sales Enablement experience fewer challenges with
getting sales representatives to use marketing content.
A strong commitment to Sales Enablement results in better sales and marketing alignment, a better understanding of the
buyer’s journey and more accurate market/competitive knowledge.
The sales team is included in the creation process for customer-facing materials by almost two-thirds of organizations
with a strong commitment to Sales Enablement. With weak or no commitment to Sales Enablement, this collaboration
occurs in less than half of organizations studied.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
When marketing often or always includes sales in the content creation process, almost half the time content consumption data
is shared well. When collaboration around content creation is rare, the sharing of content consumption data occurs
well for only 14% of the organizations studied.
When the sharing of content consumption data occurs well, the content that marketing produces for lead
generation, nurturing and qualification is effective in 78% of the cases this study examined. When this data sharing
doesn’t occur well, the content effectiveness rating drops to 49%.
The top benefits of Sales Enablement are capturing a greater number of leads, greater sales and marketing
collaboration and a higher conversion rate of leads to qualified leads.
This report details the results and insights from the analysis of the study data. For more detail on the survey participants, please
refer to the Appendix.
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SALES ENABLEMENT COMMITMENT
Figure 1: Few organizations have no commitment to Sales Enablement.
One of the first things the study examined was the level of
Commitment to Sales Enablement Strategy
commitment to a Sales Enablement strategy.
40%
The results are shown in Figure 1.
30%
The study reveals that 83% of the population surveyed
31% have some level of commitment to a Sales Enablement
28% strategy, and over half the population identify themselves
24% as mostly or totally committed.
20%
There was no relationship between a commitment to Sales
Enablement and company size as measured by annual
10% revenue: companies and organizations of all sizes are
9% 8% embracing the strategy.
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SALES ENABLEMENT COMMITMENT
Figure 2: The classic barriers of staff, budget, systems or technology are cited as the top reasons
for the absence of Sales Enablement.
While the strategy seems to claim more adherents in this
Reasons for Lack of Sales Enablement 2015 study than in 2013, there are still companies that don’t
have the function. The reasons why appear in Figure 2.
Don't have the staff or budget 38%
What’s notable about the distribution of responses in Figure
Don't have the systems or
technology 38% 2 is first that there is no, single dominant reason for the
What we're doing now is working absence of Sales Enablement in a company. Furthermore,
25%
fine
the top two reasons given – staff or budget and
No management support 25% systems or technology – reflect a view of Sales
Enablement as headcount and infrastructure, not as
Don't understand what Sales
Enablement is 25% process and culture.
Don't believe the benefits are there 13%
There is no question that Sales Enablement is aided by
Reps don't use digital content to
make sales 13% technology, and many companies that have committed to
the function dedicate staff and resources to it. But Sales
Organizations "silos" are barriers 0% Enablement is first a strategic, cultural commitment to
better align sales and marketing.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Figure 4: A commitment to Sales Enablement mitigates some of the more serious challenges organizations face with getting sales reps to use marketing content.
Content not tailored to buyer’s decision journey stage 39% 24% 15%
2015 Sales Enablement Benchmark Study, Demand Metric, September 2015, n=131
The negative impact of these four challenges in Figure 4 for getting sales representatives to use marketing content is
softened considerably when a strong commitment to Sales Enablement exists. Curiously, this strong commitment
doesn’t mitigate every challenge shown in Figure 3: getting sales representatives to buy into the idea of using content
marketing is higher. This is a challenge easily swept aside by metrics that prove results.
CONTENT CHALLENGES & OUTCOMES
Figure 5: Comparison of the outcomes of Sales Enablement collaboration.
The collaboration fostered by Sales Enablement initiatives
Outcome of Sales Enablement Collaboration can produce new tools, information and assets. The study
Mostly/Totally Partially measured what this collaboration is producing. Figure 5
66% shows a comparison between respondents with just a
Better sales & marketing alignment
46% partial commitment to Sales Enablement to those who
More relevant messaging 61%
62% are mostly or totally committed.
Better understanding of buyer's journey 58%
49%
More accurate market/competitive 58%
knowledge 41% The surprises in the data represented by Figure 5 come in
Better content assets 54%
51%
two areas. The first has to do with the relative importance
New product or feature ideas 46% of the outcomes depicted. While the respondents who are
24%
Sharing/engaging buyers thru any 42% just partially committed to Sales Enablement and those who
channel with all content 30%
41% are mostly or totally committed have the same top five list
More comprehensive personas
35% of outcomes, their order is very different.
Awareness into content usage by sales 39%
reps & buyers 35%
34%
All content fully searchable & findable
22% Partially Committed to Sales Enablement:
Every type of content usable by field 31%
sales reps 19%
1. Better sales/marketing alignment 3. More accurate market/competitive knowledge 5. Better content assets
This comparison represents the order in which these outcomes are experienced by companies on either side of the commitment
divide. It’s important to see what ranks at the top of the list for those that are mostly/totally committed: Better sales/marketing
alignment. This is major feature of the strategy, and better alignment leads to a series of cascading outcomes.
The second surprise from Figure 5 is the delta between some of the outcomes, with the biggest gaps shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6: The most significant outcome gaps from Figure 5.
Outcomes from Collaboration Fostered Frequency for Partial Frequency for Mostly or Total
Gap
by Sales Enablement Commitment Commitment
New product or feature ideas 24% 46% 22%
Better sales/marketing alignment 46% 66% 20%
More accurate market/competitive knowledge 41% 58% 17%
Every type of content usable by field sales reps 19% 31% 12%
All content is fully searchable & findable 22% 34% 12%
Share/engage buyers w/ all channels & content 30% 42% 12%
2015 Sales Enablement Benchmark Study, Demand Metric, September 2015, n=131
CONTENT CHALLENGES & OUTCOMES
The analysis of the data from Figure 5 reveals some compelling differences in achieving outcomes from Sales Enablement.
When there is a strong commitment to it, sales and marketing alignment improves, paving the way for other valuable
outcomes in the form of tools, information and assets. As Figure 6 shows, there are also big differences in the rate at which
some of these outcomes are experienced.
Organizations that have a firm commitment to Sales Enablement face fewer challenges in getting sales representatives to use
marketing content in their sales efforts. The tools, information and assets that are the outcomes of the collaboration
fostered by Sales Enablement initiatives are superior in almost every case, and often by a wide margin.
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CONTENT CREATION & USAGE
Figure 7: Marketing teams in organizations firmly committed to Sales Enablement are far more
likely to own the content creation mission.
2015 Sales Enablement Benchmark Study, Demand Metric, September 2015, n=131
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CONTENT CREATION & USAGE
Figure 8: A commitment to Sales Enablement results in greater sales involvement in the creation of
the materials they use.
Sales Enablement fosters collaboration between the
Sales Inclusion in Creation of Customer Materials
sales and marketing teams, and content creation is
None/Partially Mostly/Totally
favorably impacted by this collaboration. Figure 8
50% shows the differences in how well marketing includes sales
in the creation of customer-facing materials based on the
40% 44% level of commitment to Sales Enablement.
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CONTENT CREATION & USAGE
Figure 9: The effectiveness of content consumption data sharing varies greatly based on how well
marketing includes sales in the content creation process.
Very well
8%
0%
A key part of the dialogue that ideally occurs between
41%
Well
14%
sales and marketing is the sharing of data about how
28% the sales team consumes the content that marketing
Neutral
47% creates. Closing the loop on communicating this content
19% consumption data is critical to helping the rest of the sales
Poorly
28% team perform better.
Very poorly
0%
5% The ease with which this data is shared is related to how
Data not used or 4% well marketing includes sales in content creation (Figure 8).
captured 3%
Figure 9 shows how well consumption data is being
0%
I don't know
3% captured and shared.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
2015 Sales Enablement Benchmark Study, Demand Metric, September 2015, n=131
Organizations that have a firm commitment to Sales Enablement are much more likely to see marketing own the
content creation mission, include sales in the creation of content and share data about how that content is consumed.
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MANAGING CONTENT
Figure 10: No content management method dominates this list of approaches.
The content mission encompasses more than just the work
Primary Content Management Approach for Reps of collaboration and creation – it also must include a
management and distribution strategy. The best quality
Cloud system 22% content that an organization can produce is of no value if it
is inaccessible. The content management function,
Email 22% therefore, concerns itself with storing, distributing and
managing the currency of content.
CRM or Sales Force
Automation system 18%
It’s very typical for companies in the beginning to not have
Intranet 17% a formalized content management/distribution strategy. As
the content repository grows, the lack of strategy and
Dedicated sales content
management system 9% infrastructure in this area complicates accessing and using
content for sales reps in the field. Figure 10 shows the
Personal hard drives 9% primary way that reps are managing content in the field.
Other method 3% Of the options listed in Figure 10, email is primarily a
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
distribution channel and not designed as a repository. Other
options, such as cloud system, intranet or personal hard
drive, are storage solutions. Neither category of
2015 Sales Enablement Benchmark Study, Demand Metric, September 2015, n=131
approaches is likely to provide critical functions, such
as version control or usage analytics (both critical
to content currency and understanding usage).
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MANAGING CONTENT
Figure 11: Just one attribute is present in these systems more than half of the time.
For those participants that indicated a primary management
Content Management System Attributes approach of CRM, Sales Force Automation or a dedicated
sales content management system, Figure 11 shows the
Content is relevant 57% frequency of the key attributes of these solutions.
Content is current 48%
Works seamlessly on all devices 38% Each attribute listed in Figure 11 is desirable and useful.
All file formats supported 38% This list identifies the presence and frequency of these
Content repository is integrated
with CRM 38% attributes. The top two attributes pertain to relevant and
Content is easy to find 33% current content, and are directly related to content quality.
Content consumption is The next four items relate to content accessibility. The
tracked/analyzed 29%
insight that this order provides is that current systems
Feedback mechanisms exist 29% seem to stress quality first and accessibility second.
Outdated content is appropriately
retired 24%
Complete functionality on and
offline 19% In the middle of the list, the attribute, “content consumption
Content ratings are available 19% is tracked/analyzed” is one of the most important. Without
Rich content for all stages of
buyer's journey 10% this consumption data, attempts to improve content can
0% 20% 40% 60%
only occur using intuition and guesswork. Also a concern is
that “rich content for all stages of the buyer’s journey” is last
on this list. Marketers are increasingly expected to own
2015 Sales Enablement Benchmark Study, Demand Metric, September 2015, n=131
marketing through every stage of the customer
lifecycle. Support for doing this is mission
critical for the modern marketing organization.
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LEAD NURTURING & QUALIFICATION
Figure 12: This marketing content effectiveness assessment is fairly evenly divided between
ineffective/neutral and effective.
2015 Sales Enablement Benchmark Study, Demand Metric, September 2015, n=131
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LEAD NURTURING & QUALIFICATION
Figure 13 shows the data sharing impact on the lead process depicted in Figure 12.
Figure 13: Effective data sharing leads to greater content effectiveness in the lead process.
Content for Lead Gen, Content for Lead Gen, Content for Lead Gen,
Content Consumption Data
Nurturing & Qualification is Nurturing & Qualification is Nurturing & Qualification is
Sharing Effectiveness
INEFFECTIVE NEUTRAL EFFECTIVE
2015 Sales Enablement Benchmark Study, Demand Metric, September 2015, n=131
Once the sales team has taken over a lead, it is ideal for marketing-created content to continue influencing the buyer
and progressing the decision journey to a favorable close.
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LEAD NURTURING & QUALIFICATION
Figure 14: Slightly over half of the study’s participants report the effectiveness of marketing content
after sales assumes ownership of a lead is neutral to very ineffective.
50%
10%
This collaboration occurs well for almost two-thirds of
12% organizations committed to Sales Enablement, but only
3% 4%
5% occasionally to never just over half the time in the
0% absence of that commitment.
I don't know Very ineffective Ineffective Neutral Effective Very effective
2015 Sales Enablement Benchmark Study, Demand Metric, September 2015, n=131
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LEAD NURTURING & QUALIFICATION
Figure 15* shows the impact that including sales in the creation of content has on the effectiveness of marketing-created content
as summarized in Figure 14.
Figure 15: Up-front collaboration produces content effectiveness late in the buying cycle.
2015 Sales Enablement Benchmark Study, Demand Metric, September 2015, n=131
Over half of the organizations studied report that marketing-created content used by sales late in the buying cycle is
effective when sales was included in the creation of that content. Without that up-front collaboration, the effectiveness of
marketing content plummets to 21%. These results should surprise no one, but despite the intuitive nature of this relationship
between collaboration and content effectiveness, the numbers in Figure 15 are still startling.
22 *The rows in Figure 15 don’t sum to 100% because the “I don’t know” responses were omitted.
BENEFITS
Figure 16: A comprehensive list of benefits derived from any level of Sales Enablement commitment.
2015 Sales Enablement Benchmark Study, Demand Metric, September 2015, n=131
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BENEFITS
The gap for the rate at which three of the benefits listed in Figure 16 are realized averages 19% based on commitment
level, as Figure 17 summarizes.
Figure 17: A strong commitment to Sales Enablement makes a pronounced difference in the rate at which these benefits – all related to revenue – are experienced.
2015 Sales Enablement Benchmark Study, Demand Metric, September 2015, n=131
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ANALYST BOTTOM LINE
As Figure 16 shows, the benefits of Sales Enablement are wide-ranging. What matters more than the impressive list of benefits,
however, is the way they impact the organization: many are tied directly to revenue, which means there is a convincing
business case with precise ROI. This study confirms that Sales Enablement is more than just a strategy to embrace because it’s
the right thing to do; it’s a function with proven benefits that directly affect a firm’s ability to generate revenue. Its impact is
felt on the bottom line.
Where once the justification for committing to Sales Enablement was mostly built on principle, there is now solid evidence of the
financial impact it has. This impact is realized in the way that a successful Sales Enablement function helps knit the sales
and marketing teams together, and along the seam that joins them is content. When that seam is strong, there is
collaboration around creating content and the sharing of data about how it is used. This content feedback loop helps ensure that
the sales team is equipped with the right content to enable valuable, productive sales conversations. It allows for sales reps to
spend their time selling rather than looking for or creating their own content.
Here’s what organizations must do in order to get the benefits this study attributes to Sales Enablement.
Be “all in” on Sales Enablement. Just sticking a toe in the Sales Enablement pool is not enough to get the benefits. The
companies in this study that are “all in” are the ones seeing the best results. Commit the necessary resources to the Sales
Enablement initiative if you want to get the full set of benefits. If no one owns the function, and there is no measurement or
accountability, it is unreasonable to expect any of the outcomes this report discusses.
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ANALYST BOTTOM LINE
Approach Sales Enablement as a process. Sales Enablement is not just another box on the organizational chart. As a
process, its inputs include people and systems. Equipping the people that manage the process with the systems to enable
their work and its measurement is a critical success factor for Sales Enablement. Allocate enough time during the process
implementation phase to ensure that the systems planned for use are integrated with CRM and marketing automation platforms.
Of equal importance is to have systems that facilitate the storing, finding, distributing – and most importantly – the
tracking of key metrics.
Close the loop. This study has shown that many of the benefits of Sales Enablement are linked to a content feedback loop that
works. The start of this loop is the involvement of the sales team in the creation of customer-facing content, but it doesn’t end
there. The deployment of content for use by sales must always include mechanisms for capturing and sharing content
consumption data. Marketing must then use this data to learn how well content is working in the field, and use the
insights from that data to constantly improve the content it creates. Technology can significantly aid and abet this
feedback loop. The larger and more dynamic marketing content libraries are, the more important it is to have a closed-loop
process for content creation and feedback.
A strong commitment to Sales Enablement pays off in a big way where content is concerned, and this study has detailed
many of those benefits. But while better content that is more relevant, easier to find and use and with consumption feedback
flowing to marketing is major advancement for many companies, it’s not the end game.
Companies really don’t want these content advantages – they want what these content advantages will get them: sales teams
that can spend more time focusing on customers, and customers who are more engaged as a result. Sales Enablement
is the means to this end.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Demand Metric is grateful to Skura for sponsoring this benchmarking study and for those participants that took the time to
provide their input to it.
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ABOUT SKURA
Skura is empowering the next generation of sales reps. The Skura SFX™ platform is the first to offer adaptive sales enablement,
providing unprecedented visibility and insight throughout the entire sales process.
Skura SFX enables sales and marketing executives to engage with customers across all channels and devices – from a single
platform – providing accountability and measurement across the entire sales cycle. This platform offers next-generation predictive
analytics, ensuring the right message reaches the right person at the right time, increasing sales and customer success.
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ABOUT DEMAND METRIC
Demand Metric is a marketing research and advisory firm serving a membership community of over 70,000 marketing
professionals and consultants in 75 countries.
Offering consulting methodologies, advisory services, and 500+ premium marketing tools and templates, Demand Metric
resources and expertise help the marketing community plan more efficiently and effectively, answer the difficult questions about
their work with authority and conviction and complete marketing projects more quickly and with greater confidence, boosting the
respect of the marketing team and making it easier to justify resources the team needs to succeed.
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APPENDIX: SURVEY BACKGROUND
This 2015 Sales Enablement Benchmark Study survey was administered online during the period of August 31 through
September 16, 2015. During this period, 143 responses were collected, 131 of which were complete enough for inclusion in the
analysis. The representativeness of these results depends on the similarity of the sample to environments in which this survey
data is used for comparison or guidance.
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Benchmark Report