In an organization aiming to develop a superpower in sales enablement, multiple roles are required to create an institutional capability that drives success. The McKinsey Article linked below emphasizes the importance of building organizational capabilities through a combination of people, processes, and technology. In the context of sales enablement, this involves establishing a strong team with clear roles and responsibilities to ensure effectiveness and efficiency.
The McKinsey piece highlights the significance of developing an organizational superpower to differentiate a company from its competitors. In the context of sales enablement, this means building an institutional capability that optimizes the sales process, fosters collaboration between departments, and utilizes cutting-edge technology and data-driven strategies.
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/whats-your-superpower-how-companies-can-build-an-institutional-capability-to-achieve-competitive-advantage#/
By focusing on sales enablement as a superpower, a company can create a lasting edge that leads to consistent outperformance, growth, and competitive advantage over time. This involves investing in people, processes, and technology, as well as fostering a culture that embraces change and supports the development of a strong sales enablement strategy. By aligning the key roles mentioned earlier and incorporating the McKinsey insights on building organizational capabilities, companies can establish sales enablement as a distinctive and enduring strength, setting themselves apart from their competitors.
Key roles needed for Sales Enablement, in line with the McKinsey insights and from the Sales Enablement Roles Matrix, include:
- Senior Management: Responsible for overseeing revenue generation across teams and ensuring sales enablement strategies align with the company’s overall goals.
- Product Management: This role should take ownership of sales enablement by working closely with the sales team and providing the necessary tools, resources, and training to support sales efforts.
- Sales Operations: A crucial role in supporting the sales enablement process by managing data, analytics, and processes, thus allowing senior management to focus on strategic decision-making.
- Marketing Operations: This role bridges the gap between sales and marketing, ensuring that both departments work cohesively to generate leads and support the sales enablement strategy.
- Demand Generation: This function includes traditional marketing activities, such as events, emails, and sponsorships, to drive sales opportunities and support the sales strategy.
- Sales and Account Management: These roles are vital in the sales enablement process, as they are directly responsible for engaging with customers, quoting, and converting prospects into clients. They should be supported by the other roles in the organization to ensure they can focus on building relationships and closing deals. By relieving them of other functions that are better suited to different roles, the sales and account management team can become more effective and efficient in their core responsibilities.
See below for the links to the McKinsey March 2023 Article and the Demand Metric Roles Matrix for more detail on both.
https://www.demandmetric.com/content/sales-enablement-roles-matrix
Get the full roles matrix at Demand Metric here