How Sales Enablement Helps Trinidad & Tobago’s Manufacturing Industry

Manufacturers are in a unique position as it relates to their business. They serve two customer segments, one being the distributor and the other being the end consumer. The challenge we have seen is that manufacturers focus more on getting shelf space at the distribution locations rather than building a stronger relationship with new and existing end-users.

Because sales have changed, manufacturers must work on managing their business's three most critical revenue-generating areas.

• Marketing: The ability to generate leads and drive traffic to distribution outlets by keeping the products at the top of consumers' minds.
• Sales: Giving the sales team or merchandisers the ability to effectively sell in the field and communicate value to their end users.
• Customer Service: Managing your distribution and consumer bases to maintain and grow sales revenue.

Sales Enablement can help by redefining the current sales structure, marketing approach and technology implementation to capture customer activity, communicate sales activity, customer queries, etc.

What is Sales Enablement?

Sales enablement is where an organisation provides its field reps, inside sales reps, merchandisers, brand managers, etc., with the information, resources, content, and tools necessary to sell more efficiently and effectively.

The information tools and resources will help the sales team, or merchandisers better interact with the end user or the distributor. The technology component of sales enablement allows sales teams to work in real-time, which helps them close sales faster and offer a better customer experience.

Why is this important?

The keyword is “Alignment”. Marketing teams in our local manufacturing industry are not always well aligned with the revenue goals of an organisation. Leaving the sales team to fend for themselves in generating new leads, converting leads to sales and nurturing existing clients.

Marketing also does not fully appreciate the end user's needs because they do not speak to them as often as the sales team. In many instances, there is a disconnect between marketing campaigns and sales teams because the campaign isn’t well aligned with helping them close a sale.

Quote: Every Expense Must Have an Offsetting Revenue - David Belgrave (Former CEO of Massy Technologies InfoCom)

Also, apart from Google or Facebook analytics and an excel spreadsheet, there isn’t a real way for a CEO, CFO or CMO to measure the ROI of a marketing campaign that shows how it ties back to sales. This is where sales enablement linked to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology comes in because marketing activities can now be tracked in the CRM, and sales can be attributed to the marketing department's efforts.

Marketing’s Role In Sales Enablement for Manufacturing

By adopting the following, marketing can add significant value to their field reps and merchandisers.

• Better Content Marketing for field reps

• Equipping field reps and merchandisers with the right content for a buyer-focused conversation with a lead. No, we are not talking flyers, but content like blogs, white papers, MSDS landing pages, and video demonstrations (YouTube or from your website) that make the engagement with the customer different.

• Buyer-Focused Content for the General Public

• All buyers are at different stages of the buyer journey; some are ready to buy, others are in the comparison or consideration stage, and some do not know about your products. With buyer-focused content marketing, the marketing team gets to focus on creating content that helps move customers along that journey from awareness to sales.

• It also allows the company to differentiate itself from pushing its competitor by no longer pushing product sales but marketing to become a thought leader in their industry.

• Most importantly, this type of content helps create demand and not just leads, which also makes the discussion of more shelf space with distributors easier.

Who is Involved In Sales Enablement?

Sales enablement is a cross-functional effort that involves collaboration between sales, marketing, product, and customer support teams. For sales enablement to work, it requires a deep understanding of the customer journey and the different stages of the sales cycle.

The sales team should be involved in identifying customer pain points, objections, and buying cycles. Marketing teams would create relevant, engaging content that helps sales reps, merchandisers and brand managers educate and engage customers.

The product team provide sales and marketing teams with the latest product information and insights to help them, and the customer understand the product better. 

Lastly, customer success teams play a big part in sales enablement, providing sales and marketing teams with insights into customer feedback and concerns. This helps marketing create the right content to support the onboarding of new customers with their products. The sales team can understand how customers use or would like to use the product and develop strategic sales approaches around this information.

Benefits of Sales Enablement to sales teams and merchandisers.

A big part of sales in the manufacturing industry is in front of the customer. In some companies, field reps have scheduled times a month to visit clients to make sure they communicate with them to "stay on top of mind" and build or maintain the relationship.

However, how many of those visits are productive or value-centric? While this approach may still be relevant in some instances, people have become increasingly busier. Sales reps needing more time to see or engage with leads can significantly hinder this approach, making it more of a disturbance than a strategic customer-centric sales approach.

Sales enablement, however, allows the sales manager to create a strategic approach that adds value to the customer and increases the presence of the sales professional while decreasing or maintaining the actual number of visits to the account.

Example:

Consider a pharmaceutical sales rep having to visit customers weekly or bi-weekly. While that is an internal KPI for the sales professional, it would be impossible if the doctor or pharmacist were busy.

If this unavailability continues over time, then the sales representative will not be able to put any new product in front of the pharmacy or doctor, which can result in a loss of sales.

However, by working closely with marketing and the sales representative and using their CRM to capture information in real-time, marketing can distribute new information beforehand through mediums like email marketing or text campaign, ensuring that the doctor and his/her office are in the know and the relationship is not lost.

The above is just one example of how sales enablement and CRM technology can help Trinidad and Tobago’s manufacturing industry grow.

4 Benefits of Sales Enablement in Manufacturing and Distribution

1. Improved Sales Productivity:

One of the most significant benefits of sales enablement is improved sales productivity. Sales enablement provides sales reps with the tools, resources, and information they need to work more efficiently and effectively. With sales enablement, sales reps can quickly find the right content, training, and resources to close deals. This leads to a more productive sales team, with more deals closed and increased revenue.

2. Better Customer Experience

It’s no secret that the customer service and the customer experience in Trinidad and Tobago are messy. Customers are left with mixed feelings about the companies that serve them because the level of support received after the sale differs from what they got before the sale.

Sales enablement helps manufacturing companies deliver a better customer experience from both ends of the customer journey. With sales enablement, sales or customer service teams can better understand the customer's pain points, objections, and buying cycles, making it easier to provide relevant solutions and responses at the different stages of the customer's journey leading to a better customer experience, increased customer satisfaction and longer lifetime customer.

3. Improved Alignment Between All Revenue Teams

In an earlier point of Who Should Be Involved In Sales Enablement? We highlighted the three most important revenue-generating areas of an organisation Sales, Marketing and Service. Sales enablement allows companies to break the silos between departments not working closely together.

Companies that bring their teams together are better aligned towards achieving their growth goals, ensuring everyone is working on the same page. It is important to note, however, that to achieve the companies must have the right leadership and an understanding that this is a long-term strategy that will evolve as time goes on.

4. Increased Revenue

The most significant benefit of sales enablement is increased revenue. By empowering sales reps with the right tools, resources, and information, sales enablement helps to increase the number of deals closed and improve the overall sales process. This leads to increased revenue and a better bottom line for the organisation.

Bringing It Together With CRM Technology 

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a buzzword mostly connected to a software tool; however, CRM is more than just a bit of technology. It is a philosophy or strategy that looks at how companies (in this case, manufacturing companies) would like to monitor and manage existing relationships while using other strategies to build new relationships.

There are significant benefits to implementing a CRM system in your manufacturing establishment; here are just five benefits.

1. Improved Customer Engagement
2. Increased Sales and Revenue
3. Better Customer Service
4. Improved Marketing Effectiveness
5. Enhanced Collaboration Between Sales and Marketing

Closing Points

In an increasingly competitive market, sales enablement can provide a significant competitive advantage to manufacturers by improving their sales processes and enhancing their customer experiences.

Manufacturing companies in Trinidad and Tobago should consider implementing a sales enablement program tailored to their specific needs and challenges. By leveraging CRM technology and data analytics, they can gain valuable insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and needs and use this information to tailor their sales strategies and content accordingly.

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