8 Sales Enablement Software for B2B Companies + How to Choose the Right One w/ Expert Insights

Carpenters who have the right tools and know how to use them effectively will succeed, but having a hammer, nails, saw, and other equipment is not enough to guarantee success.

the same thing goes with sales reps. Communication skills, tools, and industry knowledge are nothing unless combined to be used effectively in the right place and time.

in this article, we will discuss sales enablement software and how to choose one for B2B companies with insights from:

• James Donaldson, Director at Sales Reader and sales resources/ tools expert
• David McClean Founder & CEO at SDR Systems Group

Plus eight sales enablement software to consider for B2B companies.

What is sales enablement?

“Solutions, processes, and tools that help to create a more efficient sales team, aim to save time, track activity, and engage with prospects and potential customers effectively,” said James.

Put simply, the main goal of a sales enablement strategy is revenue. Sales reps are on the frontline when it comes to revenue targets.

That said, setting up the process that leads to revenue growth is a must for them.

The process involves; defining measurable revenue goals, developing training, tracking progress, adapting, learning, and utilizing technology to make better use of data.

By doing this you enable your sales reps to do their best and sell.

The question is; How to set up this process and drive efficiency from the sales team?

According to Gitnux, 65% of sales reps say that the biggest challenge for them is the lack of time and resources to perform their job. Considering the length of B2B transactions, this means that a large amount of sales reps aren’t doing what they have been hired to do, which is selling.

That’s why having sales enablement software as a single source of truth that sales reps can leverage to best interact with prospects could be the answer to the “How” question.

What are the common pain points of B2B sales reps

The common pain points James and David shared with me were:

• Lack of activity
• Time-consuming processes
• personalization and data optimization
• Lack of alignment between marketing and product team
• Training and onboarding

Those are just a few, but common.

Putting the effort to face those pain points manually is a losing step to take.

Data from Forrester shows that companies that align people, processes, and technology across their sales and marketing teams, achieve 36% more revenue growth and up to 28% more profitability.

Those stats don’t come from thin air. Facing pain points and solving problems are the main drivers for such numbers.

The data from Forrester show the real essence of sales enablement and that aligning People, processes, and technology is a winning strategy.

Now let’s see:

What is actually sales enablement software?

Sales enablement software centralizes the use of tools, technologies, and resources designed to empower sales teams and improve their effectiveness throughout the sales cycle.

Sales enablement software also helps sales reps access the right information, content, and support at the right time, enabling them to engage with prospects more efficiently and close deals more effectively.

The use cases of sales enablement software are wide which also makes choosing the right one a pain point for sales managers.

The main goal of this article is to discuss this pain point and to give a piece of advice on how to choose the right one, so before we answer this question, let’s take a look at the types of sales enablement software.

What are the types of sales enablement software?

The fact that many SaaS products are nearly the same these days, doesn’t mean that all of them have the same features or value.

It’s your lucky day if you come across a company that is known to deliver on its promise and has unique messaging, If not, then it’s your job to take a look at the market and understand the types and wide usage of the product.

Here are the types of sales enablement software/platform/tools:

• Sales Content Management Software: Organizes and distributes sales-related content.

  
  

• Sales Coaching Software: Provides coaching and training to improve sales skills.

• Sales Performance Management Software: Monitors and optimizes sales team performance.

• Sales Intelligence Software: Provides insights on potential leads and prospects.

• Intent Data Providers: Offers insights into prospect interests and intentions.

• Sales Email Tracking Tools: Tracks engagement with sales emails.

• Predictive Sales Analytics Tools: Forecasts sales trends using data analysis.

• Revenue Operations Platforms: Aligns sales, marketing, and support operations for revenue optimization.

How to choose the right sales enablement software?

Now we’ve listed the types of sales enablement platforms you probably wondering how to choose the right one that best integrates with your systems and serves your objectives

“You need to understand the other tools already in place and the efficiency of the team. You often could remove certain activities and unnecessary work from the team, to give them more prospecting and sales-focused time. Things will improve if the right data, tracking, and training are in place. If those elements are in place, and the team is truly multi-channel then bringing sales enablement software begins to make sense.” Says James Donaldson.

David McClean also adds: It would be best to look at your software stack and its limitations. If you have any gaps, you must fix those gaps by adding new software. This can mean that you don’t have a solution in place or your solution is not robust enough.

The takeaway: The right software for you, is the one that fills the gap in your sales process and centralizes data sources, and integrates with your systems. You need to see where things go wrong in your sales cycle, what are the questions that make sales reps remain silent during sales calls, and what makes the prospect churn while they are almost converted.

The thing is, a lot of questions could be brought to the table regarding your sales performance. It could be anything look inside and analyze your sales calls.

Eight sales enablement software to consider in 2023

1. Highspot — Best for product related-documentation and sales content

Enterprises can deliver sales enablement utilizing the Highspot platform, which uses AI-powered search, contextual training, application support, and guided selling.

Highspot's Sales Content Management makes sure that any resource or solution sales reps might need is readily available thanks to its sophisticated filtering tools. Based on the details of the lead record, sales representatives have access to content and email templates.

Highspot also provides knowledgeable recommendations for product-related materials that sellers may share with prospects, such as product overview decks, case studies, and more. With the help of the Chrome extension from Highspot, sales representatives may also access this information in Gmail when emailing prospects, saving them from having to transfer between their inbox and the location of the documentation.

Key features:

• Advanced analytics: lets marketing and sales teams understand how the content is performing across the sales cycle and optimize it accordingly.

• Content personalization: AI-powered recommendations, predictive content, and analytics

• Content delivery: Sales plays that deliver step-by-step guidance so sales reps can get up-to-speed quickly

  
  

Pricing:

No info provided, contact for a custom quote.

G2 reviews and rating

2. Seismic — Best for centralized sales management

Seismic provides a central location with solutions for global version control and approval where all sales resources, data, and content can be managed. For any buyer engagement, having access to pertinent information and customized content helps to ensure optimal sales efficiency.

While sales enablement technologies assist in locating pertinent material, creating such content is a significant portion of the task. Your marketing team may develop engaging material to influence the consumer in your direction with the use of instructional design software and content curation tools.

Key features:

• Seismic curates content like the latest news, competitive intel, product updates, and more to equip your sales team with the knowledge and information they need to engage buyers effectively.

• The predictive content recommendation feature suggests relevant content during the right stage of the selling process

  
  

Pricing:

No info provided, contact for a custom quote.

G2 reviews and rating

3. Showpad — best for sales content management

A content management sales enablement platform called Showpad aids sales representatives in finding pertinent content at the appropriate time. Even though marketers think they're producing a lot of content, 65% of sales representatives claim they can't find information to send to prospects when they contact a buyer.

Sales reps can receive recommendations for pertinent content using systems like Showpad that are based on machine learning and marketing principles.

Key features:

• Intelligent search and additional filtering allow sellers to quickly find the content they need to drive any deal forward.
• Showpad integrates with a host of applications like Gmail, Outlook, Salesforce, MS Dynamics, and Marketo, cloud storage like Box, Dropbox, and Drive, and social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp.

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Pricing:

No info provided, contact for a custom quote.

G2 reviews and rating

4. Mindtickle: best for coaching and training

A sales preparedness tool called Mindtickle assists businesses in raising revenue by enhancing knowledge, comprehending optimum sales habits, and adjusting to change.

Use Mindtickle to develop your Ideal Rep ProfileTM, quickly create learning programs, assess how knowledge is applied in sales meetings, and enhance the entire sales process. Mindticle is the number 1# on G2 when it comes to ease of use. Mindtickle is taking the lead day by day in the field of empowering sales reps.

Key features:

Pricing:

No info provided, contact for a custom quote.

G2 reviews and rating

5. Outreach: Best for sales automation

With an efficient pipeline that streamlines your process, the sales engagement platform Outreach improves communication between your sales teams. With fully functional voice and email and clever automation, this solution aims to increase the number of meetings and increase participation.

Sales representatives can learn when to call and respond to prospects using Outreach's Analytics and Reporting tools. Your sales playbook is effectively automated by this system, including follow-ups, scheduling, and outbound and inbound sales.

Key features:

• Sequences that help sales agents determine when and how every customer interaction should happen
• Always-on assistant that extracts key customer information and auto-updates records
• AI-powered machine learning that discovers key customer insights to facilitate more informed sales decisions
• The ‘Outreach Everywhere’ Chrome extension lets sellers keep track of prospects from other platforms they contact them from, like Gmail and Salesforce

Pricing:

No info provided, contact for a custom quote.

G2 reviews and rating

6. Guru: Best AI-powered tool for Sales ops

Use Guru's knowledge management technology to save sales representatives from wasting time looking up information. This technology compiles important data and arranges it into a lone source of truth. Giving your sales team access to knowledge whenever they need it can help them close more deals, improve client communication, and shorten the sales cycle.

For instance, an agent can find information without leaving their inbox if they need to give a testimonial by email. By giving sales representatives access to the responses to prospects' inquiries right away, this technique also gets rid of "let me get back to you on that" delays.

Key features:

• Browser extension lets you access your knowledge base anywhere online and provides automated knowledge triggers with suggested information based on the content.
• Slack integration prevents data loss by allowing users to capture knowledge immediately, categorize it, and assign an expert to manage it without leaving the Slack app.
• Automated verification alerts prompt experts to update and verify the information.

Pricing:

Free options are available, $5/month/user for the Starter plan, $10/month/user for the Builder plan, and $20/month/user for the Expert plan.

G2 reviews and rating

7. Dropbox DocSend: Best for document/ presentation sharing and controlling

By monitoring interactions with their sales deck, DocSend makes sure that sales representatives spend their time on engaged prospects. In addition to revealing who actually viewed your deck, DocSend may offer insightful page-by-page analytics that reveal the areas on which your prospect spent the most time.

By consolidating all sales-related papers in one location and making them all accessible to sales representatives and clients via a single link, this technology also removes misunderstanding.

Key features:

• Forward tracking shows you who else is reviewing documents and influencing your deal.
• Update function that allows you to modify documents even after you share them so everyone is always viewing the latest version,
• Analytics that can be leveraged to create sales decks with a higher open/read rate.

Pricing:

$10/month/user for Personal plan, $45/month/user for Standard plan, $150/month/users for Advanced plan, contact for Enterprise quote.

G2 reviews and rating

8. GTM buddy: Best searching and access capability for sales reps

The difference between top-performing sales representatives and those who fall short of quota is typically rather large.

By giving sales representatives the knowledge they need to close deals more successfully, GTM Buddy seeks to narrow this informational gap in sales performance.

Based on the context of the opportunity and the sales conversation, salespeople can access the most pertinent information with GTM Buddy. Through a number of platforms, like their inbox, calendar, CRM, Slack, or LinkedIn, reps can access this data. Sales representatives may quickly respond to concerns, be well-prepared for important calls, and forge closer connections with clients by using GTM Buddy.

Key features:

• Just-in-time enablement: Build customer trust and close more deals by sharing the right information at the right time.
• Better call prep: Find the most compelling information for your next sales call, including product knowledge, customer references, and competitive insights, right in your calendar.
• Buyer engagement: Receive real-time notifications when prospects interact with content and determine the most effective collateral at each stage of the buyer’s journey.

Pricing:

No info provided, contact for a custom quote.

G2 reviews and rating

The bottom line

Every one of those products delivers its value based on the pain points of several segments in the market. so which segment of the market does your company take a place? Knowing this will help hunt your life-saving software.

It’s not an easy decision that could be taken in a few days, so take your time and reach out to sales reps, and ask for presentations, personalized content, and quotas.

Do your own research and ask their customers

If you managed to find the perfect fit, remember to check for its integration capabilities and ease of use.