This is the One Feature Your Sales Enablement Solution Must Have

In a future post, I’m going to explain what I believe are the best important features to look for in sales enablement software, but before I do that, I wanted to address the most important feature. I’m doing this because in my experience there is one feature that is so important, I would suggest giving up every other feature for it because without it, your sales enablement software will die a slow and miserable death. I know. I’ve been there.

If you’ve ever investigated sales enablement solutions, you’ve probably received from the providers you investigated large lists of the features their solutions have. Then you compared them and asked yourself the typical questions: Who has the most features? Who has the lowest price? Which solution offers the most features for the best price?

If you’ve ever implemented a sales enablement solution and tried to make it work with your marketing and sales teams, you’ve likely walked away with a very different set of criteria. And your criteria likely started with this one necessary but difficult-to-find feature.

The feature? Ease of use.

At a previous job, our head of marketing implemented sales enablement software that had what she thought was a fantastic mix of features, balanced with a fair price. The company we purchased from walked us through it during the sales process, several of us were fully trained on the software, and we implemented with some excitement. And it never took off.

It never took off because neither the sales reps or the members of the marketing team wanted to be “trained” in the first place. They eventually received training but by then the software received a reputation as “difficult” (or worse) and it never gained traction. Both marketing and sales found ways around it.

All of the other features – great search, integrations, a strong API, etc. – fall significantly below ease of use for one main reason. We’re all busy. Sales is busy introducing new leads to the company and its products, while at the same time trying to close opportunities. Marketing is busy helping generate leads and create important sales tools that will help move the needle. No one has time to try to figure out a sales enablement software solution. It just needs to work.

As I said, in my next post, I’ll explain the other features I find important to sales enablement software. But if you’re on the hunt for a solution, start with ease of use.