Industry Trends: Sales Enablement in 2010

As we enter 2010, the longest and deepest recession since the 1930s is behind us, yet the U.S. economy is still fragile and expected to grow at only 2.5% for the year. Business investment in equipment and software remains soft according to a 12/22/09 report by the Commerce Dept. Given the difficult business climate, companies will continue to look for ways to increase sales productivity and effectiveness while reducing costs. Sales enablement, defined by research firm IDC as "enabling sales knowledge through the delivery of the right information at the right time in the right format, with easy access to experts" will continue to gain focus by companies this year.

Key trends include:

• Companies will include sales enablement positions and tools in both marketing and sales budgets (IDC).
• Currently, 40% of marketing assets are not in use by sales teams primarily because sales reps are unable to access or locate the content. Sales reps now spend an average of five hours a week or 8-10% of their selling time searching for marketing assets. Companies will consolidate sales portals and measure the time reps spend searching for information to reduce time to knowledge. (IDC).
• Companies are experimenting with virtual sales kickoffs - either to replace in-person events or complement them. According to IDC, “there is no question that the use of virtual events will play a greater role among sales organizations for training their teams. Drivers are obvious, including the reduced costs for travel and venue and the reduced time that sales folks spend traveling to events."