As a sales as a service (SaaS) provider, we often get the question, “Sales enablement vs sales as a service – what’s the difference?” While both have “sales” in the name, the distinction between sales enablement and sales as a service is subtle but important.
While any organization needs sales enablement to increase profits and grow their bottom line, sales as a service brings the people and skills to make sales enablement happen.
Sales Enablement
Sales enablement is precisely what it sounds like: it means to make sales happen. It requires strategy, technology, training, and data analytics, among other elements working together to engage prospects and turn them into customers. Some of the main aspects of sales enablement include:
- Tools, specifically the a well-crafted tech stack
- Process and strategy
- Data and analytics
Each of these pieces needs to work together to make sales enablement a reality. They feed into and build on one another: tools bring in data, and data translates to strategy. Successful development teams understand the dependent nature of each piece, fully engaging in sales enablement that gets results.
Sales as a Service
Understanding sales enablement is critical to understanding sales as a service (SaaS). SaaS brings all the elements of sales enablement with the people to make it happen. With sales as a service, you gain:
- Top-notch, customized sales tech
- Advanced data and analytics
- Results-driven sales processes and strategy
- Expertly trained reps and sales support teams
And, you get it all with one provider. The all-in-one nature means you can grow your business faster and the experience and expertise sales as a service teams provide mean you know it works.
Which Does Your Sales Team Need?
The next question we hear is, “which does my sales team need: sales enablement or sales as a service?” That depends on where your team stands in terms of experience, training, and open positions. Suppose you have a fully-stacked sales team (database administrators, data analysts, junior and senior sales reps, sales managers, and sales coaches) but out-of-date tech or a hap-hazard strategy. In this case, you need sales enablement to bring them the right tools, data, and strategy.
However, if you need to fill roles on your sales team or don’t have the experienced talent you need, sales as a service is the right call. With a sales as a service team, you immediately gain the people and expertise it could take years to build. Plus, sales as a service teams bring modern sales tools and data-driven strategies to bolster your current sales enablement means.
Bring Sales as a Service to Your Team Today
If you’re looking for that experienced all-in-one team, the experts at NuGrowth can help. Our team at NuGrowth is poised to identify gaps in your sales enablement and provide immediate solutions to put you on the path to a successful sales process and strategy.
With your day-to-day sales enablement needs filled, you can leverage your resources to focus on product and service improvement and long-term planning, among other critical elements. In our work with engineering consulting firm EWI, we filled in sales gaps to bring:
- Over 1,000 new opportunities
- Doubling and tripling in closed sales year over year
- Up to $8 million in contract revenue
- A 700% return on investment
And, as we focused on managing inside sales, the EWI team was freed up to focus on long-term, strategic planning to help their business continue to grow.
Like what you hear? Find out how we can fill your sales enablement and operational gaps. Fill out a simple contact form here or get in touch at 800.966.3051 today.
Sarah Deak is a veteran copywriter and content strategist with NuGrowth Solutions. She likes to look for the unexpected angle and uses her background in education, business development, and marketing to create interesting and informative pieces to equip readers with actionable data