Sales enablement automation (SEA) solutions equip sellers with personalized training and content to effectively engage with and meet the expectations of increasingly digital-first buyers. Over the past decade, these solutions have evolved and empowered B2B revenue teams to:

  • Optimize sales processes.
  • Break down organizational silos.
  • Shorten time-to-competency.
  • Measure the impact of enablement programs.

These technologies serve to lower the costs associated with sales and continuously provide reps with the tools they need to maximize buyer interactions under the current market and business climate. The average B2B buying process has become increasingly complex, involving a greater number of interactions and personas, and effective SEA solutions alleviate this complexity for reps by allowing them to navigate shifting buyer expectations with situational fluency.

In the recently published Now Tech: Sales Enablement Automation, Q2 2022 report, we overview the SEA landscape by identifying the key vendors, defining and evaluating the sales readiness and sales content market functionality segments, and offering insight into the main differentiators when it comes to driving SEA business impact and sustaining change.

The core capability of sales readiness solutions is to develop and continuously improve rep/manager competencies, while sales content solutions optimize the process of reps being recommended or accessing internal rep-empowerment and buyer-activation content. Both functionalities are driven by machine-learning (ML) and artificial intelligence capabilities that leverage reporting analytics to build role-specific learning pathways, reenforce high-performing behaviors, and provide sales assets to reps contextually, all within their workflow. ML and AI are also used similarly in other sales technologies such as conversation intelligence.

Through our Now Tech research and many advisory conversations with vendor clients and their customers, it is evident that these solutions have yet to realize their potential, as the full benefits require alignment and accountability across all organizational partners. The push from sales leaders to treat SEA as an integrated program is reflected in the current vendor landscape, as more vendors (a majority in this Now Tech report) dip their toes into both readiness and content functionality waters and go to market as hybrid solutions. As revenue leaders and their organizations have realized the impact of SEA solutions, and vendors see an opportunity for further growth and consolidation, the global sales enablement platform market continues to expand rapidly, with a projected value of $7.3 billion by 2028.

When investing in and implementing an SEA solution for your organization, get ready to question operational silos and traditional deliverables, and prepare for a data-driven ecosystem centered on buyer and seller experience.

Here’s a preview of the four main differentiators in SEA business impact:

  • Treat SEA as a significant, multiyear transformation initiative with executive-level sponsorship and appropriate staffing.
  • Apply a litmus test to point solutions.
  • Select the right mix of personalization, automation, and analytics capabilities.
  • Pay close attention to customer care and user communities.

This blog was coauthored by Adam Birnberg, senior research associate.