How to Align Sales Enablement with Modern Buyer Needs

You don't have a sales problem. You have a buying problem. This hit me yesterday during a team review. We were analyzing our "lost" deals from Q1: 63% = "No decision" 22% = "Went with competitor" 15% = "Budget constraints" "No decision" is the real killer. Not your competitor. Not price. Not features. It's prospects unable to reach consensus. The Harvard Business Review found: - 5.4 stakeholders in average B2B purchase - 6.8 information sources consulted - 84% of buying journeys longer than expected Yet most sales processes still focus on: - YOUR pitch - YOUR follow-ups - YOUR cadence Instead of: - THEIR buying committee - THEIR internal selling needs - THEIR consensus-building process A prospect messaged me this morning: "I love your solution, but I'm struggling to get everyone on the same page." I didn't respond with: - Another feature explanation - Another case study - Another discount offer I sent a digital room where they could: - Map their buying committee visually - Document each stakeholder's concerns - Track who had reviewed which materials - Collaborate on implementation planning They closed two weeks later. Modern sales isn't about selling to one person. It's about helping one person sell to five others. Yet 92% of sales content isn't designed for this reality. Your champion doesn't need: - Your 45-slide deck - Your technical deep dive - Your complex pricing structure They need tools to make THEIR job easier: - Visual explanations they can share in 30 seconds - ROI calculations they can customize themselves - Objection responses they can deliver confidently When you fix THEIR buying problem, YOUR sales problem disappears. Simple as that. Agree?

B2B buyers hate talking to salespeople. Gartner shows this trend getting worse every year. The solution? Companies need to invest in creating a new Buyer Enablement Playbook (here's what it could look like): BACKGROUND: Buyers engage with sales ONLY after 80% of buying process is over. By the time they talk to a rep, it is too late to influence them. Instead, buyers are speaking with 2-3 vendors up front, and leaving the 20+ other vendors out of the process entirely. The only way for companies to stay in the game is to influence the buying process, which is not *traditionally* the job of sales. Here are 5 ways this change in buyer behavior needs to cause a reset in GTM teams and Buyer Led Sales tool stacks: 1. Are GTM Teams Missing a Buyer Enablement Playbook? At any given point, only a handful of buyers in your TAM are looking for new vendors. Through intent data and website visitor ID tools, we can identify who’s in market. However, instead of handing these over to sales - companies could set up a buyer analyst team that assists buyers identify the vendor with best fit (even if it meant directing them to competitors). The top 1% sales reps already do this.   2. Where are the Buyer Enablement Teams ? : We already have plenty of teams that help sales sell better (AEs, Sales Ops, Sales Enablement). Where are the teams that intercept the buying process to enable the buyers to "buy" better - Buyer Ops, Buyer Enablement? Here is a quick search for US titles : - Sales Enablement : 10,000 - Buyer Enablement : 50 - Sales Ops : 53,000 - Buyer Ops : 800 We are missing buyer enablement teams. 3. Which team should Buyer Enablement report into? Buyer enablement teams could report into Product Marketing or marketing but ideally not Sales. BE teams can consist of in-house analysts available as a resource to enterprise buyers on demand. They can offer content or advisory with topics such as “industry & vendor landscape”. Think of a buyer analyst as a customer success rep but for top of the funnel and with great understanding of the industry landscape. 4. Exec presence : VP of Buyer Enablement: We need a VP of Buyer Enablement reporting to the C-suite to give the buyers a voice in the exec team, to ensure that some GTM resources go into enabling buyers to buy better and not just to enable sales to sell better. 5. We need more Buyer Ops Tool Stack: As buyers continue to change the way they buy, valuations of peer review sites such as G2 or Trustradius have steadily risen. Gartner has acquired several assets in this space (Peer Insights, Capterra). We need a lot more buyer enablement tool stacks to identify and assist buyers with their research. Several new billion $ companies will emerge in this space to assist the buying process beyond just reviews. What do you think? Will we see more Buyer Enablement teams in 2024? It's time for the sales process catch up with the buying process.

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of different perspectives on Sales Enablement from sales leaders. And honestly, it’s a mixed bag: 1️⃣ Some have completely abandoned the idea of Sales Enablement over the last 3-4 years 2️⃣ Others say, “Oh, we have Sales Enablement and all training is on a drive” 3️⃣ Then there are those who equate Sales Enablement with Learning & Development And yes, there’s a small group doing it really well. But the majority? They’re missing the mark. Here’s the problem: Sales Enablement isn’t about content management or training alone. It’s not about organizing case studies or ebooks. It’s not even about how fast your reps can find information. The most successful Sales Enablement programs I’ve seen focus on two things: ✅ Deal Execution: Helping reps close deals faster and more efficiently. ✅ Buyer Enablement: Simplifying the buyer’s journey and equipping reps to deliver the right information at the right time. Why? Because today’s buyers are overwhelmed. They’re coming to the table with more information, more stakeholders, and more confusion than ever before. If your enablement isn’t helping reps navigate this complexity, it’s not doing its job. Sales Enablement should: 🔹 Build buyer-facing assets that help buyers make decisions. 🔹 Equip reps to deliver relevant, digestible information that moves deals forward. 🔹 Focus on the buyer’s journey, not just internal processes. When Sales Enablement is done right, it’s not just about selling—it’s about enabling buying. I’d love to hear your thoughts: 👉 What are you seeing in the market? 👉 How are Sales and Enablement teams coming together to make this shift? #SalesEnablement #SalesLeadership #BuyerEnablement #SalesStrategy #salestable #sales #roleplays