Updated: January 5th, 2022
Kickstarting sales enablement in the new year should begin with a commitment. A commitment to not simply manage sales representatives, but rather to guide them towards independent decision making and support them in their evolution. This commitment is really a fundamental shift from sales enablement to sales empowerment.
Although the two may be synonymous, they’re not entirely the same—especially when it comes to their role in sales. As we demonstrated previously in Enablement Versus Empowerment: Which is Better For Your Organization?, there are several definitive characteristics that separate the two, but what it all comes down to is a word within a word. The ‘power’ in ‘empowerment’ is the biggest defining factor.
You’ve likely heard the old saying “give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime” (or, you know, something along those lines.)
Essentially, sales enablement is giving your team the fish. Giving your sales reps the answers and making their decisions for them may enable them to perform at a certain level, but instead of being a foundation for growth it’ll become a crutch for maintaining the status quo.
Empowerment is teaching your team to fish—giving them the knowledge (or power) they need to find answers and make decisions on their own will permit them to forge ahead. Empowerment provides your team with the solid ground to build upon and authorizes them to innovate and advance.
With the disjointed state of the work place, you need to know your sales reps can produce more than the bare minimum and without relying on management to do the heavy lifting.
Launch a more sustainable strategy this year and commit to empowering your sales team to bait their own hooks, reel in their own business, and cook up some deals that’ll keep your organization thriving.
Let us tell you how Triptych helps you empower your sales team to become the best fishermen in the business with custom content that's also complaint by downloading our original brief - Tip the Scales with Triptych