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Knowing exactly what your role is at work and what you’re responsible for is crucial. You don’t want to drop anything accidentally that’s supposed to be on your plate. It’s also important because you need to know who owns certain tasks, or it’s easy for different departments or team members to end up arguing over who exactly is responsible for specific responsibilities.
Sales enablement feels like a prime example. As it’s the process of getting the sales team helpful info, resources, and tools to increase sales, there can be a lively debate about who exactly owns it.
So who does own sales enablement? Sales, marketing, product marketing managers?
Each department has a claim to “owning” sales enablement at the end of the day, but who heads the effort for your business? Ownership will depend on different factors, and in this post, we’ll work to give you a clear answer so that you can give your team one.
Before we look at who owns what, it’s important to really define what tasks and best practices fall under the “sales enablement” umbrella.
Tasks typically include the following:
When it comes to owning sales enablement, there are typically three departments that seem to have a claim to leading the charge. Let’s take a look at each and which responsibilities they truly have.
Product marketing managers are typically already going to be working at the intersection of sales, marketing, and product development. It’s easy to see how they feel they own sales enablement tasks, being at the crux of everything, and especially since the information they have can influence everything from how products are marketed to how products are developed. Their role is essential to driving customers from the ground up.
The marketing team— who is often responsible for identifying and attracting high-value audiences— understandably typically feels that they’re at the forefront of sales enablement. They often lead the charge when it comes to understanding user behavior and needs, and work to get qualifying information that the sales team can use to then convert leads. They’re responsible for setting the stage for the sales team by bringing in marketing qualified leads (MQLs).
It’s probably no surprise that the sales team may feel that they completely own sales enablement, since they’re the ones talking to leads and closing deals. They’re qualifying leads, hearing directly from customers about what they want and need, and can have their finger on the pulse effectively.
It’s important to note though, that sales enablement is about enabling the sales team; they’ll be able to do so themselves by contributing vital information, but other teams are needed to help set them up for success, too.
So now the answer to the crucial question of this post: Who really owns sales enablement?
The answer is a bit complicated because the size, resources, and process of your organization all influence that decision.
In many cases, the marketing team will be winners here.
This is particularly true for small organizations, which have more limited resources and where team members are likely to wear more hats. SDR and BDR functions typically fall to marketing in a large number of organizations, too, further driving sales enablement.
It’s worth pointing out that in many smaller organizations— and in many non-SaaS organizations—, they’re not even thinking in terms of “sales enablement.” The tasks associated with it are generally passed on to the marketing department.
In most cases, the marketing team will take the cake for sales enablement ownership, but does that really matter?
It’s always critical that all your core departments— including marketing, sales, and product marketing management— work together to support the sales team by getting them the information, content, messaging, and tools needed to do their job well. Without that proper support, even if all the other pieces are in place, you’ll see your conversions drop off quickly.
As for if it matters who owns it- yes and no. Every team, and every team member, needs to know what they’re responsible for. It’s also important for them to understand how their role impacts other teams and what they need to deliver. But aside from this clarity, it doesn’t really matter who is responsible for what as long as the core tasks of sales support are being completed by those who are best capable of doing so.
Want to learn more about how to drive more sales with your marketing and our sales team? Check out our blog here for more!
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Content Camel is a sales enablement tool used for sales content management. High-growth sales teams use our system to quickly find and share the right content for each specific sales situation and measure content use and effectiveness.