Google searches for “Sales Enablement” increase by around 50 percent every year. As the value of sales enablement among sales teams goes up, it makes sense that the role of the sales enablement manager is more and more in demand. Let’s learn about what a sales enablement manager does, what the job duties look like, and how to progress as one in a company.
Who is a Sales Enablement Manager?
A sales enablement manager, as one might expect, is someone who oversees the strategy and activities of sales enablement for a sales team. Sales enablement is the process of providing a sales department with the information, resources, and tools to drive success. Thus, the primary goal of the sales enablement manager is to help businesses close deals more effectively.
What does a Sales Enablement Manager do?
A sales enablement manager supports the sales team in a combination of ways. They deploy programs and initiatives that enable salespeople to carry out their duties and improve revenue. Meanwhile, they ensure consistency and quality control in the organization’s message in order to reinforce the company’s brand, often liaising with the marketing team in order to do so.
Here are some sales enablement manager responsibilities:
- Trains new salespeople about the product and manage content for reps to access and use, such as document organization and retrieval
- Acts as a liaison with the marketing department in order to align activities, tools, and systems
- Implements necessary technology including sales enablement technology as well as CRM and CMS systems; trains sales reps to use these tools
- Defines a sales enablement focused strategy for improving sales efficiency and speeding up sales cycles
- Carries out performance analysis of sales enablement processes by tracking: content, resource, and tool usage; sales enablement metrics and KPIs; and performance data to identify knowledge or skill gaps of the sales team
Despite sounding similar, this role is not as a sales manager. In contrast, the sales manager covers daily and monthly functions like setting sales goals, tracking metrics, or generating sales reports.
Sales Enablement Manager Interview Questions
Given the level of responsibility assigned to this individual, employers need to ask the tough questions when it comes to the hiring process.
For anyone expecting a job interview for this position in the future, or for sales departments hiring a new sales enablement manager, these are some questions to keep in mind:
- In your own words, please define what sales enablement means to you.
Different companies might have their own interpretation of what sales enablement is. The values and experience of a new sales enablement manager should align with that of the company and this is a good question to check whether they do so. - How would you fix _____ problem at our company?
Briefly presented with a hypothetical situation, a candidate should be able to take a comprehensive look at the problem and suggest a solution. A responsible leader with a deep understanding of sales enablement processes should be able to answer in detail. - What were your top priorities at your previous position and how did you accomplish them?
Understanding the level of success a candidate achieved at their previous job is a typical way to judge if they will be competent in this sales enablement manager role. - What sales enablement software did you use in your last role and which are you familiar with?
Sales enablement technology like Revenue Grid uses analytics and AI to identify key info relevant to the target consumer and then visualizes it in a dashboard or Revenue Signals format so that deals get closed faster. A sales enablement manager needs to know how to use this technology and train sellers if needed. - What do you need from us to be successful in this role?
This question not only reaffirms a thorough understanding of the sales enablement process; it also establishes parts of the applicant’s personality, such as how flexible they can be or whether their ego is inflated. It helps to see if they will be a good fit for the team.
Interviewers are also likely to ask job interview basics such as describing hard and soft skills, recounting when a challenge was overcome, describing what they can bring to the company, and explaining why the applicant chose this company and role to apply to.
Sales Enablement Manager Salary
A sales enablement manager is a management position so he or she can earn quite a bit! Of course, the salary of a sales enablement manager will depend greatly on regional location, industry, and personal professional experience.
Glassdoor shows that the base salary for a sales enablement manager in the US is $92,000 per year. ZipRecruiter suggests a somewhat higher average of around $106,000 with the highest earners raking in $126,000 per year.
Certain industries such as computer software earn a higher average and further variations depend on cost of living where the job is located.
Sales Enablement Manager Career Path
Where can you go as a sales enablement manager? How far can you take your career?
This is yet another factor that partly depends on the individual in question. Most likely someone in this position already climbed the ladder from a junior position such as account manager, sales support, or customer success manager.
Hard work and networking may unlock the path to the following roles:
- Sales Enablement Project Manager
- Global Sales Enablement Lead
- Global Sales Enablement Manager
- Head of Sales Enablement
- Director of Sales Enablement
- VP of Sales Enablement
- Chief Sales Enablement Officer
Of course, some people find a position which is comfortable for them and choose to stay in it rather than climb their way to the very top!
Facilitating sales with sales enablement in 2022
According to G2, 76% of companies can see a significant increase in sales of 6% to 20% as a result of sales enablement. But a sales enablement strategy can only be as good as its sales enablement manager!
Sales Enablement Managers need to be familiar with their responsibilities in order to do the most for their teams. It’s important to remember that this individual isn’t out on the front line; they’re in the back where they have the time and resources at their disposal to constantly be improving sales enablement solutions.
Most importantly, remaining customer focused and tech savvy will go a long way in this career and might carry a Sales Enablement Manager all the way to Chief of Sales Enablement!
