#38 Sales Enablement: Great idea, but...

ABOUT THE GUEST: SEAN CAMPBELL, CEO OF CASCADE INSIGHTS 

From Sean’s LinkedIn Profile: 

“I've been mentoring and educating business professionals for over 20 years. Whether it's the Fortune 50, unique startups, business school students, or the team at Cascade, I've greatly enjoyed any opportunity I've been given to train, educate, or mentor. 

I've also been a professional services firm owner for more than 20 years. My work has spanned consulting engagements with tech giants and startups you’ve heard of, the sale of my first company, and the growth of delivery, sales, marketing, and operational practices inside professional services firms. 
 
To learn more about what I'm up to today, check out: www.cascadeinsights.com”
 
You can also find Sean on LinkedIn here: 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/seancampbell/
 
Or reach him by email here:  [email protected]

 
ABOUT THE EPISODE: 

Sean and I got into a discussion before recording this episode to see what we should address on the episode. We pretty quickly homed in on sales enablement - and why a concept with such promise is such a disaster in practice in so many cases.  

Sean does a ton of work around this in his practice, and has some solid ideas about why it’s a problem - but more importantly, what to do to move it back in a better direction. Check it out - a very solid episode!  

0:39 - What is the best piece of sales advice that Sean has ever received - ABC done right  

4:34 - What’s the worst advice about sales that Sean has ever heard?  

7:26 - David and Sean start to approach the idea that sales enablement is a great concept that is all too often poorly executed within a sales organization  

11:32 - The core problem with sales enablement and marketing communications problems - sales doesn’t have a seat at the table  

13:30 - Why does it often go bad even when sales does get a seat at the table and how can sales turn that around by recalibrating the stories they tell to the rest of the company about what happens during customer engagement  

18:47 - How sellers can better impact change based on what they see on the front lines by being more patient and deliberate about how the information is delivered to senior management and other departments  

21:07 - Sean explains what he means by “the age of narrow” and the concept of “narrowing the aperture” and how that ties into the quest for more effective sales enablement  

26:55 - Why a failure to “narrow the aperture” makes value propositions, mission statements, and other forms of client-facing communications weak and ineffective  

28:52 - If someone is frustrated with sales enablement at their company, what’s the best way to start turning that around?  

31:04 - Where is the best place to find Sean