5 key features of the best sales enablement tools for frontline teams
Have you ever considered a sales enablement tool for your frontline sales team? We hear a lot about sales enablement platforms for B2B teams but rarely do we hear about them for frontline B2C teams. This is unfortunate because the benefits they offer are incredible. You can expect improved customer service, more sales and happier, more confident employees.
We firmly believe that frontline teams can achieve their sales targets much faster if they’re equipped with the right sales enablement tools. But choosing the right one can be hard and the pressure to get it right mounts when you’ve got a lot of sales associates to keep happy.
Navigating the world of sales tools can be tricky, especially when the market is predominantly B2B focused. We’re going to take you through the key features you should look out for when choosing the right sales enablement platform for your B2C business.
#1 Easily searchable knowledgbase
One of the beautiful things about a sales enablement tool is that it gives your sales associates the information they need exactly when they need it.
A standard feature of all sales enablement tools should be an easily searchable knowledgebase. When your employees are interacting with a customer, they should have all the information they need on hand to provide the best, most consultative experience they possibly can.
A great knowledgebase should have a Google-like search where sales staff can type in what they are looking for and related results come up in seconds. It should also have auto-suggest, a feature which auto-populates popular terms and phrases making it easier for your sales associates to find what they’re looking for.
It’s important to take notice of how the knowledgebase looks. A clunky text-heavy knowledgebase is not going to appeal to anyone.
To get your frontline sales associates to engage with your sales enablement platform, it’s got to be aesthetically pleasing and easily digestible. Look for one that encompasses videos and images. Along with the ability to break information down into step-by-step how-tos. These features make it much easier for your employees to quickly scan the information and relay the key facts to their customers.
The benefits:
Knowledgeable sales associates that customers love.
Quick informative service; employees haven’t got to look for information, they’ve got everything they need in the palm of their hand.
Confident employees who feel equipped with the information they need to make the sale.
Additional training resource. Employees can refer back to the information in their downtime to try and embed it in their minds.
#2 Personalised news feed
Your frontline sales associates are exceptionally busy. Their days are packed from start to finish, and no two customers are alike. Their focus pivots every minute of the day which means it’s your job to help them concentrate on the news that matters. A great sales enablement tool for frontline teams should have a personalised news feed. It should showcase critical sales announcements, the latest product updates and drive attention to your company events.
Think of it like your employee’s work-centric Facebook feed where you bring your business updates to the forefront, so your sales team is always up to speed.
When comparing newsfeed features take a look at the triggers they include to ramp up engagement. Are they making it easy for employees to see which news they need to catch up on with alerts and banners? How is the news feed laid out? Is it easy to navigate? Are there features which make it easy to categorise news so employees can quickly scan the information? These are all important factors which make it more efficient for your sales associates to catch up on the news that matters.
The benefits:
Knowledgeable and competent staff who are up to speed on all of your company updates.
An efficient team who are all harmonious with the information they’ve acquired.
A well-oiled communication process which requires little input from management.
Happy employees who feel valued and deeply connected to the business.
Build an empowered community of sales associates who feel they have the support they need to sell in the best way possible.
#3 Microlearning courses to embed knowledge
Giving your frontline sales associates the information they need when they need it is great, but ensuring the knowledge gets embedded in their minds is even better. When choosing the right sales enablement tool for your business, make sure it offers microlearning for the content it puts out.
For example, an article on the platform may showcase a shoe product guide. Make sure there’s an option for employees to partake in microlearning courses to train themselves on the shoe product guide. This will make it easier for them to recall the information by memory. If your sales enablement platform doesn’t have a training option, you’ll find it harder to develop employees into top performing sales associates. Did you know microlearning drastically improves employee engagement from about 15% to 90%, so you can see why it’s a crucial feature on any sales enablement tool. Not only that, but it makes it easier to incorporate learning into your employee’s daily routines.
Having monthly, quarterly or yearly training presentations is incredibly outdated and they make it challenging for sales staff to retain the information. It may look like you're putting in the effort to train your sales associates but in reality, the minute they leave the training room, they’ve already forgotten half of what they’ve learnt. In fact, after just 24 hours of training, employees will have already forgotten 70% of new information. This is why it’s essential to embed small bits of information over an extended period of time.
The benefits:
Your sales associates can learn on the go when they’ve got a few minutes of downtime.
Your frontline sales team are more likely to remember the information they’ve learnt, because it’s consumed in small digestible chunks.
Microlearning is less time-consuming, which means that sales associates are more likely to make time for it in their daily routines.
It’s also more engaging, which again makes it more likely that your employees are actually going to do it.
#4 Acknowledgments and push alerts
When you’re managing a B2C sales team it can be tough to stay on top of everything. You’re trying to hit targets, ensure your team is happy, and follow director demands, all whilst staying in line with internal and external compliance. It’s exhausting, and sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day.
To make your job easier, it’s important you look out for a sales enablement tool which includes acknowledgements and push alerts. These are both superb features which make it easy for you to ensure employees are staying on track with the information they need to know and you can communicate with them at any time, anywhere.
Here’s a little more detail about the two features:
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements are used to make sure sales associates are reading the information you send to them. It’s basically a checkbox that they must tick to confirm they have read and understood the information they received. For example, you may need to send out your FCA compliance document, which you need your B2C sales associates to read on a monthly basis. For your records it’s crucial that you have confirmation that all employees have read it. Acknowledgements keep a digital record of everything making it easy to see who is and isn’t compliant.
They are also great just for general internal articles that you need employees to read. For example, you may have a product recall issue that you need everyone to be updated on. You can use the acknowledgement feature for this, so you have peace of mind that everyone is updated.
The benefits:
Easily stay on top of who’s read what, no more “nobody told me that” issues.
Easily keep your team compliant at all times, stay inline with external and internal policies.
Have tangible proof of team engagement.
Have peace of mind that your team is always knowledgeable and up to date.
Push alerts
Emails are just too slow and a lot of B2C sales associates don’t even have one.
Push alerts are like those which you would find on your favourite apps like Whatsapp. They pop up on your employee’s mobile or tablet device making it easy for you to cut through the noise and get information in front of your employees when they need it wherever they are.
These are perfect for quick announcements that employees need to hear at the start of their day. For example, which deals they should push that day or a reminder of their sales targets.
You should be able to tailor your targeting options so you can send more refined messages. For example, our sales enablement tool for B2C teams allows you to target by role or location. So if you wanted to send all junior sales associates their sales targets for the day you could select this targeting or option.
Or perhaps you might want to remind the employees in your London store that the Black Friday deal starts that day, you’ll want to target by location. They’re also perfect for urgent announcements like warnings, recalls or complaints your staff need to be aware of on the day they’re selling etc.
The benefits:
Cut through the noise and get the attention of your sales associates immediately.
Target your communications to make them more refined and engaging.
Easily keep your sales associates in the loop.
Avoid embarrassing moments with customers e.g. your co-worker told me something different, everyone is clear on the latest updates.
Improve readership numbers. Employees are more likely to read short alerts than they are to open long emails.
#5 Reward and recognise
Every great sales enablement platform should have a reward and recognition feature. After all, the key to all great performance within the workplace is to value your employees and show your appreciation for their hard work wherever you can. In fact, over 91% of HR professionals believe that recognition and reward make employees more likely to stay.
Whether it’s digital stickers, trophies, notifications or vouchers, make sure the sales enablement platform you choose has a feature which is centred around making employees feel valued. This makes it easy for you to reinforce positive selling behaviours so you can convert more people into paying customers.
You can recognise employees for the smallest of things and sometimes a little goes a long way in making employees feel seen. For example, an employee may have stayed at work past their shift hours to ensure a customer got the help they needed. This shows dedication and commitment to their role which should be recognised.
When you send them a token of your appreciation, not only will it make them feel great, but it will also encourage them to keep up the great work. It starts a cycle of positive behaviour which is great for sales.
The benefits:
You can reinforce positive behaviours which affect sales.
You will make your sales associates happier which could decrease your turnover rate.
You haven’t got the time to thank each employee individually, this means you have an easy way of letting more people know you appreciate them.
You can encourage sales associates to engage more with your content.
So there you have it, those are the five key features which you should be looking out for when purchasing a sales enablement tool. But the biggest thing to keep in mind is whether your employees are going to enjoy using it. If they love the platform, then you know you’re on the right track to succes.
Are you looking for a sales enablement app for your B2C sales team?
Look no further, Ocasta Engage is a sales enablement platform which is used by some of the biggest brands in the UK. Virgin Media O2, Victoria’s Secret, Next and Tesco Mobile all enjoy the benefits which our platform offers and you can too. Get in touch below for a free consultation and see how Ocasat Engage can drive sales in your B2C business.
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