Sales enablement is one of the hottest subjects in business-to-business sales today, if not the hottest. Thanks to the Internet, buyers are better educated than ever before, so, to be effective and productive, salespeople have to be on top of every aspect of their sales story at all times.

Companies of all sizes, with large direct sales teams, extensive indirect sales channels, or both, often find it really difficult to continually produce the up-to-date information salespeople demand. To be useful and valuable, sales tools need to be constantly fed with fresh information about the product (or service) itself, the state of the market, what customers are asking for, the competitive landscape, potential objections ...

In-house teams work hard to update these essential tools in time for big trade shows and to coincide with major product launches, but often they're out-of-date almost as soon as they're published. Competitors launch new products at trade shows. Mergers and acquisitions are announced there too. Markets are fluid and industries today move faster than ever before. As well as the preparations you make for those specific events, on a daily, ongoing basis, you need to reflect changes to regulations and standards, currency fluctuations, other companies' successes and failures and other external factors in the sales tools your people are using.

This can cause unnecessary conflict. Sales complain to Product Management and Product Marketing that they need up-to-date sales tools to be effective. Product Management and Product Marketing respond by saying they're really busy with other stuff, they keep them as up-to-date as they can and why can't Sales use what they have and do their own additional research to complete the picture. Sales say they're paid to sell, not do background research, and they need sales tools to be current to be able to stay on top. It's a vicious circle and a less than ideal situation, but probably one that's recognisable to most.

Companies outsource all sorts of functions these days, so why not entrust the production, management and maintenance of these crucial sales tools to a third party that is paid to keep them updated and fit for purpose? It relieves pressure on Product Management and Product Marketing, enabling them to focus on other important aspects of their job, and gives Sales what they need, when they need it.

Companies outsource all sorts of functions these days, so why not entrust the production, management and maintenance of these crucial sales tools to a third party that is paid to keep them updated and fit for purpose? It relieves pressure on Product Management and Product Marketing, enabling them to focus on other important aspects of their job, and gives Sales what they need, when they need it.