Product managers can improve collaboration with sales teams by prioritizing prevention over firefighting.
Let’s be real—if your sales team doesn’t have the right tools, guess who gets dragged into the mess? You. Product managers and product marketing managers who don’t prioritize sales enablement often end up firefighting urgent sales requests instead of focusing on strategic work. It’s time to flip that script and provide your sales team with the resources they need before the fires start.
I got my start in product management with sales enablement. As a sales rep, I had built a set of sales materials for my own use, and then my boss asked me to train the rest of the sales team. This project came to the attention of our VP of Marketing, who asked, “Who are you and why are you doing sales training? That’s the product manager’s job!”
(Uh, then why isn’t he doing it?)
The VP asked me to join the team as a product manager—what we would now call a product marketing manager or product growth manager.
Sales enablement is more than just throwing a couple of brochures their way. It’s about giving sales teams the tools to anticipate customer needs, handle objections, and close deals faster.
Sales teams struggle when they don’t have the right tools and resources to close deals, but product managers and product marketing managers can prevent this by providing better sales enablement.
Build a Comprehensive Sales Playbook
Remember those times you got a frantic call from a salesperson looking for a customer case study or an up-to-date pricing sheet minutes before a sales call? Yeah, that shouldn’t happen. A well-organized sales playbook keeps the entire sales team on the same page—literally and figuratively. It’s astounding that everyone doesn’t already have this in a sales portal.
Ideal Customer Profiles: Make sure your sales team knows who to target. The profile should outline key demographics, pain points, and buying triggers. This reduces the number of times your salesperson pitches the right product to the wrong prospect.
Qualification Criteria: What makes a lead worth pursuing? Provide sales with clear qualification guidelines to focus on “HOT” prospects. “H”=has the problem we solve; “O”=fits the opportunity profile; “T”= ready to talk to a salesperson.
Solution Pitch: No one should be winging it. Include scripts, slides, or templates for product presentations tailored to different buyer personas.
Competitive Battlecards: Your team needs to know how your product stacks up against the competition. Battlecards summarize the key differences between your solution and others, arming salespeople with the info they need to win.
Pricing Guidelines: Confusion over pricing can kill deals. A confused buyer doesn’t buy. Provide clear pricing options and how to customize proposals without delaying the process.
A good sales playbook doesn’t just help the sales team; it cuts down on interruptions for the product team. No more frantic Slack messages asking, “Do we have a case study for my client’s industry?” or the late-night text with a pricing question.
Create On-Demand Sales Training Modules
Salespeople don’t always have time or patience to sit through lengthy trainings—especially when a hot lead is on the line. They want just-in-time information. Enter on-demand training.
Short, focused modules allow your team to brush up on skills or new product features without taking them out of the field for days. We have done this for years. Back in the day, we sent cassette tapes for salespeople to play in their rental cars.
Product Deep Dives: Your product has a ton of features, but which ones are most relevant to specific customer segments? Break this down in quick-hit videos or presentations that sales can access anytime.
Handling Objections: What are the most common objections, and how should salespeople counter them? Record training modules that address each objection with compelling responses and product strengths.
Demo Guides: Give your team a step-by-step guide on how to demo the product for different personas, including tips on which features to highlight.
By having on-demand training available, your sales team won’t need to interrupt your day by asking for quick refreshers on product info or customer scenarios.
Keep this in mind: if you give it to salespeople, you’ve given it to customers—especially if the videos are great! So don’t include information that you don’t want customers—or competitors—to know.
Foster Stronger Product-Sales Alignment
When product and sales teams work in silos, it’s a recipe for disaster. Instead of treating each other like opposing forces, foster a collaborative culture where salespeople are seen as an extension of the product team.
Frequent Syncs: Host regular meetings where sales and product teams discuss current deals, customer feedback, and product updates. This ensures that both teams are on the same page and can address issues proactively.
Deal Review Sessions: Have sales present key deals to the product team for input. These reviews can provide invaluable insights into customer needs and how the product is resonating in the market.
Customer Feedback Pipeline: Set up a formal process for sales to pass along customer feedback directly to the product team. This will help you prioritize product updates and ensure you’re meeting the real needs of your market. Add this input to the insights you gain from your frequent customer conversations.
Strong alignment doesn’t just make things smoother internally—it leads to a better customer experience, which in turn leads to better sales results.
Measure and Optimize Sales Enablement Performance
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. If you want to see real improvements in sales results, you need to track the impact of your sales enablement efforts and optimize accordingly. Here are some key sales-related metrics to track
Content Usage: Which sales tools are being used the most? Which sales tools are the salespeople requesting? Track downloads, views, and utilization rates to see which materials are making an impact.
Sales Cycle Length: How long does it take your sales team to close deals? Monitor whether the introduction of new tools or processes shortens this timeline.
Win Rates: Are your sales enablement materials actually helping sales win more deals? Track win rates before and after introducing new tools to assess their effectiveness.
Use data to refine your sales enablement efforts. Maybe some tools need to be refreshed, or perhaps certain training modules aren’t resonating. The key is to stay agile and continuously improve.
Sales enablement is the key to unlocking better sales results, but it’s a team effort. By equipping your sales team with the right tools, fostering alignment between product and sales, and measuring your impact, you can empower your team to succeed. Stop firefighting and start focusing on prevention—because a well-prepared sales team is a winning sales team.