Now more than ever, sales enablement tools have become essential for businesses striving to stay competitive in an ever-evolving marketplace.
As selling strategies increasingly rely on technology and data-driven insights, the tools that empower sales teams to excel are increasingly critical. Yet, despite their importance, the role of sales enablement is sometimes overlooked, with many organizations underestimating the impact these tools can have on their bottom line.
Whether it’s enhancing communication, streamlining processes, or providing real-time analytics, the right sales enablement software can be a game-changer, helping teams close deals faster and more efficiently.
As you navigate this complex landscape, understanding and utilizing the best sales enablement tools available in 2024 is not just an option—it’s a necessity.
What are sales enablement tools?
Sales enablement tools are a broad category of software designed to support and enhance various aspects of the sales process.
Essentially, sales enablement software aims to equip sales teams with the resources, information, and technology needed to engage effectively with prospects and close deals. This can include a wide range of functionalities, from customer relationship management (CRM) systems that track and manage interactions, to training platforms that help sales reps stay updated on the latest products and strategies.
Beyond CRM and training, sales enablement tools also include interactive demo software, which help you create interactive and personalized product demos, as well as analytics tools that provide insights into sales performance and customer behavior.
These tools are not just about improving efficiency. They are about enabling sales pros to work smarter, leveraging technology to build stronger relationships with clients and make data-driven decisions that lead to success.
Best sales enablement tools in 2024
Having the right tools can make all the difference.
Below, we explore some of the best sales enablement tools available in 2024 (other than Walnut, of course), each offering unique features designed to boost your sales team’s efficiency and effectiveness.
1. Seismic
Seismic stands out as the go-to sales enablement tool for large enterprises, especially those dealing with diverse product lines and complex customer segments.
It offers a comprehensive content management system (CMS) that excels in personalization, making it easier for sales teams to deliver tailored content to prospects and clients.
One of Seismic’s standout features is LiveDocs, which automates the personalization of content based on CRM data. For example, a sales rep working with a major client can quickly generate a presentation that speaks directly to the client’s needs, without manually adjusting each slide. Additionally, AI-powered search ensures that sales reps can swiftly find the most relevant materials, saving valuable time.
2. Highspot
Highspot is particularly suited for organizations looking to leverage AI to optimize their sales content strategy.
It’s more than just a content management tool; it’s a strategic platform that enhances buyer engagement throughout the sales cycle.
A key feature is SmartPage technology, which enables sales teams to create dynamic, guided selling experiences that adapt based on buyer interactions. For instance, if a potential client is more engaged with product specifications, the tool can automatically prioritize that information in subsequent communications. The contextual intelligence feature recommends the most relevant content based on the sales context, ensuring that sales reps always have the right materials at the right time. Pitch optimization uses AI to analyze successful pitches, offering actionable insights to refine future presentations.
While Highspot’s advanced features may require additional training, its powerful AI-driven content recommendations make it a valuable asset for any sales team aiming to improve buyer engagement.
3. Showpad
Showpad is a versatile sales enablement tool designed with mobile sales teams in mind. It’s an ideal choice for companies that require flexible content distribution, particularly for field sales teams or those frequently presenting in varied environments.
One of Showpad’s most useful features is content activation, which transforms static content into interactive, guided selling experiences. The tool’s offline access ensures that sales reps can present content even in areas with limited or no internet connectivity—a critical feature for those on the move.
Additionally, content governance features like version control and expiration dates help ensure that sales reps are always using the most up-to-date materials, reducing the risk of outdated information being shared with clients.
4. MindTickle
MindTickle is designed for businesses that prioritize continuous learning and development, particularly those with complex products or services that require ongoing sales skill enhancement.
Essentially, it’s a comprehensive solution that integrates learning with real-world sales scenarios.
The adaptive learning paths feature personalized training content based on individual performance and role requirements, ensuring that each sales rep receives the most relevant training. Simulations offer a safe environment for sales reps to practice real-world scenarios, with AI-powered conversation analysis providing immediate feedback. This is particularly valuable for sales teams dealing with high-stakes negotiations, allowing them to refine their approach before meeting with clients.
Additionally, coaching insights give managers actionable data on team performance, helping them identify areas for improvement and tailor coaching sessions accordingly.
5. SalesHood
SalesHood stands out as a sales enablement tool that fosters a collaborative learning environment, emphasizing peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and best practice dissemination. It’s particularly effective for organizations that value continuous improvement through collective learning.
One of the key features of SalesHood is peer review and feedback, which allows sales reps to learn from each other through video-based peer assessments. For example, a sales rep can record their pitch, upload it to the platform, and receive constructive feedback from colleagues, helping to refine their technique. Just-in-time learning delivers bite-sized training content directly within the sales workflow, ensuring that reps have access to the information they need right when they need it.
The platform’s coaching automation streamlines the coaching process by providing AI-driven insights and recommendations, making it easier for managers to support their teams.
6. Gong
Gong is an advanced sales enablement tool that specializes in conversation analysis, making it invaluable for organizations looking to refine their sales techniques and coach their reps more effectively.
Gong leverages AI to transcribe and analyze sales calls, providing detailed insights into key topics, buyer sentiment, and the effectiveness of communication strategies.
One of the standout features is call transcription and analysis, which automatically processes sales calls to extract valuable data. The tool’s deal intelligence feature offers insights into the health and risk factors of deals based on communication patterns, helping sales teams prioritize their efforts.
Additionally, coaching insights identify areas where sales reps can improve, providing managers with data-driven recommendations to enhance performance.
7. Klue
Klue is a specialized sales enablement tool designed for companies operating in highly competitive markets. It focuses on gathering, analyzing, and distributing competitive intelligence across sales and marketing teams, ensuring that your team is always one step ahead of the competition.
Battlecards are one of Klue’s key features, offering dynamic, up-to-date information on competitors that sales teams can use to address objections and highlight the strengths of their own products. For instance, if a competitor launches a new feature, Klue can update the battlecard in real time, providing your sales team with immediate talking points. The tool’s market intelligence aggregates and analyzes market data to provide actionable insights, helping teams to anticipate industry trends and adjust strategies accordingly.
Competitive alerts notify teams of important competitor moves and market changes, allowing for a quick response to shifts in the competitive landscape. Klue also offers win/loss analysis, which helps teams understand why deals are won or lost, providing valuable lessons that can be applied to future sales efforts.
8. SalesLoft
SalesLoft is an all-in-one revenue operations platform that unifies prospecting, deal management, and customer engagement. It’s particularly well-suited for organizations looking to streamline their sales processes and improve overall efficiency.
Cadence automation is one of SalesLoft’s core features, enabling sales teams to create personalized, multi-channel outreach sequences that ensure consistent communication with prospects. For example, a sales team can set up an automated sequence that includes emails, phone calls, and social media touches, tailored to the preferences of each prospect.
The tool’s conversation intelligence records and analyzes sales calls, providing insights that help reps improve their pitch and communication skills. Deal management offers a unified view of deal progress, allowing sales teams to easily track where each opportunity stands and what actions are needed to move it forward. SalesLoft also excels in revenue analytics, providing detailed reports on team performance and revenue impact, which helps organizations make informed decisions about where to focus their efforts.
9. Vidyard
Vidyard is a powerful tool for organizations that want to incorporate personalized video messaging into their sales outreach and internal communications. It’s particularly effective in increasing engagement and response rates compared to traditional text-based communication.
Personalized videos are Vidyard’s primary feature, allowing sales reps to create one-on-one video messages that can be tailored to the individual recipient.
Vidyard’s all-in-one video suite streamlines the video creation, management, and analytics process, making it easy for teams to produce and share high-quality video content. The platform’s in-depth video analytics provide detailed insights into viewer behavior, including view rates, completion times, and engagement metrics, allowing sales teams to optimize their content for better results.
10. Loom
Loom is an asynchronous video communication tool that empowers sales teams to create personalized videos, improve outreach, and gather real-time feedback. It’s ideal for situations where live meetings are not possible or practical.
Quick video sharing is one of Loom’s key features, allowing sales reps to quickly record and share videos with prospects. This eliminates the need to coordinate schedules for live calls, making the sales process more flexible.
Loom also supports frictionless asynchronous sharing, meaning that prospects can view and engage with content on their own time, which is particularly useful for international sales or busy clients. Personalized touches, such as intros and outros featuring the sales rep’s webcam footage, help build rapport and make the communication feel more personal. Additionally, Loom offers real-time feedback and engagement features, allowing prospects to leave comments and questions directly within the video, which the sales rep can address asynchronously.
How to choose which sales enablement tools to use
Selecting the right sales enablement tools for your organization is a crucial decision that can significantly impact your sales team’s efficiency and effectiveness.
With thousands of options available on the market, it can be overwhelming to determine which tools are the best fit for your business.
The key to making the right choice lies in understanding your company’s unique needs and aligning those with the capabilities of the tools you consider. This process involves evaluating various factors such as the type of business you operate, the size of your company, and your specific sales goals.
Sales enablement software is designed to equip your sales team with the resources they need to engage effectively with prospects and close deals.
However, it goes without saying that not all tools are created equal, and the right choice will depend on several critical considerations:
Understanding your business needs
The first and most important step in choosing the right sales enablement tools is to get a clear understanding of your business’s unique requirements.
Every organization has a different sales process, target audience, and product or service offering. Therefore, it’s essential to identify what specific challenges your sales team faces and what goals you want to achieve with the new tools.
For example, if your team struggles with content management, a tool like Seismic, with robust content personalization and analytics features, might be ideal. On the other hand, if improving sales training is your priority, a tool like MindTickle, which focuses on continuous learning, could be more suitable.
Company size and scalability
Another crucial factor to consider is the size of your company and its potential for growth.
A small startup with a lean sales team will have different needs compared to a large enterprise with hundreds of sales reps spread across multiple regions.
For smaller companies, it’s essential to choose tools that are easy to implement and don’t require extensive resources to manage. Look for tools that offer a user-friendly interface and scalable pricing models, making them ideal for small to medium-sized businesses.
For larger organizations, scalability becomes a significant concern. You’ll need a tool that can grow with your company and handle the increasing complexity of your sales processes. You’ll need to find platforms with robust CRM capabilities and a vast ecosystem of integrations.
Ease of use and adoption
The effectiveness of any sales enablement tool hinges on whether your team actually uses it. Therefore, ease of use is a critical consideration.
A tool with a clean, simple user interface can significantly reduce the learning curve and increase adoption rates among your sales reps. Sales enablement tools that are overly complicated can slow down the sales cycle and face major resistance from your team.
Integration with existing systems
Your sales enablement tools should seamlessly integrate with your existing systems, particularly your CRM. This ensures that sales reps can access content, training materials, and analytics directly within the platforms they already use daily.
This not only enhances efficiency, but also helps in maintaining consistency across all customer interactions.
Robust analytics and data
In today’s data-driven world, having robust analytics capabilities is non-negotiable.
Your sales enablement tool should provide detailed insights into the performance of your sales content and processes.
This allows your team to assess what’s working and what’s not, enabling continuous improvement.
Content creation and management
Content is at the heart of sales enablement, and your chosen tools should make it easy to create, organize, and deliver relevant content.
Look for tools that offer robust content management capabilities, including custom content spots, properties, and tags. This feature allows your team to organize sales materials in a way that makes sense for your business, whether by use case, target buyer persona, or stage in the sales cycle.
Mobile-friendliness
Finally, consider the mobility of your sales team. Sales pros are often on the go, whether meeting with clients or attending conferences. As such, it’s essential that your sales enablement tools are optimized for mobile use.
Mobile-friendly tools allow sales reps to access content, update records, and communicate with prospects from anywhere, ensuring they stay productive even when away from their desks.
Why sales enablement software is essential in SaaS sales
In a highly competitive and rapidly evolving industry, having the right tools at your disposal can mean the difference between closing a deal and losing a prospect.
Interactive demos, in particular, are crucial for SaaS companies, as they allow potential clients to experience the product firsthand, driving engagement and understanding.
Tools like Walnut, which offer customizable and frictionless interactive demo experiences, enable sales teams to showcase their software’s value effectively.
At the end of the day, the tools you select should not only support your team in their daily tasks, but also empower them to build stronger relationships with prospects through personalized content, interactive demos, and data-driven insights.
Whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise, understanding your unique needs and aligning them with the capabilities of the available tools will help you create a sales enablement strategy that drives success.
Remember, the right sales enablement software isn’t just another tool in your sales tech stack. It’s a strategic asset that can propel your sales team to new heights.
