Sales enablement: conceptualizing and developing a dynamic capability

Abstract

Practitioners have touted sales enablement as a prominent solution to the challenges of the evolving buying and selling environments; however, empirical research on this concept is nonexistent in extant literature. Furthermore, while the pervasiveness of sales domain scholarship suggests that salespeople will continue to influence sales practice through expanded opportunities, firms must also blend the art and science of engaging customers in a profitable and sustainable manner. To address these scholarly demands, the authors designed an empirical study that conceptualizes sales enablement and offers an in-depth perspective on how organizations enable their sales force. The authors employ an ethnographic inquiry comprising various data sources, including 41 depth interviews with professionals responsible for sales enablement architecture and/or execution. Findings offer a multi-dimensional conceptualization of sales enablement and introduce a process model which explicates how firms develop sales enablement as a dynamic capability. This study expands current knowledge by offering foundational insights and advanced theories of sales enablement, while also providing strategic implications for sales organizations responding to evolving customer demands and selling environments.