Share Your Sales Enablement Journey

Sales Enablement is such a simple phrase. Just two words made up of 15 unassuming letters that very neatly package a hugely complex mix of disciplines, processes, strategies and values. There’s a great deal going on here and for me the most remarkable element of the sales enablement success formula is the amazingly rich and diverse collection of people that bring it to life every day.

This post was in part prompted when I read about the recent passing of the pioneering African-American NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson. Although that name might not be immediately familiar you’ll no doubt be reminded of her incredible achievements from the 2016 movie Hidden Figures. The film chronicles how Katherine, alongside her fellow “human computers” Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, rose through the ranks of NASA during a period of heightened tensions between the US and Soviet Union as both countries fought for supremacy in the stars. 

Despite all of the very considerable gender, race, and professional barriers they faced back in 1961, with their brilliance, determination, desire to succeed and to dream big, they were able to reach beyond anything ever accomplished before by the human race. For those of you that haven’t seen the movie I highly recommend it, here’s the trailer:

Although we in the world of sales enablement may not be tasked with figuring out the complexities of space travel, we are most definitely shooting for the stars when it comes to transforming the traditionally dysfunctional relationships between buyers and sellers. And, just as this movie reveals, there are many hidden figures working hard to cultivate the capabilities salespeople need in order to help their customers navigate the fog and complexity of today’s increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. 

So with that in mind, this post is about shining a light on those people. It would be awesome to learn more about you. what you do, and more importantly why you do it. Let’s start a conversation by getting to know each other. At the risk of mixing up the social media platforms, how about we borrow from our friends at Twitter and share our stories using up to 280 characters in the comments below. I’m happy to kick things off.

"I am proud to say my entire professional life has been lived in sales. For me sales at its core is about human connection. My work therefore is all about breaking down the barriers between buyers and sellers so we can forge more of those connections, and together build a better world."

If those words resonate with you I would be interested to connect. Please also share your own journey in the comments section below and we'll all benefit from getting to know each other a little better. You might also be interested to know we're hiring. If you're an inspirational Sales Trainer and Coach crazy enough to think you can build the future, we might just have the opportunity you're looking for. Learn more here Field Enablement Senior Sales Trainer and Coach.

About The Author

Ian J Lowe is a member of the EMEA Sales Strategy, Operations & Enablement (SSOE) team at AWS. He is focused on the delivery of customer obsessed sales training and coaching programs that enable our people to better serve our customers in their journey to the cloud.