In today’s crowded B2B landscape, getting a buyer’s attention is tough. But making initial contact is only the first hurdle.
The next challenge is keeping the buyer engaged. This is no easy feat, as sellers must contend with longer, more complex sales cycles, larger buying committees, and well-informed buyers who are increasingly resistant to outreach.
That’s why a sales engagement strategy is essential to any modern sales approach.
Sales engagement empowers your team to deliver consistent, value-driven interactions that build trust and keep deals moving forward. When combined with sales enablement, it becomes a powerful driver of sales success.
Read on as we break down what sales engagement is, what to look for in a platform, how to improve your approach, and why pairing sales engagement with sales enablement is key to winning over today’s B2B buyers.
What is sales engagement?
Ask a room full of revenue leaders what sales engagement is, and you’ll likely get a variety of answers. So, let’s start off by defining the term.
Sales engagement, defined
Sales engagement refers to all of the interactions that happen between a B2B buyer and seller throughout the purchase journey. B2B buyers often engage in dozens (sometimes more) touchpoints before making a decision. Every one of these touchpoints – whether it’s an email, a phone call, or a click on a piece of content – plays a role in whether a deal moves forward or stalls out.
When these interactions are consistent, relevant, and well-timed, a seller can build rapport, earn a prospect’s trust, and ultimately, win more business. That’s why so many organizations prioritize sales engagement.
The evolution of b2b sales engagement
Sales engagement isn’t a new concept. But it’s one that’s evolving fast.
In the past, B2B sales engagement was largely built around in-person meetings, phone calls, and other traditional outreach tactics. While those channels still matter, today’s buyers expect a more digital, flexible, and self-guided experience.
Many B2B buyers do extensive research before reaching out to a sales rep, and three-quarters say they prefer a rep-free sales experience. Still, research shows that buyers make better purchase decisions when a sales rep is involved.
It’s more important than ever to meet buyers on their own terms.
Today, b2b sales engagement spans a wide range of channels, including:
- Phone calls
- Live chat
- Social media engagement
- Digital sales rooms
- Video calls and virtual demos
But the problem is, sellers don’t have time to reinvent the wheel for every opportunity. That’s where a strong sales engagement strategy – backed by the right tools – comes in.
A modern sales engagement approach gives sellers a clear, data-driven framework for how and when to engage buyers, while still allowing room for flexibility and personalization. With the right sales engagement strategy, your sellers will have a repeatable, scalable approach that adapts to each buyer’s unique journey.
Features to look out for in a sales engagement platform
A sales engagement platform is a tool that helps sellers engage more effectively with every prospect, no matter where they are on the buyer journey. With the right sales engagement tools, sellers can deliver high quality, consistent interactions at scale.
While features vary widely from platform to platform, here are some key capabilities to look for.
A strong sales engagement platform centralizes lead and contact information in one place. That means sellers can easily access key details – like lead scores and engagement history – so they can determine next best steps and keep deals on track.
Sales engagement isn’t a one-and-done activity. Instead, it’s a series of touchpoints. Often, different types of touchpoints are managed in different tools.
Look for a sales engagement platform that allows sellers to manage different channels – including emails and calls – from a single dashboard. That way, they can spend less time toggling between systems and more time building meaningful relationships with prospects.
A sales engagement platform should make reps’ lives easier, not more difficult.
Look for a sales engagement platform that integrates seamlessly with your CRM, sales or revenue enablement platform, and other key tools. That way, data will flow smoothly across systems and sellers can spend less time manually updating separate tools
Sellers depend on sales collateral to engage their buyers But often, they struggle to find what they need.
Look for a sales engagement platform that helps sellers quickly find and share the right content for any situation. Bonus points if the platform uses artificial intelligence to recommend proven content based on factors like:
- Buyer behavior
- Deal stage
- Buyer persona
Sales engagement strategies aren’t set in stone. Instead, they must evolve over time, based on data. Ongoing measurement is key to determining what’s working and what’s not.
Look for a sales engagement platform that provides robust reporting analytics so you can track key metrics like:
- Email open rates
- Call activity
- Content performance
The platform should help you translate the data into actionable insights so you can continuously refine your sales engagement approach for greater impact.
Delivering consistent, personalized experiences at scale requires a lot of time. Unfortunately, sellers don’t have much time to spare.
Look for a sales engagement platform that offers AI-powered features that can lighten the load. For example, AI can be used to:
- Streamline or automate routine tasks
- Surface insights
- Recommend next steps to take to move a deal forward
- Personalize outreach
With the right AI-powered features, sellers can drive better engagement across their entire book of business – without a ton of added effort.
Best practices for improving sales engagement
Boosting sales engagement must be a top priority for any revenue organization. As sales engagement improves, so too do key outcomes like win rates, deal velocity, and quota attainment.
But improving sales engagement isn’t as simple as sending more emails or making more calls. It’s about delivering the right message, at the right time, through the right channel.
Here are six proven best practices to help your team connect with prospects and close more deals.
#1 Build a solid sales content strategy and centralize your assets
Content plays an important role in the B2B purchase journey. But generic sales content won’t cut it. Instead, it must be relevant, personalized, and aligned to buyer needs.
Create sales content that’s aligned to each stage of the buyer journey. It’s also important to develop content that’s tailored to specific industries and buyer personas.
Then, centralize all sales content in a content management system so sellers always know where to find the most current, approved assets.
Also, don’t let your sellers waste time trying to guess what content will work. Instead, leverage AI-powered recommendations to help sellers surface the right content at the right time.
#2 Choose the right sales engagement tools
Technology is an important component of an effective sales engagement strategy. Some important tools to consider include:
- CRM: to keep prospect data organized and actionable
- Sales engagement platform: To automate touchpoints and manage things like outreach cadences and personalization
- Sales enablement platform: To provide sellers with the training, tools, and content needed to maximize every interaction
But avoid overwhelming your sellers with a bloated tech stack. Choose platforms that integrate seamlessly to create a unified workflow, rather than a disconnected toolset that slows reps down.
#3 Use multiple buyer engagement channels
According to McKinsey & Company, B2B buyers use an average of 10 interaction channels in their buying journey. Your sales engagement strategy should reflect that reality.
Use a variety of channels to engage buyers, including:
- Phone calls
- Live chat
- Digital sales rooms
- Social media
- Virtual demos
Pay close attention to each buyer’s preferences, and adjust your outreach accordingly. The more tailored the experience, the more likely they are to stay engaged.
#4 Don’t over-rely on automation
Research found that sales reps spend less than 30% of their time on selling activities. The rest of their time is spent on things like repetitive administrative work, data entry, and internal meetings.
Automation can lighten the load on sales reps so they can spend more time selling. But it should be used to support your sales engagement strategy, not replace it. Buyers can easily spot generic, automated outreach.
#5 Equip sellers with ongoing training and coaching
Sales engagement is a skill. Like any skill, it requires training, practice, and feedback.
In addition to onboarding, provide ongoing training that helps reps engage buyers. Pair that with practice opportunities and coaching. Manager-led sales coaching is great. But you may also want to consider AI-powered coaching tools, which offer personalized, real-time feedback based on real sales calls and role-plays.
#6 Leverage data to measure and optimize
Your sales engagement strategy should be rooted in data, not gut feelings. Track metrics like open rates, reply rates, content views, and deal velocity. These metrics can help you understand what’s working and what’s not. You can use these insights to double down on what works and make necessary optimizations to your sales engagement strategy.
Combining sales engagement and sales enablement for better outcomes
Sales engagement is essential to any modern sales strategy. But most sellers don’t instinctively know how to engage buyers, especially in today’s complex, digital-first environment.
That’s why sales enablement is essential.
Sales enablement ensures sellers have the training, tools, content, and resources needed to confidently connect with buyers and guide them through the purchase journey. In other worlds, sales enablement fuels sales engagement.
Consider this example. A sales rep is preparing to reach out to a prospect who recently downloaded a mid-funnel content asset. A sales engagement platform might prompt the seller to follow up with a personalized email and offer a demo. But without revenue enablement, the rep might not have the right messaging, demo strategy, or confidence to close the loop effectively.
Sales enablement ensures this seller is properly supported with things like:
- On-demand training that helps the seller understand how to tailor outreach based on the stage of the sales cycle.
- Recommended content, like case studies or videos, that can support the conversation
- Tools like digital sales rooms to better engage buying groups throughout the sales cycle
Together, B2B sales engagement and sales enablement form a winning combination that helps sellers:
- Deliver consistent, personalized experiences that resonate with buyers
- Make the most of every touchpoint
- Build trust, accelerate deals, and boost win rates
At the end of the day, sales engagement connects you with buyers, and sales enablement ensures that connection is impactful and meaningful.
Start closing more deals with sales engagement and sales enablement
Capturing a B2B buyer’s attention is hard. But keeping it is even harder – especially when sellers are forced to reinvent the wheel with every prospect.
With the right sales engagement strategy (powered by the right technology), your sellers have a clear, flexible framework for connecting with buyers at the right time, with the right message, through the right channels. When you add sales enablement to the mix, your buyers will have the right training, tools, and support to make every interaction count.
With sales engagement and sales enablement, your sellers can build stronger relationships, deliver better experiences, and close more deals.
See AI and Mindtickle Copilot in Action
Ready to see how Mindtickle’s AI-powered revenue enablement platform can help your customer-facing teams engage more buyers and close more deals?
Get a Demo
By Poornima Mohandas
By Christian Pieper