32 questions to ask sales enablement vendors during a demo

Sales enablement platforms provide sellers with the content resources they need to engage buyers in a way that adds value, while also educating salespeople on the marketplace through training and coaching. While all of this is going on, sales enablement platforms also track buyers’ and sellers’ interactions with content, giving marketers and sellers insights into what’s working and what’s not.

Given all of that promise, marketers are certainly evaluating these technologies and one crucial part of that process is the demo.

It’s important to set up demos within a relatively short time frame of each other to help make relevant
comparisons. Also, make sure that all potential internal users are on the demo call, and pay attention to the following:

• How easy is the platform to use?
• Does the vendor seem to understand our business and our marketing needs?
• Are they showing us our “must-have” features?

Use these 32 questions during the demo to help you gauge whether the platform you are vetting is the right fit for your organization:

Onboarding

• What makes this platform technically unique from all the others?
• How difficult is the platform set up and implementation? How long will it take for us to be up and running on the system?
• How intuitive is the platform user interface? How easy is it for business users to customize the machine learning-based models or settings?
• What is your service reliability guarantee?
• What external resources, such as systems integrators, agencies and consultancies, are familiar with the platform and could be hired to help us get started?
• How scalable is the platform?

Content creation and management

• How intuitive is the interface for ingesting and managing content?
• Does the platform integrate with the tools our team uses for creating content?
• What content creation tools are included or optional within the platform? Do they extend to more advanced options like VR or 3D experiences?
• Does the platform integrate with the solution we’re currently using to store content assets?
• What are the organizational structures for content and how can marketers ensure salespeople can find the appropriate content?
• What controls can we put in place to ensure salespeople are only using approved, timely and compliant content?

Analytics

• What are all of the types of interactions that are measurable by the platform?
• Does the platform support recording calls, video conferences and other interactions for analysis?
• How does the platform use AI or machine learning algorithms to analyze the content of interactions with buyers?
• Can we track buyer interactions through the whole purchase cycle from interest to actual conversion? If not, what are the options?
• Can we bring the data gathered in the platform into other tools we use like CRM?

Training and coaching

• What are the different types of formats for training and coaching content?
• What sales methodologies does the platform support?
• What types of reports on salespeople can the platform generate? Training progress? Performance?

Integrations

• What native or out-of-the-box integrations have already been created?
• What happens if I choose to use a tool I’m already using rather than one of the platform modules? How can we ensure they work together smoothly?

Pricing and support

• What is pricing based on? What features are included? Are there additional fees (consulting, add-on features, APIs, quotas)?
• What is the minimum contract length? Is there a short-term contract or an “out” clause if things don’t work out?
• Is a free trial or pilot program available?
• What are the different modules (if applicable) that we can license individually?
• Who will be our day-to-day contact?
• Who pays if the system/team makes an error?
• What kind of customer support is available? Can I pick up the phone to report problems?

Strategy and product roadmap

• Do you have other clients in my vertical?
• How does the company handle requests for product modifications?
• What new features are you considering for the platform? What’s the long-term roadmap and launch dates?

About The Author

Pamela Parker is Research Director at Third Door Media’s Content Studio, where she produces MarTech Intelligence Reports and other in-depth content for digital marketers in conjunction with Search Engine Land and MarTech. Prior to taking on this role at TDM, she served as Content Manager, Senior Editor and Executive Features Editor. Parker is a well-respected authority on digital marketing, having reported and written on the subject since its beginning. She’s a former managing editor of ClickZ and has also worked on the business side helping independent publishers monetize their sites at Federated Media Publishing. Parker earned a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

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