Expansion Driven By Sales Enablement

Expanding into new regional markets is a great adventure for any start-up.

A lot of SaaS start-ups follow an "agile" approach when expanding overseas.

1 - Hire a senior sales leader with local experience and a decent network
2 - Equip the sales leader with a PPT deck and a few HQ contacts
3 - Let her figure the rest out

SaaS companies that are serious about an international expansion heavily rely on sales enablement to set sales resources in new markets up for success.

The tricky part?

Finding the balance between copying what has worked in other markets and customising to meet local needs.

Getting this balance right is crucial to reducing time to quota attainment in new markets.

Here are some areas to consider for sales enablement leaders supporting international expansion:

1 - Gather buyer intelligence

Conduct in-depth interviews with local buyers to deeply understand their challenges, information needs, decision-making processes etc. Even if general market research has already been conducted to define ICP's, this part is crucial if you want to equip the new sales team to be truly buyer centric.

Hint: You can use most of the questions you would already use during win-loss interviews minus questions about sales team interaction.

2 - Map the buyer journey, design the sales process

Visualise the buyer journey and work with the local sales leadership to design a sales process.

3 - Ensure all sales tools are available

If existing sales tools add value to the new sales process, ensure additional licenses are purchased to accommodate the new team. Don't make any major purchase decisions for new tech before the new sales process has been validated and inefficiencies identified.

4 - Localise sales content

Work with the local sales leadership on making the most urgent updates to sales collateral. It doesn't have to be perfect from day 1 but major cultural communication issues should be eliminated.

5 - Design an on-boarding program for new hires

Reducing time to revenue is crucial considering that any expansion is a major investment for a start-up. Leverage local resources where possible, leverage remote resources where necessary.

6 - Mentor new local sales enablement resources

If a new local sales enablement resource will be on the ground, ensure that crucial sales enablement knowledge is passed on to avoid wasting valuable time reinventing the wheel.

Thoughts?