Buyer enablement is the practice of giving buyers the information, tools and help they need to make a purchase decision inside their own organization.
What the champion needs in the room
Most B2B purchases are decided in meetings the rep never attends. The champion has to explain the problem, defend the cost and answer objections from finance, IT and procurement on their own. Buyer enablement is what the rep gives the champion for those meetings: a one-page summary of the problem in the buyer's words, a cost estimate the buyer helped build, answers to the questions each stakeholder will ask, and a proposed plan for the decision.
- A one-page summary of the problem, in the buyer's words
- A cost estimate the buyer helped build
- Answers to the questions each stakeholder will ask
- A proposed plan for the decision
A rep can only hand over a case the buyer has stated, so the work starts on the discovery call. On a Gap Selling team the page almost writes itself from that call: the current state, the future state the buyer wants and what the gap costs, all in the buyer's numbers. On a team running the ValueSelling Framework® it is the value the buyer quantified, written up for the person who holds Power. Our discovery call guide covers that call, and if you want your reps' transcripts read for the moment they turned into a pitch, talk to us.
Example (illustrative)
A rep selling expense software has a champion in accounts payable who must present to the CFO next week. On the discovery call the champion said late receipts hold up month-end close by three days and cost the team weekend overtime. The rep writes a one-page brief in those words, adds the overtime estimate the champion gave, lists the two questions the CFO is likely to ask with suggested answers, and proposes a date for a decision. The champion presents the brief as their own. The rep is not in the room, and the case still gets made.
What a manager asks in the deal review
"If your champion had to explain this deal to the CFO tomorrow without you, what would they say?" Two answers to that question, from the expense software deal above:
- Weak: "I sent them the proposal and the ROI deck, so they have everything."
- Strong: "They'll say month-end close runs three days late because of receipts, and the weekends cost overtime. Those are their words from the first call. The CFO will ask about rollout time, and that answer is on the page too."
Forwarding the proposal leaves the champion to translate your slides alone. The strong version is a page the champion could have written, because most of it came from what they said on the calls.
Related terms
- What is a buying committee?: the people the champion has to convince.
- Discovery call questions: the questions that give the champion a case to carry.
- What is a mutual action plan?: the shared plan for the decision.
- What is a champion?: the buyer-side person who carries the case.
FAQ
What is the difference between buyer enablement and sales enablement?
The difference is who gets equipped: sales enablement equips your own reps with training, content and coaching. Buyer enablement equips the buyer, usually the champion, to make the case for a purchase inside their company. The two connect: reps need coaching to run the discovery that buyer enablement depends on.
Who owns buyer enablement?
The rep owns buyer enablement on each deal, because they know what the buyer said. Marketing and enablement teams usually supply the templates and tools, such as business case formats and stakeholder briefs, that reps fill in with each buyer's own words.
What are examples of buyer enablement content?
Examples of buyer enablement content include a one-page problem summary, a business case or cost calculator, answers to likely questions from finance or IT, security documentation, and a mutual action plan. Each one lands better when it uses the buyer's own description of the problem.