"Sales guys sell," Elliott said. They don't train very well. They don't teach very well. They don't have the patience for it."

The sales enablement team is also responsible for helping to develop organizational strategy and creating material for both the sales organization and clients that advances the strategy, Elliott said. From that, Elliott said the sales enablement group should ensure message consistency across the various sales channels and bring the salespeople new, adjacent products and services to drive cross-selling.  

"The sales enablement team needs to be able to start weaving around and through the rest of the jungle out there before the rest of the organization," Elliott said. "Everyone needs to understand where they're going and why." 

For some solution providers, that's easier said than done.

Solution provider Ark Solvers is looking into forming a sales enablement organization to increase profits and clientele and help the company grow, said Tania Andre, business development director at the North Miami Beach, Fl.-based solution provider, who attended Elliott's presentation. However, Ark Solvers has not yet been able to find the right person to do it, Andre said. If that talent isn't present within the organization today, Andre said she plans to look into integrating sales enablement strategy into what Arc Solvers is already doing.

Organizations tend to approach sales enablement in two ways, Elliott said. Some companies have a dedicated group of resources working full-time in sales enablement, while others make sales enablement one part of a larger set of responsibilities for several individuals.

Elliott thinks the dedicated resources approach works better, adding that companies must allocate sufficient time, money and resources for a sales enablement team to be effective. A weak or ineffective sales enablement team leads to a lot of dissatisfied salespeople and angry customer calls, he said. 

"Executive leadership needs to think this is important," Elliott said. "If they don't, it's not going to work."