Sales Knowledge Management for B2B Enterprises: Strategies, Tools and Best Practices

The sales pipeline is no longer linear, with fragmented customer journeys. As a result, a new sales rep's onboarding is exposed to a lot of information at once, most of which is forgotten after the initial onboarding. 

So, it’s best to continuously store and update sales process knowledge in a dedicated knowledge base. 

The best part about this approach is that your sales teams have the most updated information readily available. 

In this guide, we’ll look at the many tactics, tools, and best practices of sales knowledge management for B2B enterprises. 

What is sales knowledge management? 

Knowledge management for sales involves a well-organized process of creating, capturing, sharing, using, and managing information shared within the organization. 

For example, valuable prospect insights can be gleaned from various data sources, such as customer interactions, market trends, past deal closures, competitor analysis, and other vital internal data. This collection is later stored in a unified source and made easily accessible to the sales team to enable smoother pipelines. 

In short, knowledge management is all about ensuring sales teams have up-to-date data at their fingertips to perform at the best of their abilities and advance deals. 

Importance of effective sales knowledge management in B2B enterprises

Few reasons why sales knowledge management is an urgent requirement in B2B sales:

1. B2B prospects’ expectations are at an all-time high

B2B consumers are more demanding and busier than ever. They expect quicker and more accurate responses, putting more pressure on user-facing teams like sales.

Organizations that don’t meet these demands risk putting their B2B relationships at stake. A lack of efficient sales knowledge management increases the risk of losing prospects to competitors as they constantly look for better experiences.

2. B2B products are growing in complexity

Rapid technological advancements increase selling complexity, putting direct pressure on your sales teams. They now have more complex prospect queries to address while trying to stay updated with product changes.

What they need is access to streamlined knowledge management systems that eliminate manual information hunting.

3. For standardized sales processes

Sales teams with a more formal approach to internal sales enablement processes see excellent win rates. 

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To make this possible, a formal approach to sales knowledge management is also necessary. With open access to your business’ knowledge collection, sales reps will always have everything they need to bring their A-game. 

4. Inefficient knowledge management can impact your bottom line

Lack of efficient knowledge management means data mismanagement and formidable delays in responses. Ultimately, sales teams suffer due to frustrated prospects and increased workload. 

As delays sustain, prospects can quickly turn to competitors, causing potential revenue loss.

Top benefits of a well-organized knowledge management system for sales teams

Implementing a knowledge management system can have some significant benefits for sales teams and also, the entire organization:

1. Less time spent searching for answers 

A recent survey found that an employee spends about 3.6 hours daily on average searching for information. 

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A salesperson could be scouring through weeks of Slack conversations for product specifications or digging into hundreds of digital files from the marketing team in hopes of finding answers quickly. 

However, with a centralized knowledge management system, teams can spend less time searching and more time interacting with prospects and closing deals since the content is now more searchable and all in one place.

2. Lower training costs 

A LinkedIn source mentions that sales training expenses are on the rise. It can cost between $800 a month for an individual and around $10k+ for a group. These costs still do not guarantee that the new sales rep fits the team perfectly.

A well-organized knowledge management solution can significantly cut training and onboarding costs. That’s because new hires no longer have to rely on a supervisor and instead access the needed resources on the go.

3. Inter-departmental communication is made easier 

B2B sales cycles are longer and more complex. Salespeople may need support from multiple teams for precise decision-making.

With the help of a knowledge management solution, they can collaborate with the customer support staff, the marketing team, and product managers and access their insights to ensure prospects’ requirements are understood and addressed.

Key strategies for effective sales knowledge management

Here are three must-have strategies to adopt for a successful sales knowledge management solution:

1. Centralized knowledge repository

B2B enterprises have data spread across multiple sources. For example, meeting notes are stored on Google Drive, while customer details reside in a database.

Such fragmented data can be fixed by adopting a centralized knowledge repository as a single source of truth for all critical sales-related information that’s now easily accessible and searchable. 

Docket AI integrates various data sources to offer a centralized hub for sales knowledge. By running a simple AI-powered search, sales teams can retrieve deal-critical information in seconds. 

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2. Regular updates and maintenance 

A regularly maintained knowledge base stops sales teams from accessing and communicating outdated or erroneous data.

For example, product pricing details and features constantly change, and your knowledge management solution must be updated to reflect these changes.

Sales assistant tools like Docket AI help by automating the updating and maintaining the knowledge base with the latest sales data, leaving no signs of errors. 

3. Collaboration and sharing

Due to the complexity of sales cycles in B2B enterprises, sales teams often seek insights from product management, marketing, engineering, and customer support specialists.

For example, sales may need to learn about current market trends or recent product performance metrics from the product marketing team, and having these details as part of the knowledge base can improve sales productivity. 

That’s when solutions like Docket AI’s knowledge management help facilitate collaboration between teams to add and verify information to advance deals. 

Essential tools for sales knowledge management 

Below are the top three sales knowledge management essentials that should be a part of your tool stack:

1. Knowledge Management Software 

Modern knowledge management software has various functionalities, such as content management, content access, interactive guidance, 360-degree context, regular maintenance, analytics, and more. 

These tools are often powered by AI and ML, which automate content updates and ensure your sales team has up-to-date information.

2. CRM Systems

A sales CRM is a tool for tracking and managing prospect/customer communications across touchpoints, performing automated lead nurturing, and more. 

It’s also a great knowledge management solution as it integrates with your existing tools and communication channels, allowing a single source of truth for sales-related data. 

For example, sales reps can rely on a CRM system to find the most accurate information on how to follow up with a prospect belonging to a specific buyer persona.  

3. Document Management Systems

Document Management Systems or DMS facilitates electronically storing, sharing, tracking, and managing files or documents. 

For sales processes, DMS can:

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• Centralize document storage and make access seamless
• Allow multiple teams to cross-collaborate and work on the same documents, such as sales proposals, contracts, RFPs, etc., in real-time
• Help set up automated workflows, such as sending reminders for pending tasks and alerts on document updates
• Integrate with CRM systems, so sales teams don’t have to switch between two applications 

Best practices for sales knowledge management 

The following best practices will help you make the most of your sales and organization’s collective knowledge:

1. Implement a structured process

Introducing a sales knowledge management solution requires a solid, structured foundation, such as:

• Aligning knowledge management goals with business goals as it encourages knowledge sharing across teams and promotes a sense of unity
• Ensuring information is readily accessible in user-friendly formats, such as step-wise guides, meeting transcriptions, FAQs, and multimedia
• Setting clear guidelines for knowledge sharing and collaboration so all team members are on the same page

Standardizing these rules ensures the content is of high quality and always relevant.

2. Encourage continuous learning 

Implementing a knowledge base eliminates sales reps' reliance on higher-ups for critical information. So, encourage a culture of continuous learning and knowledge sharing to allow them to make independent decisions in the long run.

Docket AI, for example, provides access to up-to-date information and resources needed for ongoing learning.

3. Monitor and measure effectiveness 

Does your knowledge management solution significantly impact sales performance? Tracking metrics is the best way to know.

Some vital metrics you must monitor and measure are:

• Knowledge Utilization – How often the accessed information is applied in problem-solving. For example, top search queries
• Average search time – Average time it takes by sales reps to access relevant content
• Knowledge Quality – Content accuracy and relevance. Can be measured via feedback
• Time to Resolution – How quickly sales reps can find the needed information for better decision-making

4. Create a continuous feedback loop

A feedback loop exposes potential data or software loopholes that can be immediately addressed. Feedback can be collected from individuals who use the knowledge base daily. 

You could also collect sales rep feedback by running surveys to gather insights about content quality, relevance, precision, and usability. 

Wrapping up

B2B enterprise sales and knowledge management go hand in hand. Businesses investing in a sales knowledge management tool can significantly reduce response times and advance deals while combating the complex B2B sales cycle.

Investing in an AI-driven knowledge management solution is your best bet for improving content searchability and saving precious selling hours.

Docket AI is your go-to enterprise-ready solution for effective sales knowledge management.

Book a demo today!