What Is GTM Enablement?
As companies grow, so do their revenue goals, and the need for solid enablement infrastructure becomes more and more apparent. This is where GTM Enablement (also known as Revenue Enablement or Sales Enablement) steps in. At its core, GTM Enablement is about equipping customer-facing professionals with the right resources, knowledge, and programs to engage buyers effectively throughout their journey, driving increased revenue and creating a seamless experience for customers.
The Definition of GTM Enablement
GTM Enablement ensures that customer-facing teams, such as Sales and Customer Success, engage buyers and customers at the right time with the right tools. Whether it’s an AE closing a new deal or a CSM growing an existing account, these professionals need insights, content, and guidance to deliver value at every touchpoint. With the right training and tools in hand, they can ease a customer’s journey from prospect to loyal advocate.
But it's not just about handing teams a few tools and hoping for the best. GTM Enablement focuses on optimizing the entire selling process and ensuring alignment across selling roles. Think of it as a well-oiled machine—streamlined, efficient, and focused on growth.
Enablement in Action: The Role of the Enablement Professional
In many ways, Enablement professionals are like museum curators. Just as curators organize exhibits by weaving together stories that captivate visitors, Enablement professionals create and curate resources, training programs, and processes that customer-facing teams can leverage in real-time with customers. They bring together insights from cross-functional departments—Sales, Marketing, Product, and Operations—to ensure that everyone involved in revenue generation is aligned and empowered to succeed.
What Does GTM Enablement Achieve?
Effective GTM Enablement delivers results by:
Eliminating obstacles for Sales and Success teams so they can focus on winning business and growing accounts
Aligning goals and processes across teams such as Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, and Partnerships
Providing the necessary tools, training, and resources that help teams maximize their ability to meet or exceed their targets
How Enablement Works
The responsibilities of Enablement professionals are wide-ranging. They play a crucial role in strategy development, content creation, training design, and cross-functional collaboration. In many companies, Enablement works hand in hand with revenue leaders, front-line managers, and departments like Product Marketing, Product, and Revenue Operations. The ultimate goal? To make sure every customer-facing role is aligned and equipped to move the needle on growth.
Today, most organizations have a range of customer-facing roles, often referred to as their Revenue or Growth Teams. Some call it Go-to-Market (GTM) because it covers the entire journey—from initial lead generation to long-term customer retention. For the sake of clarity, we’ll refer to enablement for all of these teams as GTM Enablement.
The Evolution of GTM Enablement
As a company scales, its need for GTM Enablement grows in parallel. Companies generally move through three phases of enablement maturity:
Reactionary In the reactionary phase, there’s no formal enablement structure. Individuals handle enablement responsibilities ad-hoc, content is scattered, and processes are largely undocumented.
Project-Based Companies in the project-based phase begin formalizing enablement by defining onboarding and training programs, creating accessible sales assets, and using basic tools and systems to support productivity.
Integrated At the highest level of maturity, GTM Enablement is fully integrated. Goals are aligned across departments, scalable processes are in place, and role-specific development programs are designed for both reps and managers. Data-driven decisions, feedback loops, and continuous improvement become central to the company’s growth strategy.
As technology advances and businesses expand, GTM Enablement continues to be a key driver of sustainable growth. By investing in the right enablement strategy, companies can bridge the gap between where they are now and where they want to go. Whether you're just starting to build out your GTM Enablement function or looking to refine and scale existing processes, navigating the path to success can be challenging. Our book Accelerating Revenue serves as a comprehensive guide, providing practical solutions to support your journey. If you need more personalized guidance, we also offer advisory sessions to help you overcome obstacles and optimize your team’s performance. Get in touch with us here so we can learn more about what you’re looking for.
Co-authored by Amanda Leikam and Roz Greenfield, Founders of Level213