24 July 2025 09:00 - 09:30
Coaching the coaches: Unlocking the full potential of sales managers in enablement
Sales managers occupy a uniquely powerful but frequently underutilised position in the enablement ecosystem. While organisations invest heavily in training programmes, content libraries, and technology platforms, the manager layer, the critical bridge between enablement strategy and frontline execution, is often overlooked.
This paper examines how enabling sales managers, rather than simply equipping sales representatives, can serve as a force multiplier across the entire revenue organisation. Drawing on established coaching frameworks and emerging enablement best practices, we explore the competencies managers need to reinforce learning in the flow of work, the structural barriers that prevent them from doing so, and the programme design principles that can unlock sustained behaviour change at scale.
We argue that a manager-first enablement philosophy, one that prioritises coaching capability, accountability mechanisms, and dedicated manager learning pathways, is essential for translating enablement investment into measurable sales performance.
Practical recommendations are offered for enablement leaders seeking to reposition managers from passive recipients of training to active architects of rep development.