Sales Enablement vs. Go-to-Market Enablement: What's the difference?

Sales Enablement vs. GTM Enablement: two sides of the same coin?

At first glance, sales enablement and go-to-market (GTM) enablement might seem like variations of the same theme. And while they share common ground, their scope and impact are quite different. Think of them as siblings-closely related, but with distinct roles in your company's growth strategy. Let's break it down.

The Revenue Bowtie Model: A holistic view

To understand the distinction, let's reference the Revenue Bowtie model by Winning By Design. This framework visualizes the entire revenue lifecycle, where the left side focuses on acquiring customers (sales), and the right side covers retention and expansion (customer success, renewals, upsells & cross-sells).

Sales Enablement traditionally focuses on just the left side - helping sellers close more deals. GTM Enablement, however, ensures every stage of the customer journey, from first touch to renewal and expansion, is fully optimized. In essence, GTM Enablement takes a full-bowtie approach rather than stopping at closed-won.

What is Sales Enablement?

Sales Enablement is like training a Formula 1 pit crew - its purpose is to make sure your sales team is fast, efficient, and always ready to win.

Objective: Equip sales reps with the tools, training, and resources they need to close deals faster and more effectively.

Key focus areas:

• Onboarding new sales hires quickly

• Providing sales playbooks, qualification frameworks, and deal execution assets.

• Coaching reps on core sales skills like qualification, discovery, demos, and negotiation.

Who it supports: primarily sales teams, including account executives (AEs) and sales development reps (SDRs).

What is Go-to-Market (GTM) Enablement?

GTM Enablement, on the other hand, zooms out to look at the bigger picture. It's about aligning all customer-facing teams - not just sales - to deliver a seamless, consistent customer experience across the entire bowtie.

Objective: ensure that sales, marketing, customer success, partnerships, and even product teams are aligned on messaging, strategy, and execution.

Key focus areas:

• Training cross-functional teams on product positioning, value propositions, and market strategies.

• Creating standardized playbooks for product launches and new market entries.

• Driving collaboration across teams to ensure a smooth customer journey from first touch to renewal.

Who is supports: everyone involved in acquiring, retaining, and expanding customers - not just sales.

At a glance

Sales vs. GTM Enablement throughout the Revenue Bowtie by Winning By Design, Interpretation by Ambre Jeanneau

When should you focus on each?

• Start with sales enablement, if your biggest challenge is ramping up your sales teams or improving deal execution. It's the foundation for any enablement function.

• Expand to GTM enablement if your company relies heavily on retention and expansion revenue. If you start seeing misalignment between sales, marketing, and customer experience, it's time to think bigger.

In France, we say "L'union fait la force" (strength comes from unity). GTM Enablement embodies this philosophy - it ensures that everyone is rowing in the same direction. But as any rower will tell you, it only works if each individual knows how to handle their oars (hello, sales enablement!).

Final thoughts

Both Sales and GTM Enablement are critical for growth, but their impact depends on your business stage and challenges. By starting with Sales Enablement and expanding into GTM Enablement, you build a well-oiled machine that drives individual deal success and long-term growth.