Why Customer Experience Is the New Frontier for Sales Enablement
B2B buyers don’t need more sales pitches - they need clarity. Learn why Customer Experience is becoming the key responsibility of modern Enablement teams.
Customer Experience is the New Enablement
Let’s be honest: In B2B sales today, the product often isn’t the problem.
Buyers drop out not because they didn’t believe in your solution - but because navigating the process of buying it was just too hard.
Too many touchpoints. Too many formats. Too little clarity.
In a world where your competitors have similar features and pricing, the real differentiator is how easy you make it for people to say yes. That’s why Customer Experience (CX) is no longer just a post-sale concern - it’s now a frontline Sales Enablement priority.
The B2B Buyer Experience: Broken by Default
The average B2B buying journey involves 6 to 10 decision-makers, each armed with their own research, opinions, and priorities. According to Gartner, 77% of B2B buyers describe their latest purchase as “very complex or difficult.”
This isn’t about poor selling.
It’s about disjointed internal buying processes, risk-averse stakeholders, and overwhelming amounts of content that no one can make sense of.
Buyers aren’t ghosting. They’re stuck. And they don’t have the tools or clarity to move forward.
Where Sales Enablement Comes In
Traditionally, Enablement focuses on reps: onboarding, messaging, training, tools. But today, it’s time to widen the lens.
Your job isn’t just to enable sellers. It’s to enable buying.
That means asking:
Do we make it easy for buyers to explore and share content internally?
Do we reduce complexity, or accidentally add to it?
Are we designing experiences that help buyers build consensus inside their org?
If your materials are buried in random links, generic PDFs, or scattered email threads, you're not enabling - you're somehow overwhelming.
Why CX is the Enablement Priority You Didn’t Know You Had
Customer Experience isn’t fluff. It’s not “nice to have.” It’s the most powerful (and most overlooked) lever in the entire sales cycle.
Companies that prioritize CX:
Close 20–30% faster
Win more competitive deals
Experience higher engagement during the buying process
Build trust earlier and retain customers longer
And Sales Enablement sits at the heart of it.
You create the content.
You design the buyer journeys.
You choose the platforms that shape how buyers engage.
CX isn't someone else's job. It’s yours - and it's one of the biggest opportunities to drive impact.
What a Modern Buyer Experience Looks Like
You don’t need a full tech overhaul to elevate CX. You need clarity, consistency and control. Here’s what that might look like in practice:
A centralized customer portal with all relevant materials, tailored to each persona and buying stage
Self-serve options with clear next steps, not dead-end content repositories
Internal pitch tools your champions can use to align stakeholders
Visual, modular content that reduces effort and increases internal shareability
In short: Give your buyers the confidence and the tools to move forward.
From Sales Enablement to Buyer Enablement
The Enablement function is evolving. It’s no longer just about helping reps perform. It’s about helping buyers progress - faster, smoother and with fewer roadblocks.
If you’re serious about revenue impact, make this your new mantra:
“If it’s hard to buy from us, it doesn’t matter how well we sell.”
What to Do Next
Audit the buyer journey - not just the internal sales process
Map your content to actual buying needs - not just sales stages
Create guided, shareable customer portals for decision-makers
Align Enablement success metrics with buyer progress, not just rep activity
Final Thought
In a crowded B2B market, people don't remember the pitch.
They remember how you made the process feel.
If you’re looking for your next Enablement edge, don’t look inward. Look outward - at the buyer. Because Customer Experience is Enablement. And the teams who recognize this early will win.
Solutions like emlen are built to support exactly this shift - by helping you deliver structured, personalized buying experiences that make it easier for your champions to move forward.
Co-Founder at emlen
