Unicorn sprinkles, silver balls and vanilla extract – I was completely out of my comfort zone, but I really got into baking with my two girls during the COVID-19 lockdown. Messy, sweet fun, throwing the age-old mantra "That’ll rot your teeth!” out of the window, we bonded over baking failures and delicious bowl licking opportunities! It was dreamy…

But between clouds of flour and broken eggshells, reality was quite stark in comparison. Death tolls continued to climb, and threats of a gloomy economy darkened the sunny skies we were all enjoying (hands up, who bent the rules slightly). I was also preparing for a future career in Sales Enablement. I met with James at Bridge prior to 2020 Lockdown and admittedly, I was blown away by his passion within this space – James nailed the broken relationship between Sales and Marketing teams and the evolving requirements of bridging the gaping divide between the two teams!

Putting aprons and rolling pins aside, one of the most common challenges I have faced during my career, is creating the efficiency and harmony between Sales and Marketing. Ripping off the Dr Oetker band-aids often reveal the two teams do not work well together which leads to inefficiency in targeting. Marketing teams work hard kneading and baking content but without understanding how it will be used beyond the MQL stage by sales teams... And likewise, Sales teams need to work harder at understanding how they should be using content and tools to engage buyers

Is Sales Enablement a load of Betty Crocker, or is it about time firms start paying more attention? I am a firm believer that Sales Enablement is vital to ‘Bridge’ the gap between Sales and Marketing. From my experience, there is a distinct lack of respect between the two functions (a common theme, according to the recent research conducted by Bridge). But let's face it, without the lead generating content, the Sales team aren’t going to get very far without the ‘colouring in’ team and without sales insights, the marketing team are batting in the dark. And it’s the exposure of this glaring truth, across various industries, that has led to the quick formation of sales enablement and client experience teams. The old traditional recipe seems to lack the crucial ingredient to bind the two functions together and I am super excited about the opportunity of being part of this recipe rewrite!