The 2020 State of the Sales Enablement research follows a blended Phenomenological and Ethnographic qualitative research method. Phenomenological research is used to describe an event, activity, or phenomenon, we use a combination of methods, such as conducting interviews, reading documents, watching videos, or visiting places and events, to understand the meaning participants place on whatever’s being examined. We rely on the participants’ own perspectives to provide insight into their motivations.

With an Ethnography approach, we also immerse ourselves in the sales enablement participants’ environment to understand the goals, cultures, challenges, motivations, and themes that emerge. Ethnography has its roots in cultural anthropology where researchers immerse themselves within a culture (often for years). Beyond relying solely on interviews or surveys, we work to experience the environment first hand, and sometimes as a “participant observer.”

As researchers taking this blended approach, we are not looking at a given specific set of hypotheses to test; instead, we’re looking to understand how people think and believe the Sales Enablement space is evolving. Our approach to this research is a markedly different approach from quantitative research (for example, analyzing answers on a 1-5 scale with hypotheses to reject or not).