Think about your sales force. When reps ask where to find content, have you pointed them to the sales portal and given an answer that resembles the following: “It’s somewhere in there. Near the product brochures link, I think.”

Recently, I was forced to clean my home office. It hadn’t been used as a proper office in years, so it had fallen into the attic or junk room category. I wasn’t the only violator, as my wife and children had also discovered this new use for my office, but I am to blame for setting the poor example. What struck me were all the needless documents I had stacked in various piles. Why was I so compelled to save this stuff and, if it was so important then, why I am I getting rid of it now? The answer: Out of sight, out of mind.

Think about your sales force. When reps ask where to find content, have you pointed them to the sales portal and given an answer that resembles the following: “It’s somewhere in there. Near the product brochures link, I think.” Not only does this frustrate your reps, but you run the risk that reps will recreate content on their own, using outdated material and spreading the word that the portal is disorganized. Your content providers will also be frustrated, viewing the sales portal as a digital dumping ground that does not provide enough feedback to help them polish the material that already resides there.

While unused paper collects dust, unused digital content is identified by a lack of views, downloads, ratings and comments. The role of sales enablement is to report and notify those responsible for reviewing content – whether that consists of a formal committee or content owners and their managers – and ensure follow-through so portal content stays relevant and fresh. Embed activity dashboards within the portal that are available to a specific content owner to eliminate the need for the sales enablement staff to create ad-hoc reports.

Like many New Year’s resolutions, maintaining content can be daunting, so establish reasonable goals. If dashboards are not in place, start there. If metrics are in place, but there is not a clear review policy, work with content owners to establish one. The point is to get started. The longer you wait, the longer you allow the digital dust to collect, chipping away at your sales portal adoption rates.

Meanwhile, my office is still a work in progress. The good news is that I “retired” lots of content, updated a few items and even filled in the gaps with furniture. I just need a rug that ties it all together.