A Gallup research discovered that organizations with excessive worker engagement report a 21% greater profitability charge. So how will you unify the rep expertise and drive engagement by way of enablement?

Shawnna Sumaoang: Hello, and welcome to the Win Win Podcast. I’m your host, Shawnna Sumaoang. Be part of us as we dive into altering tendencies within the office and find out how to navigate them efficiently.

Right here to debate this matter is Donny Miller, the challenge supervisor for the rework gross sales coaching at American Woodmark. Thanks for becoming a member of us, Donny. I’d love so that you can inform us about your self, your background, and your position. 

Donny Miller: Yeah, you guess. Donny Miller, my background is usually in gross sales. I’ve labored with largely transformed constructing supplies. Initially from the West Coast, moved round just a little bit, had totally different roles from promoting by way of about each totally different channel in our a part of the trade discovered my option to American Woodmark about 10 years in the past, I’ve liked it ever since. That in all probability says so much about our group being right here for 10 years and I’m excited to be on this podcast 

SS: We’re excited to have you ever right here as nicely. As you talked about, you’ve had a number of totally different roles, however the majority of your profession has undoubtedly been within the manufacturing trade, and also you’ve held roles in each gross sales and gross sales administration.

And I’d love to grasp, given that have, what are a number of the distinctive challenges that reps within the manufacturing trade face?

DM: Yeah, interested by all my totally different positions, I feel one factor that form of rings true is complexity in manufacturing. There’s a number of complexity, particularly in constructing supplies and the merchandise that we work with, and never solely are the merchandise complicated, however the gross sales processes might be totally different. They are often totally different within the totally different channels and you’ve got a variety of various kinds of prospects that you just’re promoting to. However, I feel the large factor in manufacturing is you could have a fancy product that goes by way of a number of totally different phases from when it is available in as an order to when it will get positioned out.

And so being in gross sales and dealing in that, you bought to have a number of totally different solutions. One of many belongings you’re in search of is I do know this isn’t like a job that’s is frequent today, however you’re in search of an operator generally, like a phone operator the place it’s like, “Hey, what reply can I discover given all of the complexities?”, and discovering that reply very fast generally is a distinctive problem that we face generally.

SS: And the way does having an enablement platform like Highspot assist firms like yours to beat a few of these challenges? 

DM: Yeah, I feel actually connecting you to what you need, what you want, and while you want it’s how an enablement firm like Highspot will help you. For us, it’s going to a single supply of fact.

We now have a number of platforms and a number of methods by which our customers doubtlessly go into these and many departments that feed the entrance finish of the enterprise in gross sales, proper? We now have finance, HR, advertising, customer support, et cetera. To me, enablement helps overcome these complexities that we face and permit us with all of these variations to doubtlessly give the consumer a tailor-made and distinctive expertise.

SS: I like that. Now, you’ve shared that you just really see the worth of Highspot at your group extending past conventional sales-centric enablement to extra broadly ship enterprise enablement. I like that, by the way in which. How does Highspot show you how to higher allow the enterprise as an entire? 

DM: A few of it’s a mindset, it connects us out of silos. Wanting on the entire course of from the entrance finish of the enterprise to present you extra of a tangible instance is you’ll have any individual like my present position in coaching on the gross sales facet. So I’ll be working with advertising. We might be engaged on an identical kind of factor throughout a product launch or one thing like that. And so to have one thing that permits us to each collaborate and work in several platforms, one could also be working in Adobe, one could also be working in Microsoft, et cetera. And to have these cloud companies be capable of join and ship in a content material area that’s tailor-made to that particular person consumer is big.

And I feel one other huge a part of that’s once I consider the entrance finish of the group, I consider like how CRMs work and making it the enterprise, is that the CRM platforms are usually not simply gross sales associated. Gross sales have so much to do with it, but when you concentrate on it, a number of these companies present cloud companies for advertising, and buyer care companies. And so there’s a number of totally different parts.

A number of what your buyer care might be saying and what your gross sales crew might be saying might be related, however they is also totally different. And so there’s a number of synergies yow will discover there. For me, it’s actually trying on the content material and the educational and the way all of these potential makes use of that Highspot has with being a CMS and an LMS permits us to attach every part to all of the cloud methods that these totally different departments doubtlessly use. And that every one sounds complicated, however the finish consumer getting it in a easy kind is big. 

SS: Completely, and delivering that consistency to your purchaser and buyer on the finish of the day is completely important.

That mentioned, what are perhaps a number of the distinctive ways in which totally different groups from gross sales to, as you talked about, buyer care companies, how do they use Highspot at your organization? 

DM: That’s really an amazing instance: buyer care and gross sales, Shawnna. I like that as a result of for us, like our gross sales crew and our buyer care crew, they’re each in search of the operator that I discussed earlier, proper?

They’re each attempting to name in and go, “Oh, I want this reply once I want it, how I want it.” And so for the gross sales crew, it’s extra mobile-based. Like our gross sales crew is all around the nation, they’re unfold out. And they also’re not centrally situated they usually’re not at all times at their laptop, so to talk.

So a number of what they’re in search of is a solution ‘mobile-y’, and a number of instances they’ve an opportunity to prep for that reply or that factor that they’re in search of content-wise or learning-wise. Buyer care is just a little bit totally different when it comes to they’re sitting typically in entrance of a laptop computer, proper? They’ve that desktop expertise, but in addition the tempo by which they want it’s a little bit totally different too, as a result of they, such as you and I are on this podcast reside, might be speaking to any individual reside and going, “Hey, I want a solution proper now.” Like, “I want a solution about that complicated, particular a part of the cupboard and I want it proper now.”

So the totally different wants are totally different, however we’re in a position to meet these wants by way of Highspot in actually connecting these variations right here, or actually, the mediums by which they’re looking. And doubtlessly the content material that they’re in search of, proper? A gross sales rep may be in search of a video on find out how to arrange a show whereas somebody in buyer care may be in search of that particular cupboard half for an order that was positioned a few years in the past. So it may be totally different wants for various elements of the crew. 

SS: I like that Highspot’s in a position to tackle all of these wants throughout the group. To shift gears just a bit bit as a result of I do know {that a} huge motive you introduced on Highspot was to assist ship studying applications, significantly to a various set of learners throughout a large number of areas. How do you tailor applications for these totally different audiences? 

DM: Studying battles that complexity similar to some other half does. And I feel, for us, we actually wanted extra self-paced studying to maximise everybody’s expertise. We’ll have mentor studying and we’ll have instances the place we spend in teams at conferences and also you’re in a position to maximize that studying while you’ve gone by way of one thing just like the LMS a part of what enablement by way of Highspot provides.

And I’ll offer you a chief instance, Shawnna, of me with Highspot: you go to one thing just like the Spark Convention, and earlier than you go there, you in all probability wish to undergo a number of of the educational modules. You in all probability don’t wish to are available not having gone by way of that, and so it means that you can – having gone by way of a few of that self-paced studying that isn’t classroom-based, however then it’s while you come to one thing like Spark – you’re in a position to achieve a lot extra out of your expertise and be taught and it helps you do extra with no matter it’s you’re doing. It’s related for us, totally different processes, whether or not we’re attempting to promote extra or give a greater.

Buyer expertise, that’s find out how to me, we’re in a position to then tailor it to what they want, buyer care, the totally different gross sales channels. And having that self-paced studying after which tailoring it to every group as a result of their gross sales processes might be totally different is de facto huge and is how we’re going about it in utilizing the Highspot platform.

SS: I like to listen to that. Now you talked so much about form of the complexity of the gross sales course of and the product in your world and the entire audiences clearly that you might want to assist allow your groups on. And I do know one in every of your high objectives is to simplify the rep expertise. What are a number of the key ways in which you’ve been in a position to obtain this with a unified enablement platform?

DM: Yeah the very first thing that involves thoughts is I feel it was in like 2020, we have been doing an icebreaker scavenger hunt nearly. And we principally despatched all people out from the totally different channels and we mentioned, “Hey, go and discover these items.” And what we realized so much about ourselves and looking.

It took a number of time and whatnot. And in order that complexity is de facto what we realized, and we realized we have to discover methods to simplify that. And to me, it’s true of simply gross sales usually. It’s an equation of prospects of the variety of potential solutions that you can come up in opposition to that somebody might ask you.

Identical with the customer support facet and actually , how will we reduce that search. How will we get – perhaps, a greater manner of claiming it – how will we maximize to the right reply? How do we discover that right reply as shortly as potential? And so in ways in which we’re utilizing it’s we’ve loaded our content material in there. I feel a number of the search performance that’s inside Highspot permits us to get, actually the objective is a velocity to reply in order that it simplifies their path to what they want. Like I mentioned to start with of this operator idea, proper? “Good day, operator. Are you able to inform me about this”, proper? “I want the reply to that and I want it in the way in which that I want it.”

And that’s actually the place an enablement platform like Highspot takes all these totally different mediums, proper? Whether or not it’s a video or an Excel doc or no matter it’s you’re in search of, after which inside the search operate permits us to get that, tailor it in spots which are particular for the consumer, and that basically permits for simplification of the consumer expertise.

SS: That’s phenomenal. And, it appears like your reps are already responding actually positively to the work that you just guys are doing to simplify the expertise. I feel you guys have seen a 14% enhance in recurring utilization simply within the final couple of months. What are a few of your finest practices for driving adoption of Highspot throughout the enterprise?

DM: Occupied with having a nasty system would possibly assist drive that adoption after which present them, Highspot. I feel that helps with that 14% just a little bit. In all seriousness, like the entire scavenger hunt instance is, we went from a number of cloud companies. If you happen to’re like us, you could have a number of storage options, emails, communication platforms web sites, kinds of web sites, CRMs, and kinds of CRMs that you just’re doubtlessly going to start to undertake that stuff.

And I bear in mind at a gross sales assembly just lately I requested the query, “How lengthy does it take you to seek out–?” And I used to be interrupted really by my counterpart who stuffed the spot that I left once I got here into this position. And she or he mentioned, “–earlier than I cease trying?” And again to the identical instance right here.

However in all actuality, we wanted a system change, and extra tangibly how we go about doing that’s taking an strategy of champion management. I may be the administrator, however I’m not the knowledgeable per se, when it comes to articulating at a peer-to-peer degree, what any individual wants and why they would want one thing like this enablement platform.

And so I feel one of many extra tangible issues that we’re doing round adoption is having that peer-to-peer connection. If you happen to’re a regional gross sales supervisor in a single channel to a regional gross sales supervisor in that very same channel, you’re in a position to articulate and communicate to, “Hey, right here’s how this solved the issue for me”, “right here’s the way it simplified it for me”. And I feel that’s actually a method that we’re seeing adoption. We now have simply nice individuals and nice leaders within the group that see that. 

SS: Oh, that’s incredible. Past adoption, what are a number of the key metrics you monitor to find out the influence of your applications, and the way do you leverage Highspot to assist?

DM: Yeah, we’re trying into methods by which it might doubtlessly assist influence our gross sales or our enterprise. Possibly that’s our buyer expertise actually on the finish of the day, how can it assist us promote extra? We’re trying on the velocity of the sale. I actually really feel, are you able to cut back in that complexity within the gross sales course of to much less time and, time is cash. And on high of that, it’s alternative. And in gross sales, alternative is so much, proper? As a result of that additionally leads again to cash. So, in some methods, I really feel prefer it has a compounding impact with that point. And so a manner by which we’re studying or this extra tangibly past adoption, is somebody who’s new. We now have, like I mentioned in manufacturing, you could have a fancy product the place it takes some time to be taught that product and grow to be a seasoned gross sales skilled. And so how can we take that ramp-up time and reduce it in order that they’ve extra alternative from being new to being that seasoned skilled? Actually that’s how we’re leveraging Highspot. 

SS: That’s incredible. Final query for you, Donny: what recommendation would you could have for different manufacturing firms which are contemplating investing in an enablement platform? 

DM: Yeah the very first thing that involves thoughts is plan, and you might want to take a look at what you want. There’s a lot. I’m positive if you happen to’re listening to this, you’re like, “I in all probability have a number of complexities in my enterprise” and taking that, and all of the various things that occur in manufacturing: making that product, and going by way of the entire cycle, all of the departments which are concerned – like I spoke to earlier – and all of the content material that you’ve got, the ways in which content material is made and how all of that impacts the entrance finish of your enterprise. And to get all of that, it takes a number of planning, and it actually takes you time to get to that time the place you go, okay, what’s our single supply of fact? What’s going to assist us whether or not it’s promote extra, do extra, much less time, extra time, or no matter it’s you’re attempting to work in the direction of and to me, Highspot does a very good job. The service crew does a very good job of serving to you intend, however the extra you do this prematurely and take a look at your objectives. And what you might want to get out of an enablement program, I feel is just going that will help you have success with it. The opposite recommendation I might give is simply round your CRM cloud companies that you just hook up with and a product that does reduce out complexities.

Having an LMS and a content material administration system, what I’ve seen is, you want each, proper? As a result of for what we work with, you might want to be taught it as a brand new worker, however then you definately additionally must know, “what’s that, once I want it?”. If my product is complicated and I take care of one thing every year, I want to have the ability to return and discover it, which is the content material administration facet.

The primary a part of studying it, and going by way of a path of studying and understanding it’s a part of it. And having these two issues along with a number of the different capabilities that Highspot permits, and dealing seamlessly together with your front-end resolution, like your CRM platform is to me, the recommendation I might give when it comes to it’s: plan these issues out and see if there’s success there doubtlessly for your enterprise.

SS: Unbelievable recommendation, Donnie. Thanks a lot for becoming a member of us as we speak, I actually admire it. 

DM: You guess. Thanks, Shawnna.

SS: To our viewers, thanks for listening to this episode of the Win podcast. Make sure to tune in subsequent time for extra insights on how one can maximize enablement success with Highspot.