Analysis from LinkedIn discovered that 54% of sellers say gross sales instruments allow them to construct belief and shut offers with consumers. So, what position does an environment friendly tech stack play in creating an efficient enablement technique?

Shawnna Sumaoang: Hello and welcome to the Win Win Podcast. I’m your host, Shawnna Sumaoang. Be a part of us as we dive into altering developments within the office and how one can navigate them efficiently. Right here to debate this matter is Rey Espinosa, senior product marketing consultant at ODP Enterprise Options. Thanks for becoming a member of, Rey! I’d love so that you can inform us about your self, your background, and your position.

Rey Espinosa: Completely. I undoubtedly need to prolong my thanks and gratitude for having me be part of the podcast. As for myself, I’ve really bought about near 30 years of expertise in gross sales and sales-related roles. I spent about 10 years really as a frontline gross sales rep or account supervisor, and I managed some gross sales groups. The majority of my tenure has really been in a company coaching position, sporting any and all of the completely different hats that trainers put on, facilitator, licensed gross sales teacher, content material and rhythm creator, coach, and simply every thing that’s concerned with that. That’s the majority of my expertise. About simply over a 12 months in the past, our group adopted Highspot and truly invited me to be the Highspot answer proprietor for ODP Enterprise Options. That’s my present aim and I’m loving each second of it.

SS: Nicely, thanks once more a lot for becoming a member of us in the present day, Ray. I actually respect it. Now, I need to get began with clearly understanding what the panorama appeared like earlier than. Earlier than Highspot, what have been some challenges your group was experiencing? How have you ever been in a position to clear up these challenges since having Highspot in your tech stack?

RE: Nicely, the place to start on this one? The challenges that we’re actually dealing with in our group with our outdated content material administration system actually have been primary. There was simply an awesome quantity of content material on the platform. Our gross sales groups have been challenged with looking for the content material. Even so as to add to that, once they would discover content material, a whole lot of it was outdated, it was outdated, it was irrelevant, and never usable to share with our prospects.

Implementing Highspot, afforded us the chance to actually wipe the slate clear, which is a good profit for the group. We actually took a tough have a look at the content material that we had, and we made that acutely aware determination to be very intentional about what we introduced into Highspot. We made certain we solely introduced in the newest and related content material. A number of property have been up to date to be sure that they have been up-to-date and related, after which we excluded a whole lot of content material. That allowed us to start out from a extremely nice level with our content material. We knew the content material that was getting uploaded was updated, it was related, it was actually wholesome.

Additionally, with this smaller quantity of content material, it addressed the problem that our gross sales groups had with looking for content material simply and rapidly, and so they knew no matter they’d discover in Highspot was going to be up-to-date and it was going to be related for in the present day’s enterprise panorama. Going by means of this course of, simply helped to enhance efficiencies and the general perspective that our customers had on the content material that we had out there for them to make use of with their prospects.

SS: I like to listen to that. Now you could have additionally been doing superb inside your group at ODP Enterprise Options. You’ve got an 81% recurring utilization price of the Highspot platform, which, as I mentioned, is excellent. I’d like to study from you. What are some key methods you combine Highspot into vendor’s workflows and the way has that helped to drive adoption?

RE: Nicely, there’s a few completely different ways in which we’ve accomplished this. From its inception, Highspot has had some actually nice integration instruments and capabilities into the opposite software program instruments in our tech stack. That basically helped to advertise and drive the adoption of the platform. We’re in a position to present them entry to the content material from Highspot by means of Outlook, by means of our CRM, and thru a few of our different gross sales instruments that we’re utilizing. That basically helped with adoption. It was simple to get to and simple to make use of from whichever instrument they occurred to be utilizing of their workflow.

The opposite factor that actually helped out is we made certain that we had fixed and constant messaging about Highspot to all of our groups. We made certain that they understood that Highspot is out of 1 supply of fact, the content material, whether or not it’s advertising content material, product data, course of paperwork, coaching, or what we needed our gross sales groups to know, and so they’ve discovered that if you happen to’re searching for something, begin with Highspot.

SS: I like that precept. What are a few of the advantages of integrating Highspot with a few of the different core instruments in your tech stack, like Salesforce CRM, for instance? What are a few of the key enterprise outcomes that you just’ve seen on account of that integration?

RE: Nicely, once more, it goes again to actually the robust partnerships that Highspot has with a whole lot of the opposite distributors and corporations on the market. The most important and most seamless integration that now we have with Highspot is inside our CRM. The mixing that Highspot has with Salesforce permits us the flexibility to serve up content material to the reps whereas they’re in Salesforce throughout their regular movement of enterprise and processes.

We’ve the flexibility to serve up content material on the account data, that chance, and speak to data, and we will choose and select what content material we need to present for various accounts or completely different levels in a chance or completely different merchandise which might be related to a chance. That was one of many core integration items that we love about Highspot. Simply so as to add icing to the cake, you could have that integration with Outlook. As a gross sales rep is beginning to create an electronic mail interplay or engagement with the client, they’ll simply drop in related content material. The identical goes for an additional instrument that we use referred to as Gross sales Regulation. There’s one other nice easy integration to usher in content material from Highspot once they’re utilizing that instrument.

That integration actually simply permeated by means of the entire instruments that we actually use and that our gross sales groups use on a day-to-day foundation. The most important profit was that our gross sales groups didn’t have to regulate or change their processes drastically. It was only a small tweak right here and a small tweak there to verify they’re conscious, that is how simply and rapidly you will get to the content material you’ll want to share along with your prospects.

The most important key enterprise outcomes that we’ve seen are improved efficiencies. Reps are in a position to go in, discover content material that they want, or we serve up the content material that’s most related at that second in time once they actually need it for his or her prospects. They’re spending much less time doing what we name admin duties. They’re not having to seek for content material or determine what content material to make use of, and even make the most of the template capabilities, or pitch templates inside Highspot. Now we’re presenting these messages the place they’re merely simply personalizing it somewhat bit and sending it out to the purchasers. It’s an enormous enchancment in efficiencies, which frees up time to let our sellers do what they’re paid to do, which is interact with our prospects, deliver the worth of a partnership between our organizations, and drive profitability and income.

SS: That’s completely what the aim needs to be when it comes to the place reps are spending and focusing their time as a result of it in the end drives productiveness. Now, I do know that, particularly in Salesforce, you could have been engaged on a giant undertaking to mainly construct in concentrating on in Salesforce to make sure you could ship that just-in-time content material in your reps. Are you able to inform us somewhat bit extra about this undertaking and the way you’re leveraging the Salesforce integration to proceed to additional enhance rep workflows and efficiencies?

RE: Completely. With the adoption of Highspot, the primary steps are actually getting the platform stood up and ensuring that the framework is there, you could have the precise spots, lists, filters, and simply every thing is all arrange so as to handle that content material. The subsequent huge step that we’re taking a look at is now serving up that content material, and enhancing these efficiencies with our customers, that are our gross sales groups.

I assume the best method to put that is as you begin to need to drive enterprise, companies have campaigns and initiatives, completely different pages or completely different performs that they need to push out the place we really feel we will generate income and produce extra worth to our prospects and with Salesforce and the combination that Highspot has with Salesforce, it permits us to current these initiatives or these campaigns. All the data that’s related to these campaigns and initiatives may be proper there on the focused account. By bringing it up and integrating it into the account document, we now current that information or serve up that data proper there on the account and make the gross sales groups conscious, hey, this explicit account is basically primed and focused for this initiative. Begin to discuss to them about these merchandise or these providers and options.

The nice factor is we use play pages from Highspot and we leverage that to know, say, present, and do construction in order that they’ll rapidly go to that web page, learn by means of it and actually perceive what they should do. This actually ups their competency stage about speaking to their prospects and the way they need to discuss to their prospects, what they want to present, and the way they’ll actually place the worth that we will deliver. That’s one of many first actual heavy integrations that we’re doing at that account stage inside Salesforce. Proper on its heels goes to be that very same sort of serving up of content material and knowledge on the alternatives. We will serve that up relying on the stage of the chance, relying on the product that’s associated to that chance.

The subsequent step past that’s wanting on the contact stage. The person person who we’re coping with. We will see what they’re partaking with as a result of we need to leverage and serve up the precise content material on the proper time, on condition that the client’s title or the business they’re in, is the choice maker, there are numerous items of data which might be out there inside Salesforce that can enable us to serve that content material up that’s going to resonate with that buyer, given their purchaser persona or their purchaser sort. It’s a must to converse to a C-suite particular person lots in a different way from an finish person or mid-level supervisor that has completely different priorities. Various things resonate with completely different prospects and being able to serve up content material, we all know, goes to resonate with that individual sort of purchaser is basically going to assist to generate the curiosity from that buyer and need to even have these conversations with our gross sales groups.

SS: That’s an incredible enterprise of labor although, Ray, so congratulations on that undertaking. I believe it’s going to be extraordinarily useful to your gross sales groups. Now, one other matter that I do know is close to and expensive to you, and likewise a manner to assist your groups enhance effectivity, is thru this notion of governance. You really shared your insights in your governance technique at our annual person convention, Spark ‘22, final fall. Out of your expertise, and for the podcast viewers that will not have been in a position to be part of that session, what’s the significance of content material governance, particularly when productiveness is so essential to an organization’s success?

RE: In a nutshell, the significance is basically having up-to-date, related, and what we wish to sort of name wholesome content material. You need to be sure that no matter data you’re offering to your buyer, it’s going to be related for in the present day’s enterprise panorama. As everyone knows, over these final couple of years with every thing that’s been happening on the earth, enterprise has modified dramatically. Ensuring that the content material that you’ve got, the data that you just’re sharing along with your buyer is updated and displays how that panorama has modified goes to resonate extra with them than only a flier or a brochure that you just printed again in 2018 or 2019. The identical key factors and worth that you just have been attempting to current at that second in time aren’t actually related anymore given the panorama and the shift in how we’re doing enterprise in the present day.

All of it begins with that content material governance and ensuring that the property and the content material that you just’re loading into Highspot it’s updated, related, and wholesome. For me, it even goes past that. There’s extra to contemplate than simply ensuring that you just’ve bought a related title and an outline, expiry date, and that it’s tagged appropriately for listing builders in Highspot. We have to have a look at the general spots. The listing that you just’ve created, the pages that you just’re creating from a touchdown web page to a spot overview, to an inventory overview web page, the completely different play pages, all of that I believe is inside that realm of governance. I imply, it’s nice if you happen to write a extremely nice e book, an superior novel, however if you happen to go right into a library and you may’t discover that e book, no person’s ever going to understand it’s there.

The best way that you just construction the framework of Highspot is a part of that governance as properly. If you are able to do that proper and preserve it up to date, you’ll must refresh it. It’s not one thing the place it’s one-and-done. It’s a must to revisit it and just be sure you’re maintaining with the way you’re doing enterprise and your buyer base and your product traces and issues like that, however if you happen to preserve it updated, it’s a lot simpler for reps to seek out what they want. It entails much more than simply the importing of content material and tagging that and placing an acceptable title on it, it additionally entails a few of the format and construction of the atmosphere. You need to be sure that whenever you’re creating your framework and the technique for presenting content material to your sellers that it is sensible, that it’s intuitive, and that it’s simple for the top customers to seek out that data. That’s actually what’s going to drive the efficiencies, drive productiveness, drive income. All of it begins with governance, nevertheless it goes past simply ensuring that you just’re checking a few packing containers on the content material properties. It goes properly past that to actually drive that dwelling.

SS: Superb. You guys, as I mentioned, have been doing phenomenal with governance inside your occasion. Your governance well being rating constantly stays at 75% or above, which, as I mentioned, is totally unimaginable Ray. Unbelievable job. I’d like to study somewhat bit extra about our different prospects which might be actually eager to implement governance finest practices. How do you associate with spot house owners and publishers within Highspot to make sure that Highspot is crammed with related content material in your sellers?

RE: It’s a mix of conferences, collaboration, and partnership. With our spot house owners and our publishers, we meet with them month-to-month. As I discussed earlier than, we’ve solely had Highspot for a couple of 12 months, however these month-to-month conferences actually assist to be sure that our spot house owners and our publishers, primary, are keenly conscious of how necessary their position is within the Highspot platform and our governance and simply total content material administration technique. They should understand how necessary they’re. Having that fixed constant communication and two-way communication actually helps us out.

It makes certain that the spot house owners and the publishers really feel as if they sort of personal part of Highspot. It’s not simply one other course of that they’ve to include. It’s their child, as a lot as it’s mine. That fixed assembly with them on a month-to-month foundation helps out. Past that, we even have carried out a Highspot finish person committee and a Highspot gross sales chief committee in order that we will meet on a month-to-month foundation with our customers. We get their suggestions, we be sure that they’re conscious of latest options, new capabilities, new methods that we’re implementing options in and capabilities which might be built-in into Salesforce. This manner they know what they’re going to see and the way simple and fast it’s going to be to get to related content material, however then permitting them to present that suggestions as properly.

Now, as a part of the gross sales enablement workforce and proprietor of Highspot, we will take the suggestions from the customers, spot house owners, and publishers to vet that out to determine what we will actually do. As soon as we perceive that, now we assist to associate with our advertising, our product, our merchandising, our gross sales op groups, and assist groups, and our coaching groups to say, okay, that is what we actually have to do. That is the path that we have to drive Highspot as a result of it’s going to actually assist from a content material administration add course of for our publishers and our spot house owners, nevertheless it’s additionally going to have a really optimistic affect on our customers. It’s a must to control each of these teams. One lets you preserve the well being and construction of the platform, however the different one is the customers.

You’ll be able to construct this nice environment friendly automotive, but when it’s ugly and it’s cramped and also you’re not comfy sitting in it, many individuals aren’t going to purchase it and use it. On the opposite aspect of that coin, if it’s actually a great-looking automotive and it’s comfy and all that nice stuff, good, you’re going to get lots of people shopping for it, however if you happen to didn’t construct it the precise manner, it’s going to interrupt down rapidly, so you need to steadiness these two. I believe we’ve accomplished an ideal job at our firm to be sure that we’re facilitating this two-way communication and suggestions loop to verify all people’s voice is heard and that they perceive that your concept, as wild as it’s possible you’ll suppose it’s, is possibly the right answer for what we have to proceed to drive Highspot to drive efficiencies and productivities and drive income.

I do know that they really feel that manner as a result of they’re greater than welcome to throw out concepts throughout our conferences and simply say, hey, it will be nice if we might do that if we might have that. Lots of occasions we discuss to our Highspot assist workforce, which is nice, they’re superior, and so they say, yeah, we will try this. Highspot once more, simply exhibits its colours and it shines vivid at every thing that it might do to assist assist our enterprise.

SS: I like that, Ray. Now one other space, since you introduced up the subject of partnership that has been essential to your enablement technique is coaching. Are you able to inform us about the way you associate along with your coaching workforce to optimize coaching packages utilizing Highspot?

RE: Completely. Yeah. I do have possibly an ace up my sleeve on this one, simply because I really was a part of the coaching workforce and, once more, my years of expertise in coaching, however the capabilities that Highspot has actually got here on the opportune time. We really don’t have a proper studying administration system right here at ODP Enterprise Options. We have been making do with what we might and creating some advert hoc packages to satisfy our coaching wants. With the implementation of Highspot, it gave us just about every thing that we wanted throughout the platform to assist our coaching groups.

Once I first got here in and began to handle the implementation and actually began to drive the answer for our group, studying increasingly in regards to the capabilities of coaching, I couldn’t wait to get again in contact with the coaching workforce to say, hey guys, we now have a instrument that may do proper out of the field 85 to 90% of what we have been attempting to do as a gross sales workforce. Let’s meet and let’s begin exhibiting you the options and capabilities and let’s begin constructing out our coaching packages. We now have an onboarding coaching program, as properly, as a extremely good technique for our steady education schemes inside Highspot.

We’re additionally benefiting from a few of the new options. We’re actually, once more, leveraging, and I’m going to tout our Highspot success workforce. They’re all the time prepared to satisfy with us and be sure that we’re conscious of options and performance that they really feel are going to learn us. We meet with them each two weeks, rain or shine. They actually take the time to know, from a coaching perspective, what our coaching workforce is attempting to do. They’ll actually spotlight the options, capabilities, and functionalities that align with these objectives and people tasks that now we have for coaching. With all of that tied collectively, it’s simply one other side of Highspot that I can’t converse extremely sufficient about.

We now have a person on the coaching workforce who’s getting increasingly aware of Highspot coaching capabilities and performance, so that they’re working very arduous to get every thing into Highspot for onboarding as a result of we do have onboarding for our subject gross sales groups and now we have a distinct onboarding program for our inside gross sales groups. He’s working to deliver all that collectively. I associate with him. Not solely can we meet with our Highspot success workforce each two weeks, however David and I meet not less than 4 or 5 occasions a month as a result of he needs to find out how I can use Highspot for programs, classes, and certification packages. We actually love the newest function that’s been launched, which is the occasion periods. That’s a game-changer for us. We love the flexibility now to create digital conferences or in-person conferences proper throughout the construction in fact. That’s simply one other nice function that Highspot has launched.

SS: Past gross sales coaching, you’ve additionally engaged in some private studying packages by means of Highspot College programs. How have skilled growth alternatives like these programs enable you to to constantly optimize your enablement technique and your use of excessive spot?

RE: Nicely, for me, being the content material administration and the answer proprietor for Highspot, that is one thing new for me. I’ve by no means had some of these roles and tasks. I’ve all the time accomplished coaching. That’s my bread and butter, so to talk. I had lots to find out about gross sales enablement, about content material administration. The Highspot College is a good preliminary instrument to actually sort of get you in tune with Highspot and how one can use Highspot for managing individuals for governing content material or including content material. They’ve bought some nice programs on the market and I do know you guys are going to proceed to construct out the choices which might be in Highspot College.

Past that, I’d additionally like to present an enormous shout-out to the Highspot group. I imply, I’m going to the group web page not less than 3 times per week. I attempted to focus on about an hour within the morning. I’ll deal with governance, one-day gross sales play the subsequent day, completely different matters, and completely different classes every day to proceed studying extra about what’s it, what does gross sales enablement do, and the way can we make it higher? What are a few of the issues that we must always pay attention to, needs to be taking a look at, and needs to be serving to to drive in our organizations? That together with wanting on the dialogue boards in there and actually understanding a whole lot of the questions that I’ve about Highspot and how one can use it, a whole lot of folks on the market have those self same questions.

These dialogue boards actually helped to deliver collectively an enormous variety of like-minded those that need to enhance not solely themselves, however Highspot and the atmosphere for his or her organizations, however actually assist the leverage and data that we every have little tidbits right here and there. All people may be very supportive of that platform. The group is one other smart way that helps me to proceed to study. I’ve seen myself as an teacher or a trainer for a few years, nevertheless it actually bought me excited to be again on the opposite aspect of the fence to be a learner and to study new issues. I do know it’s sort of an outdated saying you could’t train an outdated canine new tips, however I can let you know, I’m an outdated canine and I’m studying some new tips due to the Highspot group.

SS: I’ve to say, Ray, that quote alone might have made my complete day. Thanks a lot for sharing that. To shut, I’ve one final query for you. What recommendation do you could have for different groups to optimize their enablement technique with Highspot?

RE: I assumed lots about this query and, you realize, I sort of doubted myself in attempting to reply to this query to be completely trustworthy, Shawnna. I don’t have a whole lot of expertise. I don’t have a whole lot of expertise or time behind this explicit driver’s seat, however from what I’ve been studying, I believe the perfect recommendation I may give is simply to be very open and have very robust, open traces of communication. Not solely between the people which might be serving to to handle Highspot or which might be in your gross sales enablement workforce however actually the two-way communication between your advertising groups, your product groups, your gross sales groups, coaching, and gross sales operations. All people must be concerned in and has some stage of involvement and sort of pores and skin within the recreation in the case of gross sales enablement.

As a gross sales enablement workforce, we’re not on this island simply attempting to throw up smoke indicators and inform individuals what to do. You actually must take the time to satisfy with people, perceive what they’re doing, their tasks, their roadmap, after which how that roadmap and the way do these tasks tie into initiatives, campaigns, coaching packages, and even simply the general presenting or managing of the content material and presenting that content material to gross sales.

Finally, as gross sales enablement, we actually need to drive profitability and the success of our gross sales groups and our group, however with the intention to try this, you need to have a full understanding of your online business, your online business panorama, and the path that the enterprise goes in. Then be capable of look somewhat bit farther than that on the general panorama outdoors of your group, what’s actually working. How can we enhance issues?

One of the best recommendation I might give is communication, two-way open, trustworthy, free communication. There’s an outdated saying in coaching that claims there are by no means any dumb questions, solely dumb solutions. Don’t be afraid to ask these inquiries to study and be sure that all people feels comfy sharing their concepts since you by no means know when that one concept goes to return out that’s actually going to place you leaps and bounds forward of the sport.

SS: Ray, I’ve to say you nailed that recommendation. Thanks for sharing that with our viewers. And thanks for becoming a member of us in the present day.

RE: Nicely, thanks. It’s been my pleasure. I loved talking with you. I even get somewhat bit tongue-tied each time I begin to consider Highspot and what it might do, and I’m so enthusiastic about what it’s going to deliver for our group and everybody else sooner or later.

SS: Unbelievable. Thanks, Ray. To our viewers, thanks for listening to this episode of the Win Win podcast. Be sure you tune in subsequent time for extra insights on how one can transcend what beauty like with Highspot.