Analysis discovered that 84% of gross sales reps obtain their quotas when their employer incorporates a best-in-class gross sales enablement technique. So what does it truly take to construct an enablement technique? Right here to debate this subject is Kelly Lewis, the vice chairman of income enablement right here at Highspot.

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 learn how to navigate them efficiently. Thanks for becoming a member of, Kelly! I’d love so that you can inform us about your self, your background, and your position right here at Highspot.

Kelly Lewis: Thanks a lot for having me, I’m excited to be right here. As you talked about, my identify is Kelly Lewis, Vice President of Income Enablement, right here at Highspot. I even have just a little little bit of a non-traditional background. I spent most of my profession, nearly 15 years, within the area earlier than transferring into enablement. I frolicked as a gross sales rep and as a gross sales chief, actually understanding what it’s like to hold a bag. I noticed a chance for enablement at my final firm, Amwell, which is a high-tech telehealth group, and established the enablement apply there from the bottom up. I realized quite a bit by doing that. Lots of what you’re going to listen to is that I’m coming to this dialog fairly humbly and that I’m nonetheless studying a ton from organizations like Gross sales Enablement PRO, in addition to our wonderful prospects, and, after all, my wonderful staff and my wonderful friends in L&D. Lots of what you’re going to listen to comes from that gross sales chief background with that enablement spin, as I’ve realized over the previous few years.

SS: Properly, we’re excited to have you ever right here, Kelly, and I’ve to say you’re a improbable enablement associate, and I get to talk from expertise.

KL: Thanks.

SS: Now, from a income perspective, I’d love to know from you, what ought to leaders be mindful when constructing an enablement technique that’s aligned to enterprise drive outcomes.

KL: I believe everyone knows this, however it’s a must to swap from being reactive to that actually proactive mindset. That’s simpler mentioned than carried out. A part of it’s that the asks don’t cease coming. How I have a look at it’s it’s a must to sit again and have a few of these actually arduous conversations along with your collaborators, whether or not these are your stakeholders or the people you’re employed with very carefully like advertising or rev ops, and perceive what is definitely going to maneuver the needle. We at all times have a look at it from a rep productiveness standpoint, we’re at all times attempting to consider what we are able to do to get our reps extra productive. Is that talent? Is that course of? Is that messaging? The place do we have to focus? By doing that, and having these arduous conversations upfront, we’re in a position to align after which decide to what we need to do, after which be certain that we truly keep on track versus veering off, which is very easy to do. I’ve been there, I’ve carried out it, however having the ability to actually say hey, we agreed to this firstly of the quarter, and let’s see it via. Now we have a whole lot of these conversations right here. Will we additionally ask if what we’re doing right here aligned with the larger initiatives of the corporate are the issues that we’re targeted on right here, the identical issues that our CEO is targeted on?

SS: I believe that’s improbable recommendation. Kelly, given the present financial local weather, are you able to share why aligning your enablement technique with income objectives is important?

KL: Completely. I believe we’ve all heard the time period ‘random acts of enablement’ and everyone knows that enablement, at one time or one other in your group, has in all probability tried to do an excessive amount of. Once you align your objectives to income objectives, and when you’ve got the identical purpose, it’s simple to just remember to’re having the identical dialog and that you simply don’t swerve out of your authentic plan. What I used to be saying earlier than is what you’re doing goes to maneuver the needle. The present financial local weather, it’s shifting on a regular basis, and so we proactively requested firstly of 1 / 4, if one thing modifications considerably within the financial system within the subsequent 90 days, does this variation our technique, and if everybody within the room can say, not an excessive amount of, then we really feel like we’re doing the proper factor. That’s how we’ve been dealing with at the very least our Q1 technique as we have a look at it.

SS: I believe that’s a extremely agile method to enablement. Now, in terms of setting objectives, what are a few of your greatest practices for figuring out the proper objectives which can be going that can assist you drive the outcomes that you simply need to obtain via your enablement technique?

KL: First off, it begins with life like objectives. I believe it’s very easy for enablement professionals or gross sales leaders to get in a room and assume {that a} change can occur in a single day. Once you have a look at strategic enablement and the way you’re utilizing enablement, one of many issues that we take into account as a core apply of how we do strategic enablement at Highspot is knowing how a lot change are we asking the reps to do and what’s the actual name to motion we’re going to ask them to do. We truly use a proficiency mannequin right here at Highspot that has 4 ranges and we can be actually clear with everybody within the room that, hey, we’re attempting to get reps from a stage one to a stage two. For proper now, we’re targeted on getting the vast majority of our reps, we name our core reps, from stage three to stage 4, relying on the place they’re in that proficiency mannequin. I believe setting expectations on the place your reps are right this moment, and the place you need them to be by the tip of 1 / 4, six months from now, actually helps folks perceive that change does take time, it’s not going to occur in a single day and it helps you to set what the main indicators are going to be over time, what’s going to present that we’re transferring the needle.

SS: These are some actually improbable greatest practices. Now, Kelly, as I had talked about, I discover you to be a completely improbable and collaborative enablement associate. I do know that to you as an enablement chief, creating sturdy cross-functional relationships and coordination is a precedence for you. How does cross-functional collaboration affect the way you convey your enablement technique to life?

KL: I tremendously recognize that. My staff actually has a powerful purpose of getting cross-functional coordination, however I additionally suppose we have now wonderful companions to work with. As everybody is aware of, enablement sits proper in the course of income groups, in addition to advertising. We’re at all times attempting to play that steadiness of the objectives that advertising has, and ensuring we’re translating that dialog into our sellers and what they want. So as to try this, it’s a must to communicate their language. As I mentioned earlier, it’s quite a bit about translating and ensuring that you simply perceive the totally different objectives and have empathy for the totally different groups you’re working with. I discover that I and my staff spend simply as a lot time creating a method as we do listening. Lots of what we do is hearken to our stakeholders, or hearken to our collaborators, on what their objectives are and what they’re attempting to drive. That’s the reason it’s actually essential. When you don’t perceive why you gained’t be capable to translate it and be sure to create that bridge.

We at Highspot even have an idea right here that we name a bridge assembly, and that’s when advertising has an thought, a rev ops staff has an thought, and even one in all our stakeholders has an concept that they need to come to enablement with and so they need to suggest that we do one thing in a different way or problem ourselves in a brand new means. Throughout that bridge assembly, we ask a whole lot of these ‘why’ inquiries to be sure that we absolutely perceive what it’s they need us to roll out, and the way we’ll try this to make the most important impression.

I’ll say, being a former vendor and on that aspect of the home, it’s actually clear when your management isn’t aligned. You are feeling it when advertising and gross sales leaders aren’t speaking. You are feeling it when gross sales management and enablement aren’t speaking. It’s not hidden, I believe being enablement professionals, generally we don’t know what the frontline is seeing, however they really feel it. It’s tremendous essential that whatever the resolution you make on what the enablement technique goes to be that everybody within the room aligns and agrees. One factor we do right here at Highspot is we even have approval conferences the place we get in a room and we are saying that is the technique, does everybody agree? We don’t depart till everybody’s agreed after which based mostly on that all of us, regardless of what occurs inside the quarter, proceed to align to that preliminary technique as a result of all of us agreed, and all of us need to present a single one-team method to our area.

SS: I really like that. What recommendation do you’ve got for a way you go about driving the adoption of the technique and getting buy-in from key stakeholders?

KL: It’s all in regards to the frontline supervisor. We’ve truly been making an enormous shift over the past six months which can be going to proceed as we head into the following fiscal yr, excited about how we empower our frontline managers. They’re so important to enablement’s success. A frontline particular person, a rep, isn’t going to make a change until they really feel prefer it’s supported by their supervisor, and so we have now shifted our method to drive nearly the whole lot we’re doing via the supervisor. That appears like empowering the supervisor with teaching, so we make teaching performs the place we truly information the supervisor to the steps, right here’s the dialog it’s essential have, listed below are the objections as a supervisor that you’re in all probability going to get, right here’s the way you deal with these objections. We additionally do life teaching. We’ll pull up Gong calls, or we’ll pull up our pre-call planners in a gaggle setting, and we’ll have totally different managers have a look at these guides and calls and discuss with one another about how they’d coach, how would they rating these, what suggestions would they provide, and I believe by giving them a secure house to apply their teaching, they’re arrange for achievement. It’s actually about getting managers purchased in early after which ensuring they’ve the whole lot they should be profitable in terms of truly rolling that out. We take into account these frontline managers to be companions in crime.

SS: I really like that. Now, I really like your recommendation on this. How can groups hold form of the massive image of the technique and the way it aligns with firm objectives in thoughts after they’re additionally juggling executing the plan all year long?

KL: It’s actually arduous, and we battle with it too. I believe how we do that’s we create some agility in our plan. I talked quite a bit firstly of this podcast, about how we have now a quarterly technique the place we convey everybody collectively and we get alignment, however what I didn’t discuss was we depart some wiggle room. We’re executing, issues do change, and issues come up. We have to be sure that we have now that constructed into what we’re creating in our technique. Relying on the quarter, we like to depart up wherever from 20 to 40% in order that we have now that agility and talent to regulate as wanted and take some enter within the quarter. It’s not a ton, nevertheless it provides us that wiggle room to be sure that we’re persevering with to align with the corporate objectives and that we might be agile sufficient to listen to what the sphere is combating and adapt.

We even have this idea of obtainable versus accountable. I believe that is distinctive to Highspot, however it’s this idea of throughout any given quarter, we give reps two or three issues that we wish them to vary in behaviors. We’re actually concise on what these calls to motion are, and people are our accountable themes. We additionally do a whole lot of enablement that isn’t accountable, we’re not going to examine it, we’re not essentially going to teach it, we’re not going to carry folks accountable to it. These issues we name accessible. Out there issues are like a play that we create which may assist somebody given a sure scenario that may be industry-specific, however we’re not doing a ton of reside enablement round it, we’re undoubtedly not certifying it, we’d simply market it through e-newsletter.

Having this idea of obtainable versus accountable helps us have actually sturdy conversations with our stakeholders and our collaborators as a result of they know after we say it’s accountable, they know we’re taking it actually significantly and we’re going to create teaching applications. After they realize it’s accessible, we’re all in settlement that hey, we’re not going to take a look at the scorecard for the progress or what number of reps have seen this potential play. As an alternative, we’re going to see the way it does. We would make it accountable subsequent quarter, it’d simply be accessible within the present quarter. This idea of obtainable versus accountable has actually translated right into a language all of us align on and ensure everybody feels actually comfy with our method.

SS: I’ve to say it has labored very well for us right here at Highspot. Kelly, I’m loving this dialog. I’ve two remaining questions for you. I don’t suppose there’s going to be any form of shock to those questions as a result of I believe we’re all attempting to know within the coming yr, how we drive extra impression. That is very true for enablement. What are a few of your greatest practices for correlating your enablement efforts with income impression, and the way have you ever truly leveraged Highspot to assist with this?

KL: Such a tough query, in that it’s arduous for enablement professionals to at all times present their impression. It isn’t as easy as it’s in different roles, and so we spend a whole lot of time excited about this, frankly, not solely as an organization however as an enablement staff at an enablement firm. We at all times take into consideration how we’re influencing income, and the way we’re influencing enterprise outcomes. We consider it a few methods. First is gross sales productiveness, after which it’s constant execution and participation price. From gross sales, productiveness is the timing of the issues that we’re rolling out aligned to the timing of will increase in gross sales productiveness. We hope, and that’s the purpose, and so we have a look at that reporting. We additionally have a look at constant execution. That is more durable to take a look at, we use instruments like Gong, and we’re companions with Groove, so we have a look at our e-mail consistency, to see are the reps taking the enablement and making use of it and if are they doing it in a constant trend. Then we have a look at the participation charges of these two. Are our core performers within the class of constant execution, and have they got excessive gross sales productiveness?

At Highspot we use a few other ways to take a look at main indicators. Main indicators are big for my staff. Will we have a look at issues like did folks take the coaching? So we’ll soar into Highspot and see, did they take the course? Then, we’ll have a look at in the event that they reviewed the gross sales play. That is tremendous essential. In the event that they’re not studying the gross sales play, they’re undoubtedly not going to make the motion. It’s an enormous main indicator for us, how a lot time they’re spending on the gross sales play. Then, are managers trying on the teaching play? For each gross sales play that’s accountable, utilizing the time period I discussed earlier than, we additionally create a training play. Is the supervisor taking a look at that teaching play? Do they know learn how to coach to no matter we’re attempting to drive? We then have a look at the motion they’re taking. Are they participating with our prospects within the appropriate means? We use Highspot to know if they’re pitching the content material that’s a part of this marketing campaign or this technique, after which are our prospects and our prospects participating with that content material. These are actually key indicators that assist us present our affect and impression in a very easy means. Positively helps these enterprise critiques that I do know are so arduous to place collectively, however simply having the ability to take some screenshots from Highspot actually helps that dialog.

SS: I really like that. Final query for you, Kelly, as we get underway with 2023, what are a few of the high tendencies that you simply suppose enablement leaders ought to be being attentive to this yr, and the way are you leveraging Highspot to assist deal with a few of these?

KL: Completely. I mentioned it earlier than, managers are your unlock. We’re spending a whole lot of time excited about supervisor teaching enablement. We’re truly going to be placing on a management summit for all of our leaders right here on the finish of February that’s going to be targeted on teaching. What does good teaching appear like, and how are you going to apply that to your day-to-day as a go-to-market chief? I believe the following development we’re going to see and issues that we’re leveraging at Highspot is considering via how we deal with formal coaching. Formal coaching might be put into totally different buckets and we’re attempting to rethink what formal coaching seems to be wish to make it really feel mild. My associate in crime, Annie Lizenbergs, in our L&D division at all times talks about how we make coursework really feel mild and fascinating in order that reps know that we’re being actually environment friendly with our time. We’re going to be rethinking quite a bit about what our formal coursework seems to be wish to make it really feel mild.

The subsequent is we’re going to have an enormous give attention to our core performers. Lots of occasions your stakeholders are going to return to you with info and suggestions about your low performers. That’s actually regular. They are usually the loudest, and so they are inclined to spin up gross sales leaders as a result of gross sales leaders need them profitable. We’ve created a slide and we use it in nearly each assembly the place we are saying, hey, this program goes to be targeted on the core performers. These are the core performers that we’re attempting to make high performers, and we’re going to make use of our high performers to point out our core performers what attractiveness like. We’re going to make use of our high performers to champion this. We’re going to make use of our high performers to assist us train. These high performers are going to get higher as a result of if you train one thing, you get higher at it. Our core performers are going to be taught from these high performers. That means, we’re not targeted on these low performers, who will hopefully get one thing out of the core performer coaching, however we’re actually leaving these decrease performers as much as managers to work with and coach.

Then, I might say, the very last thing that we’re altering this yr is one SKO a yr isn’t sufficient. You want stable enablement moments all year long, that actually be certain that your reps are getting the reinforcement, and are taken out of the sphere in a means that separates them from the busyness and lets them actually give attention to studying. We began this final yr, and we’re going to proceed it this yr. We name it camp momentum in the summertime, however we’re going to have a number of touchpoints all year long, one simply with managers and three with all go-to-market groups the place we be sure that there’s put aside studying time for everybody to be taught to cease the busyness to cease the calls and to essentially give attention to the massive initiatives that we’re attempting to drive after which after all, giving them a secure house to apply.

SS: I really like these tendencies. Thanks, Kelly, a lot for becoming a member of us right this moment.

KL: Completely. Completely satisfied to be right here.

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