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 developments within the office, and the best way to navigate them efficiently. Right here to debate this matter is Kris Richardson, the senior director of gross sales and companion enablement at Apptio. Thanks for becoming a member of us, Kris. I’d love so that you can inform us about your self, your background, and your function. 

Kris Richardson: Certain, thanks, glad to be right here. I’ve been at Apptio for about eight years. My function is I’m liable for all the gross sales coaching, not just for our interns or sellers but additionally for our companions.

My background is definitely in gross sales, I began years in the past. As an alternative of going to med faculty, I began with an organization referred to as Nextel promoting telephones to companies. I discovered myself excited about coaching my clients and from that, began into gross sales coaching, and I’ve been on this aspect of the enterprise for about 25 years now.

SS: Properly, we’re excited to speak to you, Kris. Apptio has been a long-time buyer of Highspot, however earlier than Highspot, your staff leveraged a unique enablement platform. Are you able to inform us slightly bit about that have and perhaps among the challenges that your staff confronted at the moment?

KR: Yeah, it was fairly the expertise. It was not an excellent expertise for our sellers. It was a really, what I name, bland interface. So, it was a poor person expertise. They couldn’t navigate very effectively. The search didn’t work superb. For anyone that was making an attempt to create content material, which was largely our staff and the advertising staff, it was very, very clumsy.

It will take generally hours simply to face up one little part with, some textual content in it, in a hyperlink. So, that was very tough. After which, we didn’t have lots of analytics. We couldn’t see, what are the issues that our sellers had been taking a look at? What was driving them to sure pages or sure content material?

With out that info, we didn’t know what was working. So, we had been simply placing up the whole lot we might every single day and hoping that our sellers had been clicking into it. 

SS: How have you ever been in a position to remedy a few of these challenges that your staff is going through since implementing Highspot?

KR: I believe the largest was the benefit of use. Our sellers love the internet-style paging, they’re used to that. They’re at all times looking on their telephones and on the web themselves. Seeing the buttons, and having the ability to click on on a picture or a button and get to what they want. With the ability to simply navigate, and search tremendous simply.

The search engine with Highspot is so highly effective that we are able to tag sure objects and it’ll populate precisely what a vendor is on the lookout for whether or not they put in the precise info or not. After which going again to what I stated within the earlier query is that for our of us which can be constructing “spots”, what Highspot calls their pages, it’s very easy to face up a brand new spot.

You’ll be able to actually copy one thing else that occurred a couple of months in the past, change a couple of issues and you’ve got a brand new model of that that appears refreshed and up to date. After which lastly the largest is that now we have the analytics to see what our settlers are taking a look at and what they’re not taking a look at. So we are able to take that info, it permits us to advertise the objects that appear to be actually widespread, after which archive the objects that aren’t getting used.

SS: Superb. Now, as slightly little bit of background, I believe Apptio just lately went by means of an acquisition, and I believe everyone knows MNAs can typically current lots of change for gross sales groups. What had been a few of your finest practices for serving to your reps actually navigate that change? And, and the way did you leverage Highspot to assist?

KR: The very first thing we did was rise up a web page straight associated to the acquisition, lots of questions, lots of transferring components, so we made on our dwelling web page, the touchdown web page when of us come into Highspot. Our sellers see a giant banner that mainly says, “Hey, right here’s the place you could go”. As soon as they click on into that, we had all the related guides, any calls that had been held.

So the recordings of these calls, any PowerPoint decks or slides that had been utilized in these calls, any related guides associated to the acquisition. So it was tremendous simple for them to search out that simply by going to the homepage, they might click on in there, and get what they should, to remain updated on the modifications.

SS: Completely. And even all through all of that change, Apptio had a unbelievable recurring utilization fee with Highspot. I believe you guys had been at persistently 80%. What are your finest practices for driving adoption? 

KR: Properly, we put virtually the whole lot {that a} vendor wants on Highspot. With my background in gross sales, we at all times consider the place would a vendor go to search out this? What would they seek for? And we promote and serve up the issues that they’re going to make use of most frequently that that’s going to be most helpful for them of their day-to-day job. So something important will get put onto the homepage. That might be any name that now we have any content material that we need to promote.

After which now we have a sequence of enablement calls. We’ve not less than one every week. Typically now we have three to 4, they might be role-based calls. They might be regional calls. They might be gross sales abilities or course of calls. However each time we do a name, we promote. On these calls. Hey, what’s new in Highspot? We’ve slides and we speak about what’s new and what they will discover. After which as quickly as that decision is over, we submit these hyperlinks to these calls and people decks proper there in Slack, and thru e-mail. So everyone is aware of if they should discover one thing, they go to Highspot. So, I believe that’s what drives the utilization for our sellers.

SS: That’s wonderful. Shifting gears just a bit bit. One space the place you guys have additionally seen actually excessive adoption is gross sales performs, and also you’ve touched on them slightly bit. You guys have 69% adoption. Inform us about your gross sales play technique. How are you leveraging performs to successfully information your reps on the best way to land lots of your key strategic initiatives within the area?

KR: It actually begins with onboarding. Gross sales performs are a key a part of what we name our Ignite and Spark vendor onboarding. And so each time someone goes by means of onboarding, one of many key components is we level them to the gross sales place. We need to get them used to it straight away, going to search out content material on Highspot.

A few of the actions could be, go take a look at a sure piece of content material on the gross sales play after which go apply it, whether or not they do a job play with a mentor or their supervisor, perhaps they’re filling out some vendor prep content material they usually’re sharing that with us by means of onboarding. So that they instantly know to go to Highspot due to that. Anytime we even have a product change or perhaps there’s a brand new persona that’s shopping for the merchandise that we’ve by no means actually handled earlier than, maybe a brand new competitor that has emerged these gross sales performs get up to date. So anytime there’s new info on the market, we attempt to get to the sellers by means of the gross sales place.

And once more, persevering with to advertise anytime there’s updates by means of Slack calls, et cetera. After which lastly, I’d say we use the gross sales performs lots of occasions for conditions for coaching. For instance, now we have our gross sales kickoff arising in two weeks. And a part of that’s, “Hey, we’ve up to date the gross sales play for this product, or that product.”

Go overview that earlier than you get to the gross sales kickoff. So once more, driving that, {that a} fixed must go there to get the knowledge they want has been, I believe—one of many components for achievement with the adoption of reviewing gross sales performs.

SS: Completely. And also you touched on this slightly bit, however as your enterprise has skilled lots of change, how do you retain the performs up to date and optimized over time?

KR: Properly, I believe we’re fortunate in that now we have a product advertising staff they usually have very particular of us that personal every of these gross sales performs. So that they are typically the folks which can be within the know. So that they know when there’s a new competitor. Perhaps there’s new objections which can be popping out. They know when, you understand, new personas, they know there’s new updates to our merchandise.

So that they’re those that may make these modifications as quickly as potential. We additionally filter suggestions from our sellers. So if the sellers are seeing stuff, these get filtered proper to the product advertising staff. And once more, they’ve that possession. The opposite factor is we’d like to drag the information to see. What are the sellers doing on these gross sales performs?

What are they taking a look at in these performs? Are they remixing any of the content material? Are they pitching any of that content material? And in the event that they’re not utilizing a few of that content material, can we simply eliminate it? Can we transfer it off there? So the gross sales performs good and clear and continuously appears refreshed. So I believe that makes it, makes it simpler when sellers can get in there.

There’s not, they’re not overwhelmed. They see the knowledge they want and know they’re going to make use of, they usually also can say, Hey, that’s, that’s new content material that’s up to date. And they also continuously go there to search out that new info.

SS: I like that. On the subject of optimization, I seen on LinkedIn that you just talked about you deal with transferring the needle in opposition to key enterprise outcomes, corresponding to win fee and quota attainment. How do you measure the influence of your efforts on a majority of these metrics?

KR: I imply, I believe on the whole, it begins with onboarding. We make it possible for our sellers full their full onboarding program, that Spark or Ignite program that I discussed. We additionally make it possible for we overview their exercise. What are they doing and the way does that correlate to the pipeline that they’ve?

After which finally, how does that correlate to win charges and their success? We need to make certain they’re not simply getting fortunate, that they’re doing the work. They’re studying, they’re honing their craft, honing their abilities, they usually’re making use of that by having calls, conversations, conferences, et cetera, pitching issues from Highspot in order that the pipeline, the exercise, the information ends in these win charges and, and quota attainment.

SS: How has your utilization of Highspot helped you affect a few of these metrics, and do you’ve got any wins you possibly can share? 

KR: Yeah, I imply, I might say because it pertains to Highspot, one of many huge issues that we take a look at is the scorecards. Are reps energetic in Highspot? What are they doing in there? Are they reviewing new content material? Are they honing their abilities? Are they constructing their information? If they’re, we all know that they’re extra prone to succeed. They’re extra prone to shut offers as a result of they’ve the information and abilities to have the ability to do this. We need to make certain, are they remixing content material. Are they downloading content material?

Going again to the pitching, that’s tremendous essential. Are they pitching content material? What’s working? What’s not working? Then we are able to share that info with different sellers in order that we are able to say, “Hey, look, Bob over right here has been pitching this specific set of supplies. And he appears to be getting lots of conferences.” It’s, it’s nice for us to share that. So I believe taking a look at these metrics helps different sellers along with simply those which can be actually energetic in Highspot.

SS: Superb. Chris, since now we have simply turned over to a brand new yr, as a closing query for you, trying on the yr forward, what are a few of your staff’s high priorities, and the way do you intend to leverage Highspot that will help you obtain these?

KR: Yeah, I might say Highspot is important. As we talked about, we had been acquired by an organization in September. A few of the organizations, not all, have gone by means of what we name switch of employment. So a few of us are literally workers of that firm. That will get to be tough when not your entire workers are. So we’ve obtained to make it possible for everyone’s on the identical web page. Once more, that’s why we put the whole lot on Highspot that’s why we’ve stood up this web page specifically about what’s occurring, what’s coming, what’s new. However we’re about to go do a switch of enterprise. Which means everyone within the firm will likely be workers.

Everyone within the firm has to function below this new firm’s pointers. And so I believe the great factor for us is all of our sellers know that our processes have been constant. Our sharing of data has been constant and that’s been by means of Highspot. By placing the knowledge in Highspot, sharing it in Highspot, they know they will at all times go there to make that change administration slightly smoother. I say us personally as a gross sales enablement staff,  and a companion enablement staff, our objective is to essentially enhance our search outcomes and that goes again to tagging, and sharing like content material. We do a reasonably good job of it, however now we have lots of authors, and we have to get them higher at it. We’ve an entire, what we name governance committee that will get collectively, an writer committee ensuring that they’re doing the issues that our staff does to verify the search is nice, that sellers can discover what they need rapidly.

After which lastly, it’s actually about eliminating stuff that’s not getting used, archiving content material, as a result of should you don’t keep on high of it, you would have an enormous library and individuals are discovering stuff that’s not related. So ensuring that everyone that’s authoring stuff is archiving previous stuff, and simply holding the brand new stuff entrance and middle.

SS: Great. Properly, Kris, once more, thanks a lot for becoming a member of us at the moment. I actually recognize it. 

KR: Yeah, thanks a lot. This has been nice. 

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