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.
Driving habits change in a gross sales group may be notoriously troublesome, and but, it’s vital to maintain tempo with purchaser wants. It requires not solely coaching your reps on the appropriate behaviors but additionally teaching them to show these behaviors successfully with patrons. In reality, analysis from Gross sales Enablement PRO discovered that when habits change is a core goal of coaching and training efforts, common rep quota attainment will increase by 7 proportion factors.
So how will you drive lasting habits change inside your group? We invited Annie Lizenbergs, the Senior Director of Enablement for Studying & Growth right here at Highspot, to share her recommendation. Thanks for becoming a member of Annie! I’d love so that you can inform us about your self, your background, and your position right here at Highspot.
Annie Lizenbergs: Thanks a lot, Shawnna. As you talked about, my identify is Annie Lizenbergs, I’m the senior Director of Income L&D right here at Highspot. My background spans two careers, each throughout the schooling house. First, I used to be a center faculty historical past trainer after which made my approach into each gross sales and gross sales management after which actually discovered my area of interest throughout the studying and growth house, actually particular to income groups. It’s been nice to navigate and watch the business of each gross sales studying and likewise gross sales enablement develop into being such a strategic lever for organizations. Previous to coming to Highspot, I used to be truly a Highspot buyer, so I had the chance to see firsthand the way in which that expertise can support in an organization’s potential to drive strategic initiatives and to essentially set these foundational studying applications.
SS: I’m excited to have you ever right here and we’re fortunate to have you ever at Highspot. Kudos, I didn’t understand you had been a center faculty trainer, I’ve the utmost respect for lecturers so that’s spectacular. Now, when it comes to studying and growth significantly inside Highspot, are you able to inform us the way you outline what habits change means?
AL: Once I give it some thought, habits modifications are actually having the ability to join the appropriate information units with the talents to have the ability to put that into motion. Groups actually have to be assured that they’ve the information and the flexibility to go execute. One with out the opposite actually creates gaps and what you’ll begin to see is inconsistent execution or siloed execution as a result of there’s that insecurity. It’s the flexibility to essentially put these issues collectively that makes studying an accelerator for the enterprise.
SS: I like that definition. Why is habits change typically crucial in gross sales? What would you say are a few of the ways in which you’ve encountered it as a studying and growth chief?
AL: Change is fixed and actually required for our enterprise to thrive. Because the market modifications, patrons change, and as firms innovate, the enterprise must be agile sufficient to pivot and actually hold tempo with that change. From a studying perspective, it’s also known as studying agility. It might be that the group is shifting into a brand new market or launching a brand new product, however the potential of the org to essentially be taught sooner collectively offers them that sustainable aggressive benefit of having the ability to capitalize on these new market alternatives.
For instance, it could be one thing so simple as a product demo that may really feel actually lower and dry, however at Highspot we’re delivery new improvements each six weeks. If we aren’t capable of evolve the way in which that our groups demo the product, then our reps actually aren’t capable of show the complete vary of worth that we will drive for the client. We have to change habits, we’ve received to ship that new information and actually empower them with the appropriate abilities to drive the appropriate outcomes for the enterprise.
SS: Completely. How can leaders inside a company acknowledge when there’s a want for a change in behaviors?
AL: I at all times like to have a look at the gross sales pipeline. I really feel prefer it’s an ideal barometer for the well being of the enterprise and can assist establish when habits change goes to be required as a result of in case your pipeline is down, you’re going to see the affect of that someplace between two and three quarters from now. You might want to diagnose what change is required and be capable of begin appearing on that straight away. With change although, we’ve got to watch out as a result of it could possibly begin to really feel like the flavour of the month, change actually must be deliberate, it must be tied to outcomes and irrelevant why and you’ve got to have the ability to give that change the time and house to land and embed throughout the enterprise with the intention to see these proper outcomes.
SS: I like that. It’s not the flavour of the month, I believe that’s unbelievable. What are a few of your greatest practices for figuring out a few of the successful behaviors that result in success in gross sales?
AL: We actually deal with main indicators of success. With any initiative that we’re working, we define each the calls to motion for our staff, like what we wish them to do, and the outcomes that we’re trying to drive, so how are we measuring whether or not or not it is a success? It’s these behaviors and actions that tell us if we’re trending in the appropriate course. Figuring out the main indicators actually requires a deep understanding of our viewers and their course of. It could possibly be issues just like the variety of above-the-line contacts, multithreaded under consideration or the variety of new alternatives added, or the variety of new pitches that have been despatched out to shoppers. These are all issues that we will measure and if these numbers and actions are headed in the appropriate course, we imagine we must always see the enterprise outcomes that we’re searching for. Our potential to outline and perceive these main indicators offers us the flexibility to foretell success and likewise to tweak our studying strategy as crucial in order that it’s by no means stagnant and it’s by no means one measurement matches all.
SS: I believe that’s phenomenal. How do you’re taking that data after which design and implement coaching applications which can be geared toward instilling these successful behaviors amongst the gross sales groups to drive that change?
AL: After we take into consideration the design and growth of coaching applications, we acknowledge that it typically requires a layered strategy. There’s no silver bullet to habits change which regularly we want there was. We are sometimes balancing each formal and casual studying methods to make sure understanding and create routines that drive repetition and execution. For instance, with new product innovation, we’ve got a three-part strategy. The primary may be fairly formal and contains programs and dwell coaching, the main points, the worth, and the differentiation of this new product. The second is the flexibility to have ongoing and evergreen coaching content material that the reps can refer again to. Nobody will keep in mind every little thing from a specific coaching. I at all times inform our stakeholders that it’s not for lack of making an attempt, it’s simply science they usually’re seemingly not going to return to a course that they took to try to discover one thing, we don’t see that occur. It’s not likely inside human nature as a result of if you’re searching for recall, you’re searching for these quick reminders about what you discovered.
The primary ability that our reps want is to know the place they will go for data once they want it, however with out that repository of the always-on studying sources that may be grabbed and go, reps are sometimes having to fill within the blanks. We actually put a precedence on creating that lengthy tail of studying that they will at all times return to. The final piece is the certification which is absolutely measuring their potential to exit and put this studying into apply and it offers managers the chance to each examine and coach and creates accountability to that studying as properly. The factor I like about Highspot is that it offers us a platform with the intention to do this at scale, each the formal and the casual, however you actually need each with the intention to drive that lasting change.
SS: Completely. I believe our viewers would undoubtedly agree, habits change can typically be a troublesome course of and a few reps could even be resistant to alter. How can leaders inspire or ease the method of change for his or her groups?
AL: That’s an ideal query. Reps actually need to know the why behind what they’re doing. When it comes to the way in which that adults be taught, it must be hyper-relevant and hyper-actionable, in any other case, adults will simply deprioritize it of their minds. Studying must be put by means of the lens of why it issues and the place they may apply it. It permits us to create that connection between what they’re studying and what they’re requested to go and do. This actually permits us to raised actually measure the outcomes as properly as a result of we’re clear on what these calls to motion for our staff are and the outcomes that we’re making an attempt to drive so we’ve got clear markers alongside the way in which as as to whether we’re being profitable.
SS: I believe that’s phenomenal. How can habits change be bolstered over time past an preliminary studying expertise or coaching program?
AL: I imply that’s so vital. I’ll shout it from the mountaintops, I totally imagine that front-line managers are the linchpin to success. They actually turn into the legs and arms of any initiative and actually drive that sustainable change. It’s their potential to essentially coach to what beauty like that enables reps to maneuver from proficiency inside any ability or information set to mastery. Mastery solely comes by means of apply and real-life utility and studying alongside the way in which. That’s the one approach. Our managers have the flexibility to help and encourage that course of each single week.
SS: I like that you simply introduced the frontline managers up. How do you go about serving to frontline managers navigate and reinforce a few of these behavior-change initiatives?
AL: We take enabling our managers actually significantly as a result of we all know how necessary they’re to the success of any initiative. So firstly, regardless of the initiative may be, we’re at all times enabling the managers forward of our reps. We need to be sure that they really feel assured within the information and abilities which can be required with the intention to achieve success. Past that, we’re additionally giving them the instruments which can be wanted with the intention to go and examine and coach. These may be teaching youngsters, it may be concepts for issues they will do in staff conferences and conversations that they will have of their one on ones.
We use Gong to assist examine calls and be sure that the way in which that it’s coming to life with our prospects is on level and provides them the chance to teach to real-life conditions. Even inside our personal platform, whether or not or not it’s apply submissions or testing alongside the way in which, we can provide our managers rubrics to ensure that them to have the ability to constantly measure what beauty like from their staff. Then it lastly goes again to the reporting, the flexibility to have the reporting of these ongoing behaviors and actions and the enterprise outcomes that we’re trying to drive, that provides them these indicators of whether or not or not their staff is being profitable.
SS: I like that and on that observe truly my closing query pertains to the metrics and reporting part. How can leaders leverage analytics to know whether or not habits modifications are occurring and the way it’s impacting the general enterprise efficiency?
AL: It goes again to defining these calls to motion within the enterprise outcomes that you simply’re trying to drive up entrance. What are the behaviors and actions that they’re requested to do popping out of a specific studying program or initiative enablement session? Reps actually need to know what success seems like and be capable of have benchmarks alongside the way in which. That roadmap of success is absolutely necessary to grownup learners as a result of they at all times need to examine in on the place they’re at and what progress they’re making.
We actually should be ruthless about measurement to make sure that the educational technique is on level and that we will proceed to regulate and scale to make sure that the habits change doesn’t simply dwell and die inside a specific quarter, however you can take up it into onboarding, you possibly can embed and reinforce it with rep steerage and create helps for recall that basically make it turn into a part of the material of your group. You may measure if the habits and actions are driving the appropriate enterprise outcomes after which be taught from that technique to tell the subsequent initiative or change that your online business is dealing with.
SS: I like that, Annie. Thanks a lot for becoming a member of us right now. I discovered a ton from you on the habits change entrance.
AL: Thanks a lot, Shawnna.
SS: To our viewers, thanks for listening to this episode of the Win Win podcast. Remember to tune in subsequent time for extra insights on how one can maximize enablement success with Highspot.
