In keeping with analysis from McKinsey, 70-80% of B2B determination makers desire distant or digital self-service interactions. So how are you going to leverage your enablement tech stack to enhance the digital shopping for expertise and increase purchaser engagement?
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 traits within the office and the best way to navigate them efficiently.
Right here to debate this matter is Lisa Brown, the senior educational designer at PagerDuty. Thanks for becoming a member of us, Lisa. I’d love so that you can inform us about your self, your background, and your position.
Lisa Brown: Hello! It’s good to be right here. So, previous to working in enablement, I spent a number of years working in training at numerous ranges from elementary all the best way as much as larger training.
However the factor that I beloved most about these roles was after I bought to create studying applications and coaching supplies. So ultimately I made the soar into enablement as an educational designer about seven years in the past. I’ve now been at PagerDuty for nearly three years, and such as you mentioned, I’m the senior educational designer that helps subject enablement.
So in my position, I create coaching supplies, e-learnings, I seek the advice of on grownup studying ideas, and I additionally help the administration and structure of Highspot.
SS: Superb. And on the notice of Highspot, I do know that your group carried out Highspot earlier this 12 months, making the change from a a earlier enablement platform. Are you able to inform us about among the key issues that your staff is prioritizing this 12 months and the way that led you to evolve your enablement tech stack?
LB: Yeah, so certainly one of our greatest priorities this 12 months has been targeted on data-driven enablement. After we made the change to Highspot, we wished to maneuver past simply responding right into a movement that was extra proactive.
We’re wanting intently at what the information is telling us. Issues like what content material the sector is definitely utilizing, what’s being looked for in our platforms and the place there may very well be gaps. This manner we are able to accomplice with management to plan extra significant enablement that may fill these gaps. This visibility into the information has additionally helped us take a extra strategic method to the content material curation that we’re working with by growing a extra structured governance plan.
We’re not simply filling a library with content material, eradicating what’s outdated. We’re highlighting what’s working, and we’re ensuring that every part that’s accessible is related and simple for the sector to seek out. That is additionally actually serving to us strengthen our suggestions loops with different departments by having a structured governance in place.
Content material contributors and SMEs are charged with extra common analysis of their content material. Issues like, is it updated and present? Is it related nonetheless? Is it being utilized by the sector? And this permits extra insights for them as they’re updating their content material in addition to our personal means for information analysis.
But it surely’s additionally repeatedly offering worth to our subject customers as a result of they will stay assured that the content material that they’re utilizing is probably the most correct data and it’s probably the most up-to-date. So I feel to summarize, for us, it’s all about making that vendor expertise far more clean and impactful.
It’s making it simpler for them to get what they want once they want it, in order that they will give attention to constructing relationships and driving outcomes with their prospects, not on discovering content material.
SS: I really like that. And one other space the place you have got already began to see superb success is thru the usage of Digital Rooms. I’d find it irresistible in the event you may share a bit of bit extra in regards to the position that Digital Rooms are taking part in in your enablement technique.
LB: Yeah, so once we rolled out Highspot, we knew that driving pleasure and adoption can be crucial, particularly as a result of this was one other software change for our subject, and you may get numerous fatigue from that.
So we actually leaned into the worth of Digital Rooms, virtually like a advertising and marketing hook internally. Rooms weren’t only a new function. They represented a brand new strategy to interact with prospects extra personally. Digital Rooms enable the sector to ship a curated and branded expertise that’s not solely extra participating for the customer, but it surely additionally gives extra information for the vendor.
We will see who’s opening what, how lengthy they’re spending on the content material, how lengthy they’re spending within the room, after which we are able to use that to educate our reps on comply with ups and personalization in addition to the profit that they’re seeing and that they will make their very own choices on. Now that we’re just a few months out from our launch, we’re embedding digital room utilization into different coaching applications throughout all of our enablement applications.
We’re incorporating it into the deal technique particularly for advanced gross sales and renewal motions the place everyone knows that that relationship constructing is particularly crucial.
SS: Completely. And what are among the challenges that you just’ve seen reps face at this time, and the way are you leveraging Digital Rooms to assist remedy these challenges?
LB: One of many greatest challenges that our reps are dealing with is attending to the best purchaser and never stopping at a single level of contact. We all know how essential multi-threading is, particularly in at this time’s shopping for atmosphere, the place choices usually contain a number of stakeholders throughout completely different ranges of a company.
In order that’s the place digital rooms have actually turn out to be a strategic software for us. We’re not utilizing them simply to share content material, however we’re utilizing them to open up the shopping for committee as a result of the digital room is one thing that our champions can share internally. We’re seeing it result in the creation of latest contacts that we would not have entry to in any other case or with out utilizing this software.
One other key profit that we’re getting from that is the engagement information. Like I mentioned, reps can see what’s being seen by who and the way usually, which is giving them a a lot clearer image of what the shopper is definitely inquisitive about and the place they may have to pivot the dialog or go deeper in that dialog.
Total, we see Digital Rooms as a means to not simply ship content material, however to realize visibility, create momentum contained in the buyer’s group, and drive extra strategic engagement with potential prospects or current prospects.
SS: Are you able to inform me a bit of bit extra about that? What are a few of your greatest practices for constructing efficient Digital Rooms?
LB: So our greatest practices, I’ve tried to form of summarize it, slender it down a bit of bit, however I feel the largest strategy to summarize it’s actually comes right down to being intentional and purchaser centric. From the beginning, we’ve inspired our reps to start out with the customer in thoughts, which suggests customizing the room primarily based on the shopper’s business, the position and their particular ache factors.
The content material in these rooms ought to actually really feel prefer it was curated for his or her business, their position, their ache factors, different than simply being a generic assortment of belongings. Second, we’ve suggested our reps to construct the digital room early within the shopping for journey, ideally proper after the primary assembly or contact, after which deal with it like a dwelling useful resource.
After each name or e mail change, the room will get up to date with related follow-ups, subsequent steps or new content material that may have been mentioned or that may very well be related. It turns into a shared house that actually displays the progress of the deal by doing that. One other key greatest observe that we now have is to make use of the metrics, and I do know I hold speaking in regards to the metrics, however they’re so essential with, I feel each business at this time.
The Engagement Heart actually gives numerous perception into what the shoppers are literally spending time with, which is giving them a a lot clearer image of what content material is related or if we have to reframe conversations in any means. After which once we see somebody new accessing the room and the content material that they’re accessing, it usually signifies that the deal may very well be increasing internally, which provides the reps a pure purpose to both comply with up or to create new contacts and multithread that relationship.
SS: Superb. Properly, like I mentioned, you guys are doing superb issues with Digital Rooms now. Once you had been rolling out Digital Rooms to your groups, you led a collection of workshops at your regional enablement summit in your world groups. How did you design and ship these workshops?
LB: Yeah, it was actually nice timing as a result of we had already scheduled our regional enablement summits, and it occurred to fall shortly after we enabled Highspot, so it was simply actually good timing for us.
I began designing these workshops by assessing the baseline familiarity with Digital Rooms. By our groups at PagerDuty. Wanting on the information from our former platform, over 90% of our present subject reps had used a Digital Room earlier than. Over 90% of individuals had by no means touched a Digital Room right here at PagerDuty.
That advised me that we actually wanted to start out with the basics, not simply the the best way to, but in addition the why. So the workshops started with an outline of what Digital Rooms are, why they matter, and the way they help each the customer journey and our inside promoting course of. From there, I moved into the sensible facet by introducing how reps may add customized content material or buyer particular content material into their private spots, in order that means it was able to drop right into a digital room every time it was wanted.
After which we lined off greatest practices, issues like content material curation and visible presentation, after which utilizing the metrics to information the additional engagement with their prospects. Subsequent, I walked via a demo of constructing a Room, however an important a part of this was once we allowed for hands-on observe in that Room.
It was a secure, non-customer dealing with atmosphere, so I actually wished to permit the sector to get their arms on the software. Discover it, make errors, ask questions, and get help from me and my staff that had been within the Room, and this was all earlier than they had been sending something to a buyer. No buyer was going to see this, so it was actually, actually a secure house for them.
I wrapped up with clear subsequent steps, like sending your first room after which reviewing engagement metrics. Partnering along with your supervisor to strategize these follow-ups, in order that means that they had a very clear plan of motion to go away the room with. I feel that that mixture of training, observe, and motion made our rollout really feel approachable and instantly relevant for the sector.
SS: I really like that. Properly, like I mentioned, as I’ve alluded to, you guys have seen a powerful adoption because the rollout with over 300 exterior shares of Digital Rooms. What have been your greatest practices for driving and sustaining excessive adoption?
LB: So an enormous a part of our adoption success got here right down to how we launched.
I imply, I simply talked about it, however we didn’t simply announce Digital Rooms and say have at it. We constructed a basis via our in-person coaching, and that allowed us to get the reps snug with the software in a hands-on and low strain setting. That they had time to observe and ask questions earlier than feeling the strain of, oh, that is going to get despatched to a buyer.
This was only a secure house for them to observe. We additionally emphasised why the rooms matter, not simply what they do, and framing them as instruments that help multi-threading personalization and deeper buyer engagement helped the reps perceive the strategic worth, and it actually linked with numerous what they’re scuffling with proper now.
So it made the software much more significant and has helped our adoption keep so much stickier. Since launch, we now have been engaged on retaining the momentum going by highlighting success tales, constructing a library of belongings to make the rooms simpler to construct and reinforcing greatest practices via supervisor enablement and follow-up coaching.
We’re actually attempting to make it as simple as doable to make use of whereas displaying the worth and celebrating our wins alongside the best way.
SS: I really like that. I feel celebrating these wins is completely essential. And together with driving excessive adoption, you’ve additionally seen actually nice buyer engagement. Are you able to inform us in regards to the influence Digital Rooms are having on the customer expertise?
LB: We’ve heard from our sellers that one of many greatest issues that prospects recognize in regards to the digital rooms is just the comfort of it. They’ve every part in a single place. As a substitute of getting to dig via tons of emails or hyperlinks that may have been shared or numerous slacks, they as a substitute, they simply get a centralized hub that’s clear and arranged and tailor-made precisely for his or her wants.
A terrific instance of this got here from certainly one of our reps after our cornerstone occasion known as PagerDuty on tour that we held this spring. This rep created a Digital Room as a follow-up, not only for the attendees that had been on the occasion, but in addition for patrons who weren’t capable of make it. It included highlights from the occasion, key assets and subsequent steps multi function single place.
It turned what may have been a really generic thanks e mail into one thing that was extra private and precious to these prospects, whether or not or not they attended the occasion. That form of customized follow-up retains the dialog going and it exhibits the shopper that we’re excited about their expertise and never simply our inside gross sales course of.
And since the room is dynamic, these reps can proceed to replace it as the connection evolves, which retains that engagement alive lengthy after the preliminary touchpoint. So from a purchaser expertise standpoint, Digital Rooms are serving to us transfer away from these transactional follow-up emails in the direction of a extra considerate relationship primarily based engagement.
SS: Very cool. And after seeing a few of these early wins, what are you hoping to attain subsequent as you proceed to evolve how your groups are leveraging Digital Rooms?
LB: Now that we’ve laid the groundwork and seen robust early adoption, our subsequent focus is on depth of utilization and consistency. We need to be sure that the sector continues to make use of the Digital Rooms, they keep them as a dwelling asset throughout their offers, and that they will proceed to make use of the engagement metrics to assist drive subsequent steps and actions.
We’re additionally engaged on constructing out extra examples which are business particular to make it even simpler for our reps to scale their efforts whereas driving customized experiences. That is along with highlighting good examples from the sector and the successes that they’ve seen, as a result of I feel it’s actually essential to have that peer-to-peer studying component and have that engagement inside the subject themselves.
From a measurement standpoint, we’re seeking to tie engagement with Digital Rooms to deal outcomes in order that we are able to higher perceive the place our reps are transferring the needle.
SS: How thrilling. Oh, final query for you, Lisa, and once more, I recognize you taking the time to speak us via all that you just guys have carried out at PagerDuty. I might love to know in the event you may give one piece of recommendation to different groups seeking to get began with Digital Rooms, what would it not be?
LB: My greatest piece of recommendation is to start out easy and make it relevant. Give attention to creating house in your groups to get arms on and provides them a secure atmosphere to discover the software.
Construct these templates that they will instantly use with their prospects and in addition present them how utilizing a Digital Room maps to their current workflows in order that it makes it as simple as doable for them to start out implementing the software of their day-to-day with out it stressing them out about simply one other software that they’ve to make use of. It’s one thing that they need to use to maintain their patrons engaged.
SS: I really like that recommendation. I completely love that. Properly, once more, Lisa, thanks a lot for becoming a member of us. I actually recognize your time at this time.
LB: Thanks. I recognize it.
SS: To our viewers, thanks for listening to this episode of the Win-Win podcast. Make sure to tune in subsequent time from our insights on how one can maximize enablement success with Highspot.
