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 traits within the office and the way to navigate them efficiently.

Right here to debate this matter is Gail Behun, the director of income enablement at LivePerson. Thanks for becoming a member of us, Gail. I’d love so that you can inform us about your self, your background, and your function.

Gail Behun: Thanks for having me. So I’ve been right here at LivePerson solely a few months, however I’ve been in income enablement for about ten years. I began off as a vendor and have become a gross sales chief, after which actually discovered the impression of gross sales enablement to be so highly effective on the whole org. And I’m extremely enthusiastic about empowering salespeople and related groups to be as environment friendly, and as efficient as doable.

SS: I like that. On that be aware, I believe one of many issues that stood out on LinkedIn, you additionally talked about your ardour is round constructing actually scalable and repeatable gross sales success. In your opinion, what function does enablement play in driving that for the enterprise?

GB: I believe we have now to be the cheerleaders for scalable and repeatable. I believe our gross sales leaders are superb at fixing particular person issues, particular person quota points, and particular person offers, however enablement is properly suited to look large image on the processes and instruments that we have now in place that make that course of repeatable. Income enablement has the chance to actually streamline the effectiveness of our sellers via our instruments, our speak tracks, and our coaching. And we’re uniquely positioned to try this as a result of we’re not concerned in a deal. We’re concerned in each deal on some degree.

SS:  Completely. Now, I do know you all simply applied Highspot, however previous to that, your workforce had a number of separate instruments to ship enablement applications. What have been a number of the challenges that your group confronted with that strategy?

GB: I believe each group is confronted with the dreaded G-drive scope creep, the place there are ten variations of this, and 9 variations of this, and one lives on this drive, and this rep has downloaded the deck, and now they’re making adjustments on their very own, and there simply wasn’t tight governance. And as organizations grew, particularly radically throughout COVID, it simply obtained uncontrolled.

Having a unified device turned essential as we and loads of different firms have taken a slowdown in hiring and a possibility to reset our techniques transferring ahead.

SS: Completely. Out of your perspective, how does having a unified enablement platform allow you to to beat a number of the challenges to your earlier level round having the ability to drive scalable and repeatable gross sales success?

GB:  My goodness, the period of time sellers spend not promoting is upwards of 70%. It’s simply loopy the period of time that they spend getting offers via the method and in search of supplies and the place we are able to reduce that point down and make them extra environment friendly. Offers them that point again to be extra personalized of their engagements with their clients and be capable of broaden their enterprise choices and worth fairly than working via cumbersome techniques. And so a single supply of reality is vital to that. And that’s what a unified tech stack supplies. It was one of many greatest causes for us transferring to Highspot, however the greater cause is the client’s expertise and the Digital Gross sales Rooms, and having these each below one firm umbrella made it a win for us.

SS: I like that. Now, one other key cause your workforce determined to implement Highspot was to strengthen the worth of enablement as actually a strategic tenant for the enterprise. What are a number of the strategic initiatives that enablement helps at LivePerson and the way will you leverage Highspot to assist?

GB: Our workforce is comparatively new. LivePerson went via an enablement reset. As a result of a lot of our gross sales movement is grounded within the enlargement part, a lot of our initiatives this yr are round account enlargement. And, as I stated, Digital Gross sales Rooms are a recreation changer in relation to interacting with present clients and displaying ongoing worth.

And so the continued worth metric is extremely essential for us as we double down on that aspect of our enterprise. It additionally helps us dramatically whenever you’re speaking about multi-threading and stepping into further stakeholders as a result of with present accounts it’s very straightforward to have one nice champion however not go deeper than that, and Digital Gross sales Rooms and the engagements we have now via Highspot will permit us to have extra highly effective multi-threading and extra alternatives to open extra doorways inside our consumer account.

SS: I like that. I believe that’s an important initiative and a manner for Highspot to assist help that. Now, I do know one in all your targets in implementing Highspot was additionally to make sure a extremely sturdy alignment with advertising. What are a few of your greatest practices for collaborating with advertising and the way are you driving sturdy alignment via Highspot?

GB: Yeah, I don’t suppose there’s something extra essential than ensuring our sellers are up on these advertising messages as a result of these advertising messages, that’s what advertising is speaking to our accounts and our clients out within the area about, it’s what we’re identified for being thought leaders: having nice analytics and data. So, having a single level for that info inside Highspot is extremely essential.

Our advertising workforce and our area advertising workforce every have their very own sections: area advertising, particularly as a result of we do a ton of customer-facing occasions, and so for them to prepare that for the entire sellers to see the place they’re going to be out dwell and in particular person, “What sort of occasions? What are the speaking factors?” Turn out to be vital as properly. Sellers, even earlier than pre-COVID once we have been all at residence, however particularly now, we have now to have the ability to inform one another’s tales. And so advertising is nice at accumulating these tales. They’re telling buyer tales via case research. Enablement, we’re telling buyer tales via what we name win tales, that are extra behind the scenes.

So we’re creating win tales that permit us interview a vendor, inform the great, dangerous, the ugly, after which we are able to tie these to these case research. And so it provides the sellers the data they should exit to market, but additionally to have the conversations behind the scenes.

SS: Implausible. Now, as we talked about early on, you’ve began the work of creating an important basis in your implementation, and I do know that you simply’ve simply launched Highspot to your groups. What have been a few of your greatest practices to make sure a profitable launch? And the way are you measuring success?

GB: We had a tremendous CSM implementation supervisor on the Highspot facet who gave us some nice recommendation, and we did loads of ramp-up actions. We had a cheerleading squad with inside leaders who have been making movies that have been hosted on the Highspot web page, speaking to our potential customers, saying, “Right here’s what you’re going to like about it, listed here are some methods you’re going to make use of it.”

We wrangled in our frontline managers and our leaders to talk to why we made this transfer, ensuring that they didn’t really feel prefer it was simply one other piece of software program we bought, and that this was vital to the best way that they did their jobs. Our senior challenge supervisor on the challenge gamified an excessive amount of the onboarding.

And so you might get factors for various actions and she or he would publish out the winners. And we’re not performed. We’re going to proceed to share these movies over the subsequent couple of weeks. We launched Highspot on the similar time, proper earlier than our gross sales kickoff. And so our gross sales kickoff pre-work was really to create a video and host it on Highspot.

I obtained all people in and utilizing the device. And now we have now these nice movies folks have made that we’re scoring and we’re going to provide prizes out over the subsequent couple of weeks. So we’re going to proceed to hype this. We’re going to do some, sharing and awards for an important Digital Gross sales Room or an important engagement that someone’s utilized the positioning for, to indicate these greatest practices.

After which persevering with schooling. We simply need to proceed to have workplace hours, see what sort of questions persons are asking, and ensure the positioning is answering these in order that we are able to make sure that we proceed to construct it out. We’ve launched it, however actually, I believe we’re in all probability 30 to 40 % performed, which means we have now much more to do, and that subsequent part goes to be pushed by extra interactive content material, extra video content material, and extra user-driven content material as they push us so as to add and make extra beneficial for the positioning.

SS: And one space specifically, since you’ve talked about it early on within the dialog the place I do know you purpose to attain sturdy adoption is in using digital rooms. As you’ve talked about, it’s a good way to get deeper into the accounts that your workforce’s going after. How do you intend on driving adoption of Digital Rooms along with your revenue-facing groups?

GB: That’s an important query. Partially by cheerleading it via their front-line managers, ensuring their front-line managers are asking, Hey, right here’s this deal you’ve in play. Let’s take a look at your Digital Gross sales Room. Let’s take a look at it collectively. Let’s see the place you’re getting engagement. As I stated, the post-sale movement is an enormous a part of what we do.

So working with our CSMs. Have you ever launched a room? What’s the engagement you’re getting? Not excellent earlier than your QBR, however on an annual foundation. And so actually working with our frontline managers to be our champions in these areas, I believe goes to be the largest push. After which once more, showcasing good successes, having the ability to present, “Hey, this account has a really excessive degree of utilization of their room.”

We’ve obtained a large number of downloads. We’re seeing loads of a number of folks logging in and present that as a greatest case in order that we are able to proceed to say, “Hey, don’t you need to have that engagement to your accounts?”

SS:  I like that. Now, once more, I do know that LivePerson is simply firstly of its enablement journey with Highspot, however what are a few of your key targets for enablement within the yr forward? And the way do you intend to leverage Highspot that can assist you get there?

GB: One in every of our key targets I’ll converse to is simply what I might name a model unification. LivePerson went via loads of twists and turns over the past couple of years. And so having a powerful unified message goes to be extremely essential.

So working with our advertising workforce to have an important unified message for our model to have the ability to gamify that via some gross sales contests the place we are able to have folks add elevator pitches and perspective decks and issues like that, the place they’re speaking to the model, they’re saying the phrases that we’d like them to say in the best way that we’d like them to say it will be one in all our key targets. Engagement inside our accounts going deeper and wider, and we’ll be capable of measure that via the Digital Gross sales Rooms and the adoption in these areas. After which account retention is one in all our greatest targets – retention and enlargement. And so once more, we’re pushing residence on the bottom of utilization, whether or not it’s for QBRs and past, to ensure that we have now as a lot engagement as doable year-round.

So how will we ensure that a Digital Gross sales Room isn’t opened after which we have now a consumer login, they do their QBR after which they don’t take a look at it for six, seven months? So, constant engagement goes to be essential as a result of that’s the movement of promoting twelve months a yr is what makes a distinction. Once you come as much as renewal with an account, have you ever added worth all yr? And utilizing these rooms goes to allow us to see that we’re giving that worth out to our clients in a tangible manner.

SS: I like that. Gail, thanks a lot for becoming a member of us right this moment. I actually recognize the time.

GB: Thanks.

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