Sales Enablement Leaders - MindTickle€¦ · 2 Create smarter content that actually helps reps close more deals; Provide reps with the right content that will help them sell to customers;

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The 7 Habits of

Highly EffectiveSales Enablement Leaders

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Create smarter content that actually helps reps close more deals;

Provide reps with the right content that will help them sell to customers;

Create opportunities for reps to practice their pitch and provide specific feedback;

Leverage technology to engage and re-energize sales teams at kickoffs;

Help managers to become better coaches by taking the complexity out of coaching;

Provide support to sales leaders through data and analysis; and

Continuously question, analyze and improve the sales process.

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In this Guide you will learn how to:

Maximize the impact of your sales enablement initiatives using MindTickle for Sales Readiness. Prepare your new hires to be sales ready and consistently keep them updated to close more deals. Build higher levels of engagement, increase knowledge retention, and drive the capabilities needed to engage and delight prospects and customers using tools available on both web and mobile, including polls, surveys, quizzes, assessments, courses, and missions.

to Maximize Your Sales Readiness

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Talk to a Sales Readiness Expert

http://offers.mindtickle.com/sales-readiness-software

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IntroductionWhy should I read this sales enablement guide?

Chapter 1: Create Smarter ContentMake content smart, not elaborateMake sure content is relevant to sales repsDeliver content to reps when they need it

Chapter 2: Provide Reps With Pertinent UpdatesKeep up with each new product updateStay one step ahead of your competitorsShare success storiesCommunicate effectively while in the field

Chapter 3: Create Opportunities to Practice PitchWho does role plays?When is the best time to practice?Best practice tips for implementing role playsUse role plays to share best practices

Chapter 4: Leverage Technology to Engage at KickoffsPre-kickoffDuring the eventBack at work

CONTENTSChapter 5: Help Managers Coach

Providing a structure to enable coachingProviding tools to measure and give actionable feedback

Chapter 6: Provide the Right NumbersAlign broad sales metrics with business objectivesProvide information on relative sales performanceGive granularity on sales activityCorrelate analytics with performance

Chapter 7: Enable Continuous Process ImprovementOwning the processMaking time for evaluationEncouraging continuous improvement

Conclusion:MindTickle to Maximize Your Sales PerformanceOutcomes

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INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTIONWhy should I read this sales enablement guide?

CHAPTER 1: Create Smarter Content

CHAPTER 2: Provide Reps With Pertinent Updates

CHAPTER 3: Create Opportunities to Practice Pitch

CHAPTER 4: Leverage Technology to Engage at Kickoffs

CHAPTER 5: Help Managers Coach

CHAPTER 6: Provide the Right Numbers

CHAPTER 7: Enable Continuous Process Improvement

CONCLUSION: MindTickle to Maximize

Your Sales Effectiveness

Why should I read this sales enablement guide?Sales has undergone a transformation in recent years. As most prospective customers have

access to more information the buying journey has shifted, and innovation has dramatically

changed the speed in which businesses can bring new products to market. When combined

together, these two factors demand a drastic change in the way businesses approach their

selling process.

It’s no longer enough to train reps once or twice a year on your product and industry, hand

them some collaterals and send them out to meet customers. They have to be constantly

on top of their game, up to date with the latest competitive insights, improving how they

articulate their pitch and always sales ready.

Sales enablement now plays a significant role in maintaining and improving the level of sales

readiness of your reps. Effective sales enablement helps sales reps close more deals, shorten

the sales cycle and improve their win rates. Even a small improvement in the sales process

or knowledge of your reps can have a huge impact on their performance and level of sales

readiness.

MindTickle has worked with some of the best sales enablement leaders in the business and

has learned how they enable their sales teams to be more effective. In this guide we’ll share

the 7 habits that effective sales enablement leaders demonstrate to ensure their sales reps

are always sales ready.

Is your sales team ready?

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CHAPTER 1CREATE SMARTER CONTENT

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Content is one of the cornerstones of sales enablement. But according to Forrester 90% of

the content produced by marketing for sales people isn’t used. So rather than waste time

creating content that will never be used, you can make the content smarter. Smart enough

to actually help your reps close more deals.

There are three ways that effective sales enablement leaders have made their content

smarter and had a demonstrable impact on sales performance. They have been able to

not only train and keep their sales teams up-to-date, but

also improve their productivity and skill-sets. Sales content

is no longer left sitting on a shelf to gather dust, it’s become

an integral part of their day-to-day sales operations, adding

value and helping their reps close more deals.



Make content smart, not elaborate

Make sure content is relevant to sales reps

Deliver content to reps when they need it








Your Sales Performance

Outcomes

90%

of content produced by marketing people for sales representatives isn’t used

Create smarter content

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Make content smart, not elaborateWhether you’re creating sales collaterals, training materials or product release

updates, quality is always better than quantity. Keep it short and sweet, providing

nuggets of information that a sales rep can really use to improve their pitch or deal

with pesky objections.

Take SevOne for example. They have tenured sales reps in the field who be spending

the majority of their time selling. By hosting content on-demand information is

accessible whenever a sales rep needs it. Product Marketing is no longer seen as a

bottleneck for knowledge because sales reps can now quickly and easily find content

whenever they want, and they don’t have to continually go to Product Marketing for

answers.

Save time by creating content with the tools you have readily available, like your phone or tablet. ProTip

Bite-sized content is more effective when providing updates and communication to field sales teams.ProTip

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Make content smart, not elaborateBeyond making information available when and where reps need it, SevOne has stopped

hosting regular, long WebEx calls and focused on creating two-minute field-update videos,

with short quizzes and content rating included. And the beauty of making this kind of

content snack-able is that some of it may only apply to 40% of the sales organization at

any given time. But for the other 60%, there will be a time when it does become relevant.

For the people that don’t need that information immediately, they know where to find the

video again, and can rewatch when it becomes more relevant.

Even though SevOne’s sales organization is more experienced than a typical sales team,

there was some resistance to the change at first. However, the team quickly saw the value

of having a centralized system for readiness and enablement. And having something that is

easily accessible for reps, as well as administrators and content creators is beneficial for

the organization.

Use gamification to encourage adoption and engagement with the content.ProTip

Use templates to create content so that it’s simple to create and easier to digest.ProTip














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the bestSALES ENABLEMENT CONTENT

with the sales reps’CREATEDis that which

has been

SPECIFIC NEEDS in mind

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Make sure content is relevant to sales repsThe best sales enablement content is that which has been created with the sales reps’

specific needs in mind. Sales reps appreciate value. Value that they can use to close deals.

One simple way this is done by AppDynamics is by segmenting their sales force. They

segment their sales reps by product category, customer segment, sales territory and

industry so they only send them relevant content. Product release updates are only sent

to reps that actually need that specific information, based on the segments they sell into,

reducing the noise and amount of communications they receive.

Managers are also able to identify skill gaps and coaching opportunities by reviewing the

analytics on MindTickle each week. They can see what an individual is viewing, find out if

some are skipping updates altogether, or even pressing pause halfway through. They then

use these analytics to identify what is (and is not) engaging their reps, and adjust the type

of content they’re creating to encourage adoption. Also once they know who’s not viewing

the content, they then map the sales readiness of the individual to their performance, and

provide additional training and coaching to those who need it.

Segment updates and communications so that each rep only receives information that is relevant to their role.ProTip

Use a data-driven approach to improve content and identify gaps in the sales readiness of individual employees.ProTip














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Make sure content is relevant to sales repsThere are several types of content that AppDynamics’ sales reps have found particularly

useful, but none beats their competitor updates. Their industry is dynamic; it’s not unusual

for their competitors (and themselves) to release new product features every single day. It’s

almost impossible for an individual sales rep to keep up to date on their own. So they have

put in place a weekly process to update reps on both competitor updates and their own

new product features.

AppDynamics monitors its competition regularly and sends out bite sized information

that helps its reps win deals. In addition, a template PowerPoint is also sent out weekly

that outlines their own new product features, benefits and competitive advantage. Each

rep receives this direct to their phone, and is up-to-date and ready to deal with customer

objections.

Identify the most important updates for your reps, and put in place a robust process to prioritize that content.ProTip














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Make sure content is relevant to sales repsThe company’s reps have also found value in hearing success stories and case studies

from their peers. So whenever a rep closes a particularly challenging deal, their manager

asks them to circulate a couple of slides on the MindTickle app outlining exactly how they

did it. The other reps love hearing the stories, usually picking up some great nuggets of information

that they can keep up their sleeve for their next deal. And of course it gives the successful rep the

right to highlight their success.

So that this content doesn’t clutter their reps’ inbox, these success stories, case studies,

updates and training materials, are stored on the app. Think of it like a library of best

practices and up-to-date information. By having a dedicated channel to push out mission

critical updates and information, AppDynamics’ sales reps value each and every update they

get from the sales enablement team. They can read them in their own time, even offline,

using bookmarks and enhanced search capability to find them easily.

Encourage peer-to-peer learning by sharing success stories and case studies.ProTip

Make sure content is kept in one place and is available to reps offline as well as on.ProTip














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Deliver content to reps when they need itCommunicating information to a large and distributed sales team, in a timely manner, was

a problem that Dabur knew all too well. While their centralized team had a standardized

process for streamlining offers each month, their process fell down when they tried to get

the offers out to the frontline quickly. Detailed excel spreadsheets cascaded through email

inboxes for at least two days, eventually making their way to the target audience. However

many didn’t bother reading it, choosing to sit on-hold with an internal call center to find out

the latest deals they could take to their customers.

Their sales leaders knew time cost money, so they searched for a better way. Using

MindTickle’s app, their centralized team now pushes notifications of new offers directly to

the sales reps’ phones without a delay. Reps can search and pull-up the information easily,

without having to search through their inbox.

The real power for Dabur’s sales management has been twofold. They have direct access to their

sales reps and can communicate with them when they need to. This allows them to turnaround

any communication quickly, maximizing their reps productivity. Secondly, they

use reports to monitor the readiness of each individual rep at any point in time, correlated

with their performance.














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When it comes to coaching, managers want to ensure that reps are delivering a consistent

pitch to customers. The best way to practice and perfect a pitch is by role-playing. Managers

send pitch requests to reps for use cases or new product features, and reps record

themselves practicing their pitch. Managers can then review the pitch and provide coaching.

Iterations can be made until the manager (and rep) are comfortable that they’ve perfected

the pitch and are selling that particular feature consistently.

The best pitches made by reps can even be saved to the content library, just like success

stories or training materials. Their peers can then learn from these or even provide each

other with constructive feedback to refine and improve their pitch.

Identify time crucial information and deliver it directly to your reps when they need it the most.ProTip

Improve the customer experience and sales reps’ skills by using role-plays to practice and perfect a consistent pitch.ProTip

Share best practices and examples from your A Players for all to learn from at a time that is convenient to them.ProTip














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CHAPTER 2PROVIDE REPS WITH PERTINENT UPDATES

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Keep up with each new product update

Share success stories

Communicate effectively while in the field








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Provide reps with pertinent updatesWith new product innovations from a sales rep’s company, their competitors, or some

other shift in the market, sales reps need to be ready for the unexpected. But it’s not as

simple as just expecting the unexpected, when selling complex products to well researched

customers, reps need to truly understand how each aspect of their product affects the

customer, and what their strengths are vis a vis their competitors. The sheer volume of

change and information can be overwhelming for even the best sales reps.

That’s why the best sales enablement managers know that, while a quarterly sales kickoff

may help refresh and recalibrate their reps, it’s not enough to keep them on top of their

game every day out in the field. They need the ongoing cadence of regular updates to keep

them up to date. And mobile is the best platform to do this, with high-performing sales reps

being 2 times more likely to use mobile sales solutions than low performers.

Use mobile platforms to push regular updates to reps when they need it.ProTip

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But there are some rules of thumb that we’ve found by watching the best in action.

Provide reps with pertinent updatesBut the real secret to effective sales enablement isn’t just updating your reps regularly or

throwing more information at them. It’s about making sure that they’re getting the right

content to help them sell. Information and coaching that will ensure they add value to

their conversations, articulate their value proposition confidently, and handle objections

effectively. Of course, irrespective of the type of content, it should be provided in bite

sized chunk so it’s easier for reps to consume on the go.

Depending on what industry or product category they’re playing in, your reps will need

different types of updates. While regular product updates are critical for dynamic high-

tech industries, success stories are important to help reps close the deal. Effective sales

enablement managers have worked out what the right balance of updates is for their reps.

Tailor the type and frequency of content pushed to reps to suit your industry and products.ProTip





Stay one step ahead of your competitors










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Important for companies that have highly complex products, they may have new features

and bug fixes rolled out every week. The technical landscape is moving fast, so your reps

need to understand exactly what features the product has right now and have insight into

what’s on the horizon.

Must include specific information that your reps need like:

• New product features explained to them using a template that will make it more

digestible. We suggest a 3 point template: Features, advantage and benefit;

• An outline of your product roadmap so they know what’s on the horizon when

they’re talking to customers; and

• Bug fix updates in short bites, so they don’t need to keep checking back to see what’s

been fixed.


For complex products, use templates to push out regular product updates that explain not only the benefits but also the features.ProTip















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Delivered by a combination of methods using the mobile app. AppDynamics has found the

following methods useful when rolling out product updates:

• Updates provided in short bites has helped their reps keep track of all the product

changes and understand the upcoming feature roll-outs;

• To help reps articulate how this will actually help a customer solve their specific

problem they use sales missions. These challenge their reps to articulate the value

proposition of a specific feature;

• The sales missions are also used for coaching purposes with their manager, who may

request iterations until they’re comfortable that the rep has got it right. And it can

also be shared with peers to obtain feedback;

• Presentations or documents with updates on the product roadmap are delivered

quarterly. These outline updates from the last quarter and what’s planned (with

expected timelines) to roll-out in the coming one. For each feature, information on

the feature, the competitive advantage and its benefit is provided.

Frequency of updates will depend on what’s being rolled out, but for companies like

AppDynamics, they’ve found that 3 times a week works well for product updates. For sales

missions, they usually roll one out every couple of weeks.

ProTipUse role plays frequently to help reps articulate product changes to customers and enable managers to coach on this regularly.

Keep up with each new product updateINTRODUCTIONWhy should I read this sales enablement guide?














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your competitor makes IS IMPORTANT

EVERY MOVE

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In highly competitive sectors, regular competitive updates is critical to sales readiness.ProTip

Stay one step ahead of your competitorsCurrent content is important for businesses that operate in highly competitive and fast-moving

sectors. In tech with niche areas and possibly only a few players, this is particularly relevant.

Every move a competitor makes is important, from who they’ve hired recently to what’s the

latest product integration they’ve implemented.

Content must include specific insights on:

• How the competitor’s new features could change the nature of the sales

conversations your reps are having, and how your product features compare;

• Strategic view of what your competitors are doing with their product roadmap and

how this changes the way your reps will need to be prepared;

• How to handle specific objections in relation to competitor features; and

• Marketing and leadership information, including strategic hires, marketing

campaigns and even unfortunate news like website hacks.















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• Updates to battle cards, that can be accessed by reps online or offline from their

mobile content library;

• Bite sized updates on competitive information that can be consumed on the go;

• Examples of objection handling scenarios, where your best reps demonstrate how

they do it;

• Sales missions that ask reps to practice their objection handling or articulate your

value proposition given the new information.

The frequency of updates will depend on the number of updates you receive. Its not

uncommon to see companies provide competitive insight updates 3 times a week in

highly competitive industries.

Provide competitive insights to reps in different ways, so that they can learn, practice and retain the information more readily. ProTip

Stay one step ahead of your competitorsContent should be delivered by several methods, depending on the information to be imparted:

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• What objections he faced and how he overcame these;

• How his pitch changed for different decisions makers, as he knew that what

resonates with a Sales Enablement Manager is different to what catches the interest

of a VP of Sales; and

• How the deal was finally closed, including what specific points he believed sold the

customer.

Share success storiesSuccess story content is important for companies like MindTickle as well., It’s where reps

get a better understanding of how to close deals. While product updates are important,

they’re not as time-critical as the rep’s ability to close a deal.

It must include insights and examples to bring the tactics used to life. For example, our

own reps found it invaluable to hear success stories like how one sales rep closed a deal

with Qualtrics. The salient points he included in his success story were:

Success stories provide useful nuggets of information to help reps learn how to successfully close a deal from each other.ProTip















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• A template that can be used over and over again. Depending on what works best

for your business this could be a short video filmed on the reps’ mobile phone or a

couple of slides. Using a template will make the information easier for reps to

digest;

• The successful rep can create a short video demonstrating how they handled a

difficult objection that can then be used as a training or reference tool; and

• The success stories can be stored in the mobile content library so reps can access

them whenever they need to.

Frequency of updates will depend on whether you’re an enterprise business that closes a

few big deals each quarter, or selling to SMBs and closing multiple deals each week. Not

every deal needs to be documented, but it’s good to capture the unusual or particularly

challenging ones. It’s also great to have different reps tell their success stories. This

creates a culture of knowledge sharing and camaraderie that’s invaluable.

Share success storiesSuccess stories should be delivered by:

Template the delivery of success stories so that it can be easily digested by reps on the go, and make them available to them to view again when they need it.ProTip















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And it should be delivered by a method that makes the most sense for the information

being imparted including:

• Larger documents, like pricing updates and product manuals for example, that can

be stored in the content library and searched easily when required;

• Bite sized updates for urgent information like product recalls;

• Periodic messages that outline new business information that may help them win

more deals; and

• Updates on flash sales update and month end offers that the sale rep can leverage

when talking to their sales partners.

Communicate effectively while in the fieldEffective field communication is important for businesses like Fast Moving Consumer Goods

companies (FMCGs) that have large volumes of products, with multiple marketing offers and

promotions. For example, one of our customers Dabur regularly sends marketing

communications to its sales reps from their central office.

Communications must include all the relevant information in a format that is well referenced

or is searchable by reps.

Field communications should be easily searchable so reps can find them when they are on the go.ProTip

Tailor the way field communications are delivered so that they can be read and accessed by reps anywhere.ProTip















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Communicate effectively while in the ieldThe frequency of updates will depend on the information being shared, but providing updates

on things like pricing and periodic promotions are best delivered direct to reps at the same

time each day, week or month, so they know when to look out for it.

Regardless of the type of business or industry you’re in, having the right communication

plan will help you build the right sales culture. To enable your reps in the most effective

way, trial and test updates until you find the right blend for them. You can work out what

product updates are mission critical for them and get them to share their success stories

(which isn’t always easy). It may not happen the first time, but by being data driven you

see what’s resonating with reps and what isn’t, to provide them with the most pertinent

information and ensure that your sales enablement is effective.

Trial and test how you deliver updates to reps to work out what is the most effective for your sales team.ProTip















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CHAPTER 3CREATE OPPORTUNITIES TO PRACTICE PITCH

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is toPERFECTING YOUR GAME

PRACTICEone of the keys to

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Who does role plays?

When is the best time to practice?

Best practice tips for implementing role plays

Use role plays to share best practices







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Whether your chosen sport is basketball, swimming or even chess, one of the keys to

perfecting your game is to practice.

Practice makes perfect.

We hear this from the moment we first try and kick a ball in the park, and it’s a mantra

that that best sales enablement managers use when they’re putting together a coaching

plan for sales reps. In order to give their reps the best opportunity to win, they have to

make sure that they have practiced their pitch, how to handle objections or even their

elevator speech.

And an important question that they need to answer before working out the best plan for

their reps is ‘what role does sales play in their business?’ Are they order takers or does

their sales team perform an evangelising role for the business. The answer to this will

then help them determine what their reps need. The type of practice, or role plays, that

they’ll need may differ if they’re ramping up a team of order takers to take on an advisory

role, or supporting evangelisers to get out there and spread the word most effectively.

Create opportunities to practice pitch

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Create opportunities to practice pitchJust like in sport, role plays allow reps to demonstrate they’re ready to get out in the field;

that they are capable of articulating their value proposition clearly and refine it to suit

the specific circumstances of a customer. After all, you wouldn’t send a rep out to meet a

valuable prospect if you weren’t sure they were ready. A poor customer experience due to

a bad pitch could cost the company a lot of lost revenue. Practice will ensure your reps

are on message, confident, and ready to handle anything that comes their way.

Enable reps to practice before they are in front of a prospect, so that you know they’re ready. ProTip















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There is some difference of opinion amongst sales leaders about whether role plays are

more useful to reps selling complex products or less complex products. For example,

when selling less complex products, how one articulates the value proposition can make

all the difference as to whether they can convince a prospect to get on board. So for them,

practicing this and obtaining feedback and coaching can make a real difference to their

ability to close deals.

The challenge with complex products is that the prospect may have several problems

that need to be solved. This can’t always be practiced in one role play session, but rather

requires multiple simulations over time to get it right.

It’s for this reason that effective sales enablement managers break down the process and

enable role plays for specific problems or new features, so that reps can master how to

deal with each problem.

Whether you’re selling highly complex or less technical products, role plays enable

managers to ensure that their reps have consistent messaging, which means less room

for error.


Don’t try and solve a complex problem in one role play. Break the issues down and practice and perfect each of them before putting it together.ProTip















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When is the best time to practice?To get the most out of role plays, good sales enablement leaders understand that they

and their efforts need to become part of how reps learn every day. It’s not just a single

event, but rather something that is used to help guide and improve their skills. There are

a few situations where they are used most effectively:

1. Onboarding

To ensure their reps start off with consistent messaging many sales managers incorporate

role play into the onboarding process. Using role plays at boot camps allows reps to

practice with and in front of each other, learning and improving their skills together.

Have new reps practice in front of each other when onboarding so they can learn from each other.ProTip















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2. Sales KickoffsJust like onboarding, sales kickoffs provide a good opportunity for reps to practice in

front of each other and obtain feedback from their peers. It also allows best practices to

be demonstrated and even recorded, ready to be stored in their best practice library for

future reference.

3. Ongoing training and coachingRole plays are also an important part of an effective sales enablement program on an

ongoing basis. They provide an opportunity for reps to practice new customer scenarios

or articulate the value proposition of a new feature for example. Isolating specific

situations for practice is most effective, such as responding to a specific objection or

conducting an initial meeting with a certain buyer type.

Whenever a new product feature is released or new market segment is targeted, role

plays can be used to practice the new or revised pitch until it’s ready for a customer.


Use role plays as part of a regular training program, particularly as new product features or competitive insights are rolled out. ProTip

Record and store the best role plays where reps can access and view them in their own time.ProTip















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Best practice tips for implementing role playsThere are some best practices that can create opportunity and help implement role plays within your

organization efficiently and effectively.

1. Break Down the Process

Rather than try and role play an entire customer meeting, it’s helpful to break role plays down into

bite sized pieces of the process, so that reps can focus on mastering one thing at a time. As a rule of

thumb role plays should have only one or two objectives so that participants can understand and

master the context of the problem.

Another way to simulate the various scenarios of a complex sales process is by breaking up the sales

process into multiple role plays, adding more information at each step in the process or inserting an

element such as an alert to a competitive activity. This method helps reps master one part of the

process before adding more complexity to it.

Break up the specific issues into multiple role plays, that can then be brought together as the rep masters each individual component.ProTip















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By enabling reps to watch how their peers handle different objections, say their elevator

pitch or articulate the product value proposition, they can continue their learning. It will

also free up management coaching time so they can focus on the other 20%.

3. Create Opportunities for Face to Face Feedback

For the 20% that should be handled in person, face to face feedback is best. This enables

follow-up reinforcement and for managers to ensure

consistency. The key to effective sales readiness here is to ensure that managers create

opportunities for this kind of face to face practice and feedback. Whether it’s scheduling in

a regular one on one chat in person, or even over video chat, making the time a priority is

critical to achieving the desired end result.

Best practice tips for implementing role plays2. Codify Using the 80/20 Rule

With sales reps out in the field much of the time, it can be difficult to role play face to face, but an

online environment can help scale role play practice. Using the 80/20 rule, sales enablement

managers usually find that the majority of their role plays are things that can be standardized, like the

most frequent objections and elevator pitch. Using a platform like MindTickle they can set up sales

missions that allow reps to video themselves role playing a specific situation. This video can then be

shared with their manager, or even peers, for coaching and feedback.

Codify the majority of role plays, by providing set activities and best practice examples, so reps can practice in their downtime.ProTip

Use face to face time to coach on the more complex issues and to reinforce best practices.ProTip















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4. Provide Actionable FeedbackFeedback is a great thing, but for it to be truly effective it needs to be really actionable so

that reps understand where and how to improve. Even if they’ve done a perfect role play,

explaining to reps what they did well and why it was so good enforces what they need to

continue doing. Sometimes it’s best to show rather than tell, so provide feedback by giving

a demonstration of how they could tweak their performance, or even better, share how

their peers do it so they can learn from them.

If managers use a platform like MindTickle to allocate the role plays, they can also use

data from the app to identify knowledge or application gaps and inform their feedback.

For example, they can see how many times the rep practiced the role play before

submitting the final one and compare their performance to that of their peers. This

technology enables managers to provide specific and pointed feedback to reps that can

be acted upon.


Always provide actionable feedback to reps so they can understand what they’ve done well and not so well.ProTip

Use data wherever possible to provide feedback and points of reference.ProTip















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If you have your entire team practicing role plays, video themselves and improving their

pitch and objection handling, you’ll soon have a fine stock of examples. These shouldn’t

be deleted as they are helpful training tools, both for the individual rep and the broader

team. After all, reps love to see how everyone else does it.

These role plays can be stored using an app like MindTickle, to create an online library

of best practices that are available to all reps to review and learn from whenever it suits

them.

What role plays are really about is providing sales reps with an opportunity to practice

their pitch. Whether they’re product is complex or not is less relevant than how the role

play is crafted and then used to make the most of it.


Enable peer-to-peer learning so reps can get ideas and tips from each other.ProTip

Create a library of best practices that can be accessed by reps whenever they need it.ProTip















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CHAPTER 4LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY TO

ENGAGE AT KICKOFFS

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to see how

REPSLOVE

DOES ITeveryone else

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There’s a lot riding on your sales kickoff. Motivating the team in order to meet and exceed

targets, engaging reps to help minimize churn, and the pressure to show return on this

large investment. While the tried and tested agenda of keynote speakers, leadership

presentations, training and some old-fashioned networking has stood the test of time,

there’s always room to make sure your reps get more out of each individual session with

some planning.

To make the most of their sales kickoff, highly effective sales enablement leaders know

that it needs to address the real challenges faced by their reps every day and engage

them in the business’ strategy to truly motivate and educate them. After all a heartfelt war

cry isn’t enough to compensate for any inherent inadequacies or lack of communication

within your team.

Technology can be leveraged to excite, recharge and up-skill reps before, during and after

the event, and ensure that your efforts have a lasting impact. Here are the best ideas

from customers and colleagues on how they leverage technology to plan, motivate and

educate their reps at their sales kickoff.

Leverage technology to engage at kickoffs






Pre-kickoff

During the event

Back at work






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While education and upskilling the sales team is one of the main objectives of a sales

kickoff, it does not have to be front and center of the entire event. The most successful

sales organizations focus their efforts on re-energizing their sales team.

The engagement process should start several weeks before the actual event, making the

entire sales team a stakeholder in the success of the kickoff. Here are a few ways you can

get them involved and better prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that are

available at the event:

• Get your business partners like Product, Marketing and of course Sales Enablement to

conduct surveys on what reps would like them to include in their sessions;

• Use surveys and polls to crowd-source ideas for social events, speaker sessions and

training sessions at the kickoff;

• Quizzes can be used to identify knowledge gaps to help guide the agenda for sessions;

• Pre-work can be pushed to their mobile app like little teasers, to build engagement

and set a baseline of knowledge; and

• Have some fun by running a competition where each rep submits a one minute video

of a success story that their peers can vote on.

Pre-kickoff

Engage reps before the kickoff begins using surveys, quizzes and even a competition to build the excitement. ProTip






Pre-kickoff

During the event

Back at work






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There are many ways to motivate and inspire reps during the event. One tried and

tested method is for the leaders to present their vision for the product and the industry,

providing context about the role of sales in the company’s success. Providing the

opportunity to build sales skills is another, especially when reps have already had input

into what is to be included.

Technology can be leveraged to further engage reps and improve knowledge adoption:

• Create opportunities for reps to learn from each other in education sessions. For

example, after presenting on new product features include a session where reps

can record themselves practicing how they would articulate these in their value

proposition. The best ones can then be stored in an online content library for future

reference;

• Collect feedback through surveys and polls straight after each session to check the

pulse of the event and find out what resonated and what didn’t. This will allow you to

make real-time changes to the event if necessary. For example, if you present your

new sales incentive at your kickoff, reps can use technology to express any concerns.

These can then be addressed in another session, rather than letting them go back out

in the field with hesitations or concerns;

During the event

Build your online content library by videoing best practice role plays and success stories throughout the kickoff and making these available afterwards.ProTip

Don’t wait until the kickoff is over to collect feedback. Get real-time feedback that can be actioned throughout the event using technology.ProTip






Pre-kickoff

During the event

Back at work






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• Set up a leaderboard for the education sessions that can be viewed on everyone’s

mobile, so they can track how they are performing compared to their peers;

• During your awards presentation, ask each winner to explain their achievement, and

in particular how they did it. For example, record the “best team player” explaining

how they collaborated with colleagues, giving specific examples. The pre-kickoff

competition can also be awarded here, and all these success stories can then be

shared on mobile platforms to inspire reps long after the kickoff is over.

During the event

Use quizzes and leaderboards to test knowledge and create some healthy competition during the kickoff.ProTip






Pre-kickoff

During the event

Back at work






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Once reps are back at work it’s important to augment the key messages and learnings from

the event. Technology is particularly helpful here, especially when reps are remotely located:

• Create audio or video clips of the talks and presentations and make these available to reps

on their mobile phones using an app like MindTickle. Small bites can be pushed to them to

reinforce key concepts or messages;

• Use quizzes to reinforce learnings from the sales kickoff and help increase adoption; and

• Enable reps to cement their relationships with discussion boards or other tools that allow

them to talk about issues and seek feedback from each other.

Sales kickoffs are a huge investment no matter what size your business is. This is why effective

sales enablement leaders continuously look at ways to improve their ROI. By leveraging

technology to engage your sales teams and get their buy-in before, during and after the event

you can ensure that deeper collaboration and the insights gained endure and can be built

upon in 6 months when the next kickoff comes around.

Back at work

Keep the momentum going post-kickoff by sending sound bites from the event to reps and quizzing them on their learnings.ProTip






Pre-kickoff

During the event

Back at work






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CHAPTER 5HELP MANAGERS COACH

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Help managers coachThe most effective sales enablement leaders play a supporting role for their sales managers

by helping them with tools, their time and other resources. This support allows sales

managers to focus on preparing their teams to perform their best.

With the state of play in sales changing at a frenetic pace, sales reps and managers need to

be constantly updated on new products, features, competitor insights and how to handle

objections. This information all needs to be integrated into the sales process so that it’s easily

accessible to reps. And managers need to be on top of it so that they can coach their reps on

how to use all this information effectively to fine tune their value proposition, pitches, and in

handling objections.

That’s where a good sales enablement manager steps in to support the sales managers;

enabling them with data, direction and extra support to coach their reps. And Harvard

Business Review notes, improved coaching will reflect positively not just in the top performing

reps, but particularly in the middle 60%. In fact, their performance can increase by up to 19%;

imagine what a difference that would make to achieving sales quota this year.

Put simply, good sales enablement managers take the complexity out of coaching for

managers, in turn making them better coaches. They do this in two ways:







Providing a structure to enable coaching

Providing tools to measure and give actionable feedback





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There are two main scenarios where coaching is most useful:

1. To help calibrate new knowledge, after reps have been trained on a new product feature

for example; and

2. To recalibrate the existing knowledge of reps.

For both of these scenarios, sales enablement can create a range of exercises that help the

sales manager set up a structured coaching program for individual reps. In fact 80% of sales

conversations can be codified, covering everything from elevator pitch practice to the most

common objections. For example, if a new product feature has been released, one of the top

reps can record themselves pitching the feature as a best practice tool, and the other reps

could then submit videos of themselves role playing their revised pitch.


Structure coaching programs using standardized exercises that reps can access and complete while they’re out on the field.ProTip













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The sales managers can allocate this to their whole team, or just the reps that are struggling

in a specific area. To help them identify who does require coaching in a specific area, updates

and quizzes can be pushed to reps that are designed to identify what information they know

and have retained.

By creating a coaching framework that has the flexibility to coach each rep individually, sales

enablement takes away the administrative burden (and mental stress) of creating tailored

coaching programs for each rep and provides a cadence to execute. Using a mobile-enabled

platform can also make it easier for sales managers to coach in their down time (and for reps

to be coached even when they’re not face to face with their manager).


Enable coaches to pick and choose who to allocate exercises to, so that they can tailor individual coaching programs. ProTip













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By being able coach effectively, managers will also see a measurable impact on the

number of reps achieving quota.

Source: CSO Insights, 2015 Sales Management Optimization Study













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Reps Achieving Quota

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Providing tools to measure and give actionable feedbackProviding the structure to facilitate coaching is only helpful if the manager has information

at their fingertips on what their reps actually need to be coached on. This is where the value

of a Sales Readiness platform really becomes apparent. By pushing a regular report to

managers, they can immediately see how each rep is responding to the content that they

receive from sales enablement and how sales ready they are. They can also identify what

requires additional exercises and coaching.

Ensure managers have access to data that helps them identify what their individual reps’ knowledge gaps are.ProTip













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Providing tools to measure and give actionable feedbackHere’s an example of the type of reports some of our clients share with their sales managers.

Sales RepsRegions Participation Completion

103 84% 86%

NE & SE REGIONS SUMMARY

DISTRIBUTION BY REGIONNortheast 1 | Chris Adams | March 2 - March 8, 2015

Content SharedSales Reps Participation Completion

54 85% 88%

Content Shared

Participation

Completion

Knowledge Score

March 2 - March 8, 2015













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By providing sales managers with structured coaching framework, data that helps them coach

more effectively and information that holds their reps accountable, good sales enablement

managers turn good sales managers into great coaches.

Proving tools to measure and giveactionable feedbackRather than taking a shot in the dark, sales managers can allocate specific tasks from the

structured coaching program set up by sales enablement and then provide actionable

feedback to their reps. For example, if a rep is struggling to understand the value of a new

product feature, a role play mission will allow managers to see what they’re doing and coach

on how to improve it.

Empowered sales enablement practitioners also partner with managers to hold their reps

accountable. For example, data can show managers who has or hasn’t been accessing

content. When this is overlaid with sales results, it can shine a light on those reps who use the

content, and how it impacts their results.

Some businesses see this connection as directly related and actually make accessing sales

enablement updates part of their reps’ KPIs. In turn this makes their reps accountable for not

just their quota, but also how they meet their quota.

Monitor which reps are accessing sales enablement tools and overlay this with sales results to determine if there is any correlation with performance.ProTip













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CHAPTER 6PROVIDE THE RIGHT NUMBERS

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While many have enabled their reps with new tools and information, sales enablement still

has a long way to go before they are empowered to fully support their charges according to

PwC. One area in particular where they can make a significant impact is by making sure sales

leaders have the right numbers to make actionable changes to their process, coaching or

training.

As stated by PwC:

“Sales enablement is a multifaceted function that should generate the analytics and

customer insights needed to develop successful sales strategies and build the capabilities

needed to engage fully with customers, as well as provide the necessary transactional and

operational support.”

With this end goal in mind, effective sales enablement managers provide support to sales

leaders through data and analysis. This not only assists them to identify how to sell more, it

provides an opportunity for sales enablement managers to gain the trust of their sales leaders

and develop a partnership focused on achieving their sales results. There are four areas where

sales enablement can make the biggest impact:

Provide the right numbers








Align broad sales metrics with business objectives

Provide information on relative sales performance

Give granularity on sales activity

Correlate analytics with performance




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While your KPIs may be aligned to your training initiatives, knowing how many reps have

completed their onboarding training won’t help your VP Sales hit their quota. Of course you

still need to meet your targets, but you don’t have to share these metrics with sales leaders.

Instead you can add value by providing them with metrics that are relevant to their targets

and overall business objectives.

For example, if your business is scaling rapidly, the sales onboarding program will be an

important factor in meeting new sales numbers. While training completion numbers won’t

show the revenue impact of your work, measuring how quickly the new reps ramped up and

achieved quota for the first time will.

Further, if you’re scaling you’ll be constantly bringing on board new batches of recruits, so by

undertaking cohort analysis (measuring one batch against another) you can see improvement

in the effectiveness of your onboarding program over time. This analysis can also demonstrate

that your onboarding program is reducing the ramp-up time and adding significant value to

the bottom line.


Ensure sales enablement metrics are aligned with business objectives, and correlate enablement achievements with these objectives. ProTip















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This analysis can also inform sales enablement content. For example, the best performing

team could share case studies or success stories on how they close a deal quicker.

Provide information on relative sales performanceInformation that benchmarks and compares team performance can be really insightful for

sales managers and may identify areas where they could improve. If you’re able to access

information across sales teams from your CRM or sales enablement platform, provide best

practice benchmarks, like win rates or average closing time.

Share best practices and performance across teams, to encourage shared learnings across all sales teams.ProTip















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Give granularity on sales activityIf you’re able to provide specific data that will identify opportunities for managers to

coach their reps, they’ll always be glad to see you. Tracking activity, like sales calls, demos

completed, time from demo to proposals or even what point in the process reps are losing

deals, are all data points that are telling indicators of sales performance and opportunities

for improvement. By extracting this data from your CRM or financial information, you can

help sales managers identify what parts of the sales process require additional enablement

or readiness initiatives, coaching or training.

Add value to sales managers by providing actionable data and analysis that can have a tangible impact on sales performance. ProTip















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One of the most important data sets to sales managers is seeing how each activity impacts

their team’s direct sales performance. For example, if you’re in a competitive environment, you

might find a correlation between those reps who look at competitor updates more frequently

than those that don’t. This demonstrates the value of your competitor updates enablement

activities and gives managers a specific action to coach their reps on and will positively impact

their close rates.

To conduct this analysis, you can extract data on what content reps are viewing from your

sales enablement software and overlay it with sales results. The patterns that emerge will be

fascinating to both you and your sales leaders.

Even if you’re not directly accountable to the sales team, sales enablement still has a

significant role to play in the performance of the sales team. In fact, the most effective sales

enablement managers have found that their empowerment within an organization has grown

as they’ve helped sales leaders achieve more with numbers.


Trial and test different hypotheses to identify patterns of behaviour and their impact on sales performance.ProTip















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CHAPTER 7ENABLE CONTINUOUS

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

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Enable continuous process improvementYou’ve spent painstaking hours, weeks and months designing and implementing a sales

enablement plan and the results are in. You’ve reduced the time it takes to ramp-up new hires

and make them productive by nearly a month and the sales managers are sitting up and

taking notice. It’s finally time to sit back and take a break, right. Wrong!

Sales readiness and enablement isn’t something you can design once, and then set and forget.

Things are changing every day; new features, new customers, new competitors, new

strategies. Before you’ve even seen the results from your new design it’s already out of date.

This is why effective sales enablement managers always enable continuous process

improvement. They aim to strive higher, set new benchmarks, and improve on their design.

This doesn’t mean that you have to redesign your entire process every other week, but making

time to continuously question, analyze and improve, can make all the difference to your sales

performance.









Owning the process

Making time for evaluation

Encouraging Continuous improvement



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Owning the processIt’s important to first understand the key players within the process that you want to evaluate

and improve, in particular the process owner and the outcome owner.

The process owner in sales enablement is almost invariably you, the sales enablement leader.

You have an overriding responsibility to ensure that the process fits within your company’s

policies, existing processes, and meets its objectives. Looking at the entire end to end sales

readiness process across a rep’s lifeline (from onboarding, ensuring consistent messaging,

field communication etc.), you understand what capabilities and tools are available and

required to enable reps at each stage. Essentially you are the process champion.

However, the process owner doesn’t always own the outcomes of their process. For example,

sales managers may be responsible for win rates, but it’s you who helps them achieve this. To

an outcome owner, the process is just a means to an end.

This distinction is important when considering continuous improvement. While identifying

the required outcomes for the process are part of the process owner’s role, you are merely

facilitators to achieve the end of objective. your evaluation process needs to look at a broad

range of factors that may impact that outcome, focusing on improving the actual process, not

just zeroing in on the outcomes.

Continuously looking at ways to improve the sales process will have an impact on outcomes over time. ProTip









Owning the process





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With the specific roles clarified, the real work starts. The key to continuous process

improvement is leveraging data to measure and identify what’s working and what’s not.

Now you know it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day, that’s why you need to schedule

time to evaluate your process. One effective way I’ve seen this done is by having a quarterly

review process. For 11 weeks you run your sales enablement initiatives and then for one week

a quarter you step back, review data, business information and identify ways to improve the

process.


Make process review and improvement a regular part of your work plan.ProTip









Owning the process





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So in that one week a quarter, what should you be looking for? Here’s some things that you

could evaluate to identify improvements to your sales enablement process:

• Undertake cohort analysis to see what trends are evolving. For example, if your business

is hiring a lot of new sales reps, look at how one month’s recruits compare to the next, in

terms of ramp-up speed, readiness levels etc. If it’s improving, what has been working and

how can that be improved upon?

• Take a look at whether there have been any changes to your organization’s sales

and product strategy. Has the business started pursuing enterprise prospects more

aggressively, when they previously focused on the SMB segment? What changes are

needed to enable sales reps to meet these customer’s needs.

• Review your competitors and identify if there have been any changes that may have

shifted your relative strengths and weaknesses. These then need to be communicated to

reps, and their readiness tested to ensure they understand this competitive intelligence

and how it may impact how they talk to buyers.

• If there have been major product releases this quarter, are reps up to speed with how

these are positioned and the messaging that should be communicated to buyers? Can the

product update process be improved so that reps are up to speed quicker?

By monitoring and analyzing this data you may find the areas where your sales enablement

can be improved or even changed. Even if you only make small changes, over time it will make

a significant improvement to your reps’ results and the bottom line of your business.


Question and analyze different aspects of the sales process regularly, to identify opportunities to improve the process.

ProTip









Owning the process





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While you may be the process owner, that doesn’t mean others can’t be involved in improving

the process with you. Effective sales enablement leaders find ways to share relevant data

and analysis with other stakeholders, like sales managers, and obtain their input into the

improvement process. After all those who use different parts of the process each day will

no doubt have ideas on how it can be improved upon. It’s particularly important for sales

managers to be consulted as they have day to day communication with their reps and can

provide insights on the coaching required to improve weaknesses. Surveys, polls and even

one on ones, where you request feedback, can all be helpful ways to encourage others to

share their ideas.

Process improvement is always a work in progress. What works today may not fit the

organization tomorrow, or some new tool or technology could transform a part of your

process overnight. The trick to effective sales enablement is to never stop looking for ways

to improve, that all add up to transformational sales process.

Encouraging continuous improvement

Get feedback regularly from users of the process, and share information, so that you can learn and identify new opportunities for improvement.

ProTip









Owning the process





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CONCLUSION

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With the learnings from this eBook you can now:

1. Help reps close more deals by creating better content and providing it to them when

they need it;

2. Enable reps to improve how they sell to customers leveraging product updates,

competitive insights, success stories and field communications;

3. Help reps practice their pitch and share best practices using role plays;

4. Ensure deeper collaboration and help reps gain enduring insights at your next sales

kickoff;

5. Create a coaching framework that provides sales managers with tools to make them

great coaches;

6. Demonstrate to sales leaders the impact of your sales enablement initiatives using data

and analysis; and

7. Evaluate and improve the sales process continuously over time.

MindTickle to maximize your sales effectiveness for better business You know that effective sales enablement will help your sales reps close more deals, shorten

their sales cycle and improve their win rates. Now, with these insights, you can improve the

sales process and demonstrate the huge impact sales enablement has had on the

performance and sales readiness of your reps.

Talk to a Sales Readiness Expert Who Can Help You Setup Your Process for Success











Outcomes

http://offers.mindtickle.com/sales-readiness-software

Documents

Sales Enablement Leaders - MindTickle€¦ · 2 Create smarter content that actually helps reps close more deals; Provide reps with the right content that will help them sell to customers;