Episode 63: Guiding Reps to Successfully Navigate Change

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

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

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

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

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

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

With out that data, we didn’t know what was working. So, we had been simply placing up every part we may on daily basis and hoping that our sellers had been clicking into it. 

SS: How have you ever been capable of resolve a few of these challenges that your group is dealing with since implementing Highspot?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After which we have now a sequence of enablement calls. We have now no less than one per week. Typically we have now three to 4, they could possibly be role-based calls. They could possibly be regional calls. They could possibly be gross sales expertise or course of calls. However each time we do a name, we promote. On these calls. Hey, what’s new in Highspot? We have now slides and we discuss what’s new and what they will discover. After which as quickly as that decision is over, we publish these hyperlinks to these calls and people decks proper there in Slack, and thru e-mail. So everyone is aware of if they should discover one thing, they go to Highspot. So, I believe that’s what drives the utilization for our sellers.

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

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

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

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

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

SS: Completely. And also you touched on this just a little bit, however as your small business has skilled quite a lot of change, how do you retain the performs up to date and optimized over time?

KR: Properly, I believe we’re fortunate in that we have now a product advertising group they usually have very particular people that personal every of these gross sales performs. In order that they are usually the individuals which might be within the know. In order that they know when there’s a new competitor. Perhaps there’s new objections which might be popping out. They know when, you realize, new personas, they know there’s new updates to our merchandise.

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

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

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

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

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

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

SS: How has your utilization of Highspot helped you affect a few of these metrics, and do you’ve gotten any wins you’ll be able to share? 

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

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

SS: Superb. Chris, since we have now simply turned over to a brand new 12 months, as a closing query for you, trying on the 12 months forward, what are a few of your group’s high priorities, and the way do you propose to leverage Highspot that can assist you obtain these?

KR: Yeah, I might say Highspot is essential. As we talked about, we had been acquired by an organization in September. A number of the organizations, not all, have gone via what we name switch of employment. So a few of us are literally staff of that firm. That will get to be tough when not your entire staff are. So we’ve acquired to ensure that everyone’s on the identical web page. Once more, that’s why we put every part on Highspot that’s why we’ve stood up this web page specifically about what’s taking place, what’s coming, what’s new. However we’re about to go do a switch of enterprise. Meaning everyone within the firm will probably be staff.

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

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

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

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

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