In our latest analysis examine, 100% of gross sales leaders agreed that you just want each an efficient instrument and technique to reach enablement. So, how will you maximize the influence of enablement at your group with an efficient platform and technique?
Shawnna Sumaoang: Hello and welcome to the Win Win Podcast. I’m your host, Shawnna Sumaoang. Be a part of us as we dive into altering traits within the office and methods to navigate them efficiently. Right here to debate this subject is Dustin Day, senior supervisor of worldwide gross sales enablement at Coursera. Thanks for becoming a member of, Dustin! I’d love so that you can inform us about your self, your background, and your function.
Dustin Day: Thanks, Shawnna. My identify is Dustin and I’m on the Coursera World Gross sales Enablement group. I’ve been with Coursera for a bit of bit over a 12 months now specializing in every thing from supervisor enablement, product enablement, go-to-market motions, and supporting the Highspot initiative and the way we place it, and the way we develop it with the group.
My background, I grew up in an organization referred to as CEB, which is now referred to as Gartner, specializing in L&D analysis, which is actually the place I began to get my gross sales help background. I went into schooling publishing, now branded EdTech at present, and centered on the finance and technique facet of gross sales. Then I went to a company named Challenger, which is the place I labored with world corporations supporting their gross sales management, and gross sales enablement group across the problem of gross sales methodology.
That’s the place I obtained excited about extra of the angle of gross sales enablement and turning into extra of the practitioner versus the thought management sort of execution aspect of gross sales methodology. I’m joyful to be right here, Shawnna, and looking out ahead to our dialog.
SS: I’m excited to have you ever right here as properly, Dustin, and it seems like you might have an outstanding background to reply our first query, which I’d love to start out with. What does good enablement appear to be in your opinion? In different phrases, what are among the key parts of an efficient enablement technique?
DD: I believe that is the large query within the trade at present and I believe it’s one which people like myself, don’t battle with, however are always attempting to reimagine. Traditionally, in the event you checked out gross sales enablement, it grew out of a pure gross sales L&D movement, pure coaching, getting in entrance of the sphere, and coaching them on the abilities which are mandatory for them to succeed.
That’s nonetheless an enormous element of gross sales enablement, however being on the heart of the way you help the group and the rising nature of gross sales, we now have began to see gross sales enablement develop into trying on the gross sales cycle and looking for efficiencies inside our gross sales cycle, the shopping for course of and attempting to determine the shopping for course of and construct these play playing cards to help the sphere and the way they have interaction with and the client journey.
As gross sales enablement evolves, I believe there nonetheless must be that blend of formal gross sales coaching or skill-building workout routines if you’d like a place like that, but additionally how will we get the sphere to be geared up for the long run? This digital atmosphere has modified the character of gross sales, modified the character of the client, and organizations like ours and our gross sales pressure are always studying methods to navigate that as the client has gotten smarter and began to evolve quicker than we’ve been capable of evolve from a industrial engine perspective.
SS: I like that. We talked a bit of bit about once you joined Coursera, however I do know it was proper firstly of the group’s partnership with Highspot. Inform us a bit of bit in regards to the enablement journey that Coursera has been on because you carried out Highspot, and the way has your enablement technique advanced from then till now?
DD: Within the unique use case for Highspot, we had been internet hosting all of our supplies on a central intranet website, and that naturally created a ton of ache factors by way of discovering content material, participating with content material, and proactively offering suggestions for us to maintain issues recent. There have been a whole lot of inefficiencies inbuilt simply the pure industrial help engine.
As we checked out Highspot, the unique use case was let’s get our content material onto Highspot, get it organized in a method that at the least helps the group construct and have these sources and the collateral obtainable to them at present. That was stage one. I believe stage two has primarily outlined our gross sales enablement technique extra broadly, which is that we created extra ache factors by simply importing sources. We began to say, how will we manage, create that suggestions loop and primarily assist our advertising group skip a whole lot of steps of their course of because it pertains to constructing content material and getting content material onto the platform?
As we developed that technique and began to do the change administration with advertising and the gross sales group, getting extra content material collateral in entrance of them, they created a further ache level, which was governance. Our technique and our issues have grown in a great way. We’ve created ache factors that we would have liked to unravel, however that’s good as a result of we aren’t doing what we initially did at present.
What we did in Q2, our group primarily constructed a content material governance technique that we now keep on a quarterly foundation the place we archive items of content material primarily based on the factors which are actually vital to us because it pertains to content material freshness. We begin to monitor these KPIs and report on these KPIs as a part of displaying the worth in gross sales enablement. We’ve began to construct this governance construction to make it possible for that content material help engine is operating on all cylinders.
Our advertising group understands utilization and we’re persevering with to develop that as we begin to construct out our This fall and our subsequent 12 months technique, which is gross sales play specifics. Organizing every thing in a single central spot so no one has to go discover issues and seek for issues in random areas, but additionally as we construct these gross sales performs specializing in getting stronger at, it’s in all probability one of the simplest ways to say it, our buyer personas. Additionally, the outreach Salesforce experiences that we are able to put into one place custom-built for the AE. The What to Know part has every thing that you must find out about content material. We’re a content material firm. Anytime we work with a buyer, there’s a whole lot of transferring items in our product.
Then additionally what to indicate, so clearly breaking down that gross sales course of facet and ensuring that the group can see earlier than the assembly, in the course of the assembly, and after the assembly, or if not management, listed below are the issues I needs to be bringing to our buyer. That’s how our technique has advanced. Our KPIs have moved with it, and our ache factors have advanced in a great way as properly and we’ve sort of continued to evolve the technique.
SS: I like that. It does sound such as you guys are transferring up that maturity curve. Implausible work there. I positively need to come again and revisit the work that you just guys are doing on Performs in just a bit bit, however to assist context that too for the viewers, what had been among the key enterprise challenges that Highspot helped resolve at Coursera?
DD: First it’s simply content material. We have now a really giant advertising group at Coursera and in the event you’re acquainted with the Coursera go-to-market, or who we’re, we now have a really giant client B2C income stream. It’s the place most of our income comes from. We have now a whole lot of B2C entrepreneurs that create a whole lot of B2C sort of content material and collateral.
As we began to scrub issues up, among the unique ache factors had been how will we get ourselves organized, get a few of that extra B2B content material entrance and heart, take away the noise from a content material perspective from the peripherals, and get the group centered. That was the unique ache level. It was a pure play of we’re unorganized from a content material group perspective. We have to put some rigor behind it as we mature as a enterprise.
We did that. I believe we’re a 12 months and a half in at this level. As we proceed to construct that muscle, we really feel like we’re rising in our maturity and the issues and the KPIs have began to develop with that.
SS: How has Highspot helped you resolve a few of these challenges?
DD: Effectively, initially, we love to arrange our content material. We haven’t been capable of manage it successfully up to now, and so we’re capable of do two issues. One was tagging our content material to make it simpler for the rep to navigate Highspot rapidly. Whereas it’s a nice platform for us in gross sales enablement and our colleagues in advertising, we actually don’t need our subject spending 20 to half-hour anytime they’re within the system to seek out what they want.
The tagging and getting the content material entrance and heart have been tremendous useful for us to measure the utilization of our content material as properly. We have now a lot like what are folks utilizing, why they use it, and the way we may be smarter in creating or constructing off of content material that has been wildly profitable versus simply placing it there and letting it sit underutilized.
In order that’s one use case. The opposite use case, which we’ll discuss a bit of bit is from a gross sales play group. We’re additionally about to pilot our first publication launch right here this week. From an enterprise perspective, we’re going to be consolidating the entire communication channels utilizing the Highspot performance to sort of pitch it out to the group. We’re going to start out to have a look at utilization, begin to have a look at click-through charges, and begin to use the instrument virtually like a promoting instrument internally to have interaction with the sphere and begin to measure how we are able to higher help the sphere.
SS: I like that. Really, not too long ago your group additionally expanded to make use of Highspot to incorporate Coaching and Teaching capabilities. What was the impetus for making the change to put money into a unified enablement platform?
DD: Initially we had been utilizing Lessonly. That initially began with onboarding as a part of our onboarding studying paths. We had been having new hires go into Lessonly after which be pushed to content material and help supplies on Highspot. It simply felt sort of like a bizarre person expertise. As we began to evaluate that, the Highspot account administration group began to speak to us in regards to the studying platform element, we decided to have that consolidated platform the place on the finish of the day, merely mentioned, it’s one place versus many locations.
I believe significantly in gross sales enablement, there are a ton of latest platforms and merchandise and help instruments on the market. I’ve even seen Slack beginning to get into sure issues. Microsoft Groups has a content material group facet to it. For us, it actually simplified the one-stop store for our group to go to because it pertains to their studying paths, because it pertains to new go-to-market builds, as once we went to upskill, reskill the group we’ve been ready to make use of among the recording performance, have managers hear and log out, construct greatest follow pages round what a superb pitch appears like and begin to flex that muscle a bit of bit higher than we had previously.
It additionally aligns with our content material. We will simply say, that is content material primary. There’s an ideal greatest follow pitch from a latest coaching and we are able to hyperlink to that as properly. It’s actually helped resolve a whole lot of these actually minor however tedious steps that our subject must take previous to getting something carried out or simply to navigate any kind of system we now have.
SS: I like that you just guys are taking that unified method, although, as a result of it makes it much more seamless in your reps, and clearly we need to be the place your reps are to make them extra productive. One other method that you just’re excited about it from a unified platform perspective and also you’ve touched on this a bit of bit, so I’d like to drill in, is that massive initiative across the gross sales performs aligned to coaching. Are you able to inform us about this initiative and why it’s a spotlight in your group?
DD: Traditionally we now have constructed Highspot pages primarily in a silo, which is right here’s the one-stop store for simply all items of collateral because it pertains to an academy for instance. We obtained suggestions that, oh, how do I navigate it? The place do I’m going? What we did is we’ve taken the construction that Highspot offers, which is what to know, say, and present, and we’ve taken that and actually run with it. We manage each one among our gross sales performs now round a really particular product suite.
We begin with what to know, which is usually one thing across the buyer persona, or we might separate it out, relying on who the client persona is. The shopper persona is a deeper dive from a Coursera perspective into the content material, and the demo environments that we now have associated to that. Then we go into what to say, which is rather more of that, that go-to-market narrative, objections, key speaking factors, use instances, for instance, that we are able to communicate to.
Then what to say, and that’s really helped our group actually on the finish of the day, manage their ideas and know methods to rapidly navigate. One other output of that’s now we manage our subject coaching round that very same construction. It’s given us a brand new construction to have interaction with the sphere from a dwell digital coaching perspective once we’re speaking about extra of our go-to-market motions versus skill-based motions.
From a product go-to-market movement, we carry up the gross sales play and we work via the gross sales play because the construction of our subject coaching. That’s additionally been useful. Gross sales play will proceed to evolve and we’ll proceed to construct on it, nevertheless it’s laser-focused on, it’s obtained us, from a go-to-market perspective, rather more deliberate than I believe we had been doing previously.
I believe that’s been an unbelievable output, and one which we’re beginning to see the sphere suggestions be, that is nice, and the questions are extra centered on very particular product nuances and or speak tracks versus the place is that this hosted. How will we navigate this? It’s a lot much less technical highspot questions and extra of what we hope they’re asking questions on.
SS: I like that. You guys are already seeing some wonderful outcomes. I imply, you guys have pushed a 77 % enhance in play adoption. How did you successfully launch this initiative to your gross sales groups? And perhaps what are among the outcomes that you just’ve seen to this point?
DD: We piloted it with a launch in all probability again in July or August 2023. As a part of that, it was a brand new movement and it required change administration. We used to only, for our Tier 2 and Tier 3 launches, we used to only undergo Slack and or e-mail channels to get the communication out, hyperlink to the Highspot foremost web page for our vertical, after which say, listed below are the hyperlinks that you must be efficient.
What we did is we launched coaching that was designed, sure, to equip the sphere but additionally an introduction to the Highspot web page itself. Now it’s simply pure conduct change motions. Now we carry it up always for any new gross sales play launch. We break it down in our communications. Right here’s your know, say, present. In any coaching, we’ve been following up with coaching greater than we now have previously to assist sort of reinforce that know, say, present. It’s simply sort of hammering the nail over and over and over in a productive method for the sphere.
From our perspective, we’re additionally driving that conduct change by making it entrance and heart as that is the way in which we’re going to function. A Little carrot and stick method, however from our perspective, it was a conduct change play and a part of that conduct change is getting folks purchased in that that is how we’re going to function firstly, after which hopefully they see the worth they usually see the advantages that they get out of it.
SS: Now you guys have additionally simply seen some unbelievable traction with Highspot general. I believe you guys have 85 % recurring utilization. What are a few of your greatest practices for driving adoption and the way has having a unified platform helped?
DD: This will likely ache some gross sales enablement practitioners however early on, we used Google Suite for Gmail and Docs and Sheets, and each time an announcement would exit, that colleague would share a Google Doc. That is the hyperlink to the Google Doc, and within the title, it will say, make a duplicate. You have got this plethora of random copies on the market to the group.
One of many issues that we do always day in and time out to anyone that we ever see ship communications is that if they don’t share the Highspot hyperlink to the useful resource, we all the time actually will observe up and say, hey, advocate that you just share the Highspot hyperlink as an alternative. Right here’s the rationale why. We will monitor if persons are utilizing it, seeing it, clicking on it, et cetera. We simply should get the hyperlinks for Highspot on the market as the only supply of reality.
The opposite bit is from a recurring use perspective, we now have began to leverage Highspot for extra of our data administration aspect of the aisle. That is positively a piece in progress and we’re persevering with to consider and attempting to know the use instances, however we’re constructing playbooks for our roles. As a part of constructing playbooks for our roles, we’re going to host that playbook on Highspot in a data administration heart. Once more, with hyperlinks out into the totally different sources which are on Highspot to assist these roles execute.
It’s recognized areas that we don’t have very tangible help in now. It helps us prioritize what we have to construct and once we construct these, we construct them in Highspot. Reoccurring makes use of really are extra of a muscle that we have to have from a gross sales enablement perspective versus the sphere. If every thing is in there organized and it’s the only supply of reality, as you talked about, the unified platform, if that’s the case, they’ve actually no selection however to go in to get the knowledge, to get the small print, to get the content material that they want.
SS: I like that philosophy and I like that you just guys are driving that to alter the conduct of your subject groups. Now, you might have a whole lot of massive plans for evolving Highspot going ahead. Are you able to inform us extra about your imaginative and prescient for persevering with to evolve your enablement and the way you intend to leverage Highspot to assist?
DD: There are 4 key initiatives that we’re persevering with to consider for some and probe for others in 2024. The primary one on the forefront is the fixed governance muscle. We do quarterly governance, like sprints we’re calling them, the place we determine the content material that hasn’t met the factors for freshness. We get that content material in entrance of our product advertising and buyer advertising groups for them to vet if it must be there. Then an archiving dash within the latter half of the quarter and measure within the following quarter. Always constructing in that muscle. That’s a precedence on the finish of the day that we can not overlook about, however we are able to’t deprioritize as we do every thing else.
The opposite three issues I discussed briefly, which is getting smarter about our gross sales performs. How will we proceed to construct these and make them simpler on a yearly foundation? As we’re taking a look at our yearly technique, what are these gross sales performs, these go-to-market priorities that we now have to hit on, and the way can we construct out a gross sales place for that?
It’s giving us extra face time to be candid with senior gross sales leaders, and gross sales executives to incorporate us in these conversations as a result of they know to execute on that, they’re going to want our group’s help across the gross sales performs. Candidly there’s like a quid professional quo in that method and that’s good.
The third piece is the data administration facet of it. Constructing that data administration base, that’s going to be an enormous precedence. We’re nonetheless studying and adapting to that. The fourth piece, which we haven’t explored but, however I do know Highspot has a whole lot of nice analysis round, is salerooms. That single supply of reality, the place you may see how the client interacts with the content material, what they’re clicking on, it’s extra customer-facing.
There’s an enormous alternative for us to have that extra customer-facing digital rooms method. How can we construct that into our motions at present? I believe we now have to get the gross sales play proper, and we now have to get the governance proper, so folks can belief the content material, they’ll belief the supply of the content material. The digital rooms are sort of the subsequent step in our maturity to make sure that we are able to get analytics and real-time suggestions from buyer engagement.
SS: Completely. I’ve to say I like the evolution of digital gross sales rooms and the visibility it offers you into what is actually resonating together with your purchaser on the finish of the day. I actually respect the entire time, Dustin. Thanks a lot for becoming a member of us at present.
DD: Thanks.
SS: To our viewers, thanks for listening to this episode of the Win Win Podcast. Be sure you tune in subsequent time for extra insights on how one can maximize enablement success with Highspot.
