Sales Enablement Lab with Thierry van Herwijnen | Enabling Sales Conversation That Matter

Jacco vanderKooij is the founder of Winning By Design a global consultancy firm focussed on helping businesses to drive aggressive growth by designing and optimizing their sales processes. Together with Jacco, we discuss how you enable a sales force which is tasked to break into a new market and achieve rapid growth. Jacco recently blogged on this topic on LinkedIn. We talk about why 80% of today's startups typically miss their growth targets and why this will increase next year. Jacco shares his plan on how you can create a strategic approach to enable predictable high growth by designing and implementing the right sales processes. You can contact Jacco through LinkedIn here. Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes!

Roderick Jefferson is the global head of Sales Enablement for Oracle Marketing Cloud. This week we continue to build on a topic we discussed before in the Sales Enablement Lab podcast, the role of the front line Sales Manager. Like Dave Brock, Roderick is passionate about this important topic. Roderick shares why the role of the front-line sales manager is critical. According to Roderick, this is where the rubber hits the road. We discuss what makes a great front line sales manager, the importance of coaching and how you develop a coaching program. We also debate the benefits of having a dedicated coaching team and the value they can bring to your sales opportunities. At the end of the podcast, Roderick shares his practical tips for Sales Enablement practitioners on how to create an enablement approach for front line sales managers. What do you do to enable front line sales managers? What programs do you run? Let us know and share your thoughts and questions below. Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes!

I am thrilled to have Scott Santucci join us again on the Sales Enablement Lab podcast. We both just returned from Florida for the first global Sales Enablement Society meeting ever!. Scott and a handful of other passionate Sales Enablement practitioners launched the Society as a local initiative in Washington DC earlier this year. Since then the Sales Enablement Society has expanded exponentially and currently has 750+ members representing Sales Enablement practitioners, analysts, educators, and vendors! In Florida 100+ Sales Enablement enthusiasts got together under Scott's leadership to discuss topics like: What will be the strategic value of Sales Enablement in the future? How do we want to develop the role? What is the charter of the Sales Enablement Society? What questions would we like to answer as a community? Scott describes openly the roller coaster he went through in the last few months trying to pull this off the ground together with his team of volunteers. Want to learn more about the Sales Enablement Society or join? Go here, learn more and sign up! Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes!

This week Jim Ninivaggi joins the Sales Enablement Lab podcast. Jim is responsible for strategic partnerships and alliances at Brainshark. Before Jim joined Brainshark, he was with Sirius Decisions where he launched the Sales Enablement practice working closely with hundreds of clients providing them with strategic advice. In Season 1, episode 15 we talked with Jim on how to create the business case for Sales Enablement. This week we are focussed on sales onboarding, a key area for most Sales Enablement practitioners. Monster.com reports 30% of external new hires turn over within the first two years of employment. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of replacing an employee is over 25% of their annual salary (some say 50%), so it is very costly when you don’t get it right. Together with Jim, we answer questions like: What is the definition of sales onboarding and how does it compare to traditional training? Where does onboarding start and where does it stop? How do you create an onboarding organization and strategy? How do you measure success? Let us know what you think of this week's topic! How do you define sales onboarding and what program have you developed? How do you measure the impact of your onboarding program? Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes!

Peter O’Neill is the VP & Research Director for B2B Marketing (previously called Sales Enablement) at Forrester. Peter manages a group of analysts focused on B2B marketing. In this week's podcast, Peter will give an update on Forrester's B2B Marketing Forum which took place in October in Miami. Peter shares the highlights of the conference and provides an update on the 'Dead of the B2B Sales Rep' research which we covered earlier in the podcast during season 1 episode 9 (Tom Pisello, Alinean) and season 1 episode 11 (Peter O'Neill). Also, we discuss Account Based Marketing (ABM), the alignment of Sales and Marketing and the rapidly evolving technology space around Sales Enablement. All topics which were focus areas during the conference. Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes! Let me know your thoughts and feedback by using the comments section below!

This week we continue our conversation with David Brock. David recently released a new book called the Sales Manager Survival Guide. This week we are focussed on attracting and retaining the right sales talent to your team. Every person we recruit is a multi-million dollar decision. We need to hire the right talent We discuss topics like: How do you find the right talent using sales competency models and less on chemistry? How should the interview process look like? Who in addition to the hiring manager should interview the potential candidates? Once hired, how should the onboarding process look like? How do you construct an effective performance review? How do you create the right sales cadence with weekly, monthly and quarterly objectives? Don’t miss David’s book! Order it now! Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes! Let me know your thought and feedback by using the comments section on my blog below.

This week we welcome back David Brock to the Sales Enablement Lab podcast. David is the founder and president of Partners In EXCELLENCE, a boutique consultancy company focussed on the customer facing side of organizations. David recently released a new book called the Sales Manager Survival Guide. The Sales Manager Survival guide is focussed on the front line sales manager and the day to day challenges they have to overcome. They are responsible for translating the companies sales strategy to day to day execution. Millions and millions are spent on training sales people but often we forget the front line sales managers. In this two-part podcast series, we will focus on addressing some of the biggest challenges front line sales managers face on a daily basis. We will cover topics like: How to create your 30-60-90 day plan when you start as a frontline sales manager? What are the organization expectations from front line sales managers? How do you transition from sales to sales management without losing your friends in the organization? How do create a ‘coaching’ environment in your organization? How do you coach a high performing sales team? Don’t miss David's book! Order it now! Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes! Let me know your thought and feedback by using the comments section on my blog below.

In this week's podcast, we continue our conversation with Tamara Schenk, Research Director CSO Insights, from last week and discuss the findings from her latest research on Sales Enablement. This week we will focus on questions like: 'How do you create a culture of collaboration to maximize the outcome of your Sales Enablement initiatives', 'What is the latest thinking around sales onboarding'. If you are interested reading the full report you can find it here (scroll down and download the CSO Insights 2016 Sales Enablement Optimization Study). If you would like to read more from Tamara I highly recommend her blog posts.

Welcome to Season Three, Episode 1. We kick off the latest season of the Sales Enablement Lab podcast with a conversation with Tamara Schenk. Tamara is Research Director at CSO Insights focussed on Sales Enablement. Tamara joined us earlier in season one for a conversation on 'Why a Systems Approach to Sales Enablement is Crucial.' In this episode, we will discuss the latest research from CSO Insights on Sales Enablement, based on a study and survey conducted earlier this year. Because of the wealth of information Tamara has to share this will be a two-part podcast. This week we will answer questions like: 'What is according to CSO Insights the latest definition of Sales Enablement?', 'How mature is Sales Enablement currently?' or 'What is the scope of Sales Enablement?' If you are interested reading the full report you can find it here (scroll down and download the CSO Insights 2016 Sales Enablement Optimization Study). If you would like to read more from Tamara I highly recommend her blog posts.

Welcome to Season Two, Episode 1! After our break we are back with an exciting second season of the Sales Enablement Lab podcast. Similar to season one we have a great line-up of co-hosts! This week we kick off with Daniel West who is the VP of Sales Strategy & Operations at Infoblox. Daniel is one of the key thought leaders in the area of Sales Enablement and Sales Operations and it is a pleasure to have him as a co-host this week. During this week's episode Daniel shares his personal views on Sales Enablement and how he influenced this space as a thought leader. Daniel will touch on how he has seen the role mature in the last few years and how he sees the strategic importance of the role of Sales Enablement in the new Digital Economy. Daniel will share some of the key initiatives he is working on, how he aligns his strategy with the business and some of the Sales Enablement challenges he faces and what he is doing to overcome them. At the end Daniel will share how he measures his impact and will we will discuss some of the important learning he had in the recent years and how you can get started with your own Sales Enablement initiatives! Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter! We would love to hear your feedback! What kind of Sales Enablement programs are you working on? How are you measuring your impact? Leave your comments, feedback and suggestions on our blog.  

Jim Ninivaggi is the Service Director, Sales Enablement Strategies at SiriusDecisions. SiriusDecisions is an advisory firm focussed on B2B companies providing data, advice, research and industry events for practitioners in the field of marketing, sales and product development. This week's podcast is focussed on 'Building the business case for Sales Enablement'. Almost everyone who wants to start a Sales Enablement function or expand an existing function will have to go through the same justification challenge: Why invest in Sales Enablement? What will be our return for the company? Why not invest in something else? The answer this question we need to start at the beginning. Jim will share his views and definition of Sales Enablement. According to SiriusDecisions Sales Enablement is the orchestrating function between sales, product marketing, sales training & sales operations and should be focussed on three different key areas: Sales Talent Management - How do we attract the right sales talent to the organisation, retain and give them the right skills?Sales Asset Management - Which sales assets do we need to develop?Sales Communication Management - When do we communicate what to the sales teams to make sure we don't overwhelm them?When done right these three key areas will enable the sales teams to have the right conversation with the right customers at the right time according to SiriusDecisions. After discussing Jim's view on Sales Enablement we focus on how to create the business case. Jim shares some practical advice on how you can make some simple calculations to show your leadership the impact you will deliver over time. How do you calculate sales rep productivity? What will be the impact if they can find content within 10 minutes vs 1 hour? How can you leverage data points like this to create your personal business case. Jim explains it all. As always we end with 3 practical tips you can start using today in your sales enablement programs. We would love to hear your feedback! How did you create your business case for Sales Enablement? Did you have to prove the value? How are you measuring your impact? Leave your comments, feedback and suggestions in the comments on my blog: http://www.salesenablementlab.com/s1e15

  Simon Morton is the founder and managing director of Eyeful Presentations. Eyeful Presentations helps companies with their last mile communication, translating a product or an idea into an easy to understand value proposition and presentation. Simon is also the author of a great book called "The Presentation Lab" focussed on the same topic. Interested in his book? Read till the end. You work extremely hard for months, sometimes years on your product and now you have reached the point you are ready to launch it to the market. How do you communicate the value your product brings in the most effective and efficient way so people start to buy? You can have the best idea or product in the world but if you can’t articulate the value in an easy to understand way your efforts will go to waste. In this week’s podcast Simon and myself will talk about how to create a great message and how to translate that message into a great presentation. How do you avoid the “Death by PowerPoint” syndrome which we have all experienced? Together we explore what communication tools work best for which audience. We discuss what other tools are available in addition to powerpoint like press and white boarding? What works best with a technical buyer vs a business buyer? What tool do you use when you want to connect with the C-Suite? Why is it important to have a clear call to action? Simon explains it all. Like in every podcast we wrap up with three key suggestions you can start using tomorrow! Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes! Interested in Simon’s book The Presentation Lab? Good news! the first 3 people who post a question or leave their feedback on this blog post will get a free copy from Simon! Big thank you to Simon and Eyeful Presentations for making this possible! Looking forward to see everyone’s feedback and questions!

Tamara Schenk is a Research Director at the MHI Research Institute focussed on Sales Enablement. She is one of the key thought leaders and influencers in this rapidly evolving space. During this week's podcast Tamara shares her perspectives on Sales Enablement. She shares how she has seen Sales Enablement evolve from a highly fragmented function with disconnected programs to a much more integrated selling systems approach in the recent years. Tamara shares how you can create your own selling system based on her four key principles: Map your sales execution to your business strategy Define which Sales Enablement Services you want to offer Measure your impact through Sales Enablement Operations Focus on reinforcement, adoption and change management We also touch on the million dollar question, to who should Sales Enablement report in the organisation? Sales,  Marketing or ... ? At the end Tamara will give you her top 3 tips you can use to start building your own selling system today! Are you interested to participate in the Sales Enablement survey from MHI Research Institute? Visit Tamara's blog and complete the survey. Upon completing the survey you will be able to download the CSO Insights’ 2015 Sales Management Optimization Key Trends Analysis and you will receive the 2015 Sales Enablement Study Key Trends Report in October. Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes! What are your thoughts on building a selling system for Sales Enablement? Participate in the discussion on my blog and leave your feedback, thoughts and questions. http://www.salesenablementlab.com/s1e13 b

Jonathan Palay is one of the founders of CommercialTribe and VP of Sales. CommercialTribe solves one of the toughest problems in sales: how do you make sure your sales reps tell a consistent sales story? We have all seen it. You research a company on the web, look at their products and decide to reach out to get more information. However when you talk with one of the sales reps the story is different compared what you read on the web. You quickly lose trust. Creating a good sales messages is tough and we explored this earlier in the sales enablement lab with the team from Corporate Visions, so once you have the perfect sales message for your product or service you want to maximise the value and the return. Together with Jonathan we explore how you can achieve consistency across your entire sales organisation and how you can setup a certification program in your company to make sure your teams all articulate the same value. At the end of this podcast Jonathan will share 3 practical tips to get you started today with your own program! Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss an episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes by clicking here. Let me know your thought and feedback by using the comments section on my blog, http://www.salesenablementlab.com/s1e12 How do you make sure your sales reps tell the same story?

Peter O'Neill is the VP & Research Director for B2B Marketing (formally called Sales Enablement) at Forrester. Peter manages a group of analysts focused on B2B marketing understanding and navigating the complex sphere of buyer stakeholders. As we discussed a few weeks ago with Tom Pisello in Season 1, Episode 9 the role of the B2B Sales Rep is dramatically changing. Forrester forecasts that 1 million US B2B salespeople will lose their jobs to self-service eCommerce by the year 2020. This statement and the research caused a lot of heated debate on social media. Peter explains the research behind the prediction and provides more color & insights. Peter also shares how to turn this into a potential opportunity to differentiate yourself from the competition and how you can continue to add value to your customers and become a true business partner. Peter wraps up with his personal insights and shares 3 practical tips on how you can be successful as a Sales Enablement leader. Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes! Let me know your thoughts and feedback by using the comments section below!

Leslie Talbot is the vice president of content at Corporate Visions. She is a thought leader on how to create an engaging sales message which can be used by sales reps to win more deals! This week's podcast is a followup to the conversations we had with Tim Riesterer in Season 1, Episode 3 & Jim Moliski Season 1, Episode 5. If you did not listen to these podcasts yet I highly recommend you do! Leslie and myself will talk about how important it is to have a clear sales message which can be leveraged by your sales teams and how to create one. She explains the value of a power positions and how they differ from value propositions and how this really drives the customer to take action! Leslie will share her secret sauce she uses every day to create amazing sales messages for her customers - the CVI 7 step framework to a power position: Step 1) Identify your audience and create your targeted conversation profileStep 2) Identify your customer's business objectivesStep 3) Understand your customer's status quo and which trends put their business objectives at riskStep 4) Identify your customer's top challengesStep 5) Map your capabilities; Identify your 2-3 differentiatorsStep 6) Identify your value; what can your customer do differently with your solutionStep 7) Take a step back and create your power position based on step 1 - 6 Want to understand the detail and hear a great example, listen to the podcast! We wrap up with Leslie sharing her personal top 3 tips to get you started today! Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes! Let me know your thoughts and feedback by using the comments section on my blog.

Tom Pisello is the CEO & Founder of Alinean. He is a serial entrepreneur, popular speaker and author, focused on value marketing and selling. Tom's latest book was published in April and is called the The Frugalnomics Survival Guide - How to Use Your Unique Value to Market Better, Stand Out and Sell More. In this week's podcast Tom and myself talk about one of the very hot sales enablement topics currently being discussed on social media: the future of B2B sales reps. Forrester forecasts that 1 million US B2B salespeople will lose their jobs to self-service eCommerce by the year 2020. Both Tom and myself were in the presentation which Andy Hoar delivered in Scottsdale, AZ during the Forrester Sales Enablement Forum.  Andy shared how B2B buyers now favor do-it-yourself online options for researching and buying products and services, and they are demanding that B2B sellers fully enable those digital paths to purchase. Tom and myself discuss how the world of sales has dramatically changed in the last years, what the influence is of social media and what this means for b2b buyers and sellers. We talk about how other analyst companies look at this and come to a slightly different conclusion. Tom shares practical tips on what to do if you are a B2B sales rep and how you can continue to deliver value to your customers and even sell more. At the end we will discuss his new book "The Frugalnomics Survival Guide" Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes! Let me know your thoughts and feedback by using the comments section below.

Jeffrey Hayzlett is very well know in the world of sales and marketing. He is a thought leader, best selling author, TV/Radio/Podcast host, a public speaker, was CMO for a top fortune 100 company, worked from main street to Wall Street, bought and sold 200 companies worth billions of dollars. He is also the founder of the Hayzlett group. An incredible resume. Jeffrey's new book called 'Think Big, Act bigger - The rewards of being relentless." will be released in September.  This week we have preview together with Jeffrey. We will discuss how the get access to the most influential buyers: the C-Suite, the importance of social selling and how being relentless pays off at the end. Jeffrey will reveal the secrets behind his 118 pitch and he will share his thoughts on the common mistakes he sees sales executive make and how to avoid them. At the end Jeffrey will share 3 practical tips you can get put into practice starting now! Don't miss Jeffrey's book! Pre-order it now! Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes! Let me know your thought and feedback by using the comments section on my blog below.

David Brock is the founder and president of Partners In EXCELLENCE, a boutique consultancy company focussed on the customer facing side of organisations. In addition Dave has his own podcast and blog.   This week's podcast is focussed on coaching and especially coaching by the front line sales manger. We discuss why it is critically important to coach your sales teams, how you find the time to have regular coaching sessions and explore the most effective way to conduct a coaching session. Dave explains how to conduct a non directive coaching session by asking the right questions.   At the end of the conversation Dave will share a few practical tips on how to start your own coaching program.   Did you enjoy listening to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes!   Let me know your thought and feedback by using the comments section on my blog http://www.salesenablementlab.com   Which topics do you want me to cover in one of the next podcasts?

Jill Rowley is one of the leading experts on social selling globally, she is a regular presenter at conferences and a lot of companies rely on her personal advice while building their social selling strategies. In addition she is a startup advisor and an entrepreneur. In this week's podcast we jump into the world of social selling. We will explore how the world of sales has changed because of new buyer behaviour. The new buyer is digitally driven, socially connected, mobile, and fully empowered! We will explore how you can leverage the power of social selling to connect with these new buyers. We will talk about how you can create a sales enablement program to enable your sales team with these extremely powerful social selling tools. At the end of the conversation Jill will share 3 practical tips to get you started with social selling! Did you enjoy listing to this podcast and don’t want to miss another episode? Subscribe to my podcast on iTunes! Let me know your thought and feedback by using the comments section on my blog. Which topics do you want me to cover in one of the next podcasts?