Driving Sales Improvement Program Adoption Within Matrix Organizations

Today’s show will demonstrate how to get sales improvement programs adopted in a matrix organization. To help illustrate today’s topic we will think through sales enablement within a matrix organization using Frontier Communications as a use case. As a guide for sales enablement leaders to increase revenue per sales head, download our 10th annual workbook, How to Make Your Number in 2017. Turn to page 319 of the PDF.

Joining us today is Ian Petersen, the Senior Vice President of Sales Operations and Enablement at Frontier Communications. Frontier offers broadband, video, voice bundles for small businesses, and advanced business communications for medium and large businesses in 29 states with approximately 28,000 employees. Ian is uniquely qualified to speak on this topic with experience in matrix organizations at Sun Microsystems, Oracle and now Frontier. Watch as Ian demonstrates how to get sales improvement programs adopted in matrix organizations.

Sales enablement leaders who work in a matrix inside of an enterprise company often feel that they can’t be successful because they don’t have direct authority over resources. It’s not true. If there is value, you can get people to adopt to your programs, and the way that you do that is you get things done through others. Listen as Ian describes how to develop the skill of getting things done through others.

Why this topic? Large enterprises are investing heavily in sales enablement, yet many are not realizing the full value of these investments. One of the causes of this unfortunate outcome is the matrix organization. The matrix is required in these large enterprises to simply deal with their massive scale but this creates an added level of difficulty for sales enablement leaders.

Listen as Ian describes reporting to an EVP of operations inside of an $11-billion company. Most sales operations and sales enablement leaders report to a head of sales, Ian describes implementing programs within a matrix organization. The complexity involved is getting sales leaders and managers to adopt enablement programs when you and your boss don’t have any authority over them. Ian outlines how to achieve adoption of programs in this environment.