The State of Sales Enablement

Sales Enablement fuels the ambitions of fast-growing start-ups that seek the promised land of unlimited scale. So how can organisations strike a balance between hypergrowth and the human element of sales that is required to be truly buyer-centric? This is one of the questions we attempted to tackle with our guest in this week's episode which is all about the human element of sales. Please welcome the Sales Enablement Director at Reachdesk and host of the Stay Human podcast, Malvina El Sayegh. These are some of the questions we discuss in this episode:With so much effort to drive scale and automation in B2B sales, what are the qualities that we as humans bring to the table in B2B sales? Do you see the qualities we possess as humans being replaced by AI in our lifetime? What can organisations do to strike a balance between automating and humanising sales?What can sales leaders and sales enablers do to nurture the human element of their sales efforts and make it a competitive advantage? Here are some of the resources referenced in this episode:Malvina’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malvina-el-sayegh/The #StayHuman Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0nS5BBD2YmVeE9HkUOtwNcThe Sales Brew Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz5vl6xHDetPxFDt-qBlifgConnect with Felix Krueger online: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hfkrueger/Where to find The State of Sales Enablement:Website (subscriber exclusives can be found here) - http://thestateofsalesenablement.com/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-state-of-sales-enablement-podcast/Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-state-of-sales-enablement/id1558307853Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4ceCJYJLuCbTNbRTriOFpe?si=avn_E9EGSNu3gmHfoqJ_6g

There comes a time when growing start-ups need to get serious about their investment in sales. Our guest in this week's episode is a fractional CRO who works with start-ups to build sales teams from scratch and enables them to drive growth. In our conversation, he shared how he approaches the challenge of starting with a blank slate, common misconceptions about building a sales team, and how he goes about finding the right talent. Please welcome Vince Zappula. Here are some of the questions we cover: What is your background and what do you do now?What sort of businesses do you build sales teams for?What are typically the steps you take to go from no sales team to high performing sales team.What are typical misconceptions about building a sales team?How easy or hard is it to find good sales talent in the markets you operate in? How do you ensure technical skills and cultural fit when hiring for sales roles?Where can people find you online?Here are some of the resources referenced in this episode:Vince Zapula's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincezappula/Learn more about Vince's approach: https://salesxceleration.com/Connect with Felix Krueger online: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hfkrueger/Where to find The State of Sales Enablement:Website - http://thestateofsalesenablement.com/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-state-of-sales-enablement-podcast/Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-state-of-sales-enablement/id1558307853Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4ceCJYJLuCbTNbRTriOFpe?si=avn_E9EGSNu3gmHfoqJ_6g

Another month, another action-packed episode of This Month In Sales Enablement! Devon and Felix catch up to discuss the latest news in the world of Sales and Sales Enablement, industry research, book reviews, social media buzz, and the key insights from recent State of Sales Enablement podcast episodes. Here are the resources referenced in this episode:InsightsSteff Zohrabyan - Peleton vs SalesTech Adoption https://www.goffwd.com/driving-digital-adoption-with-steffaney-zohrabyan-interview/Pam Didner - Changing the way we engage with Tech over time https://www.goffwd.com/maximising-smartech-roi-with-pam-didner-interview/Felix Krueger - Hiring Sales Enablement Consultantshttps://www.goffwd.com/enabling-without-enablement-interview/NewsSales Enablement Influencers Outlook 2022 (Cloudshare) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdItMR_rtW0&t=2sThe Sales Enablement Landscape Report 2022 https://www.salesenablementcollective.com/our-biggest-report-ever-we-need-your-help/Enablement Squad Acquisition by Workramp https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/workramp-acquires-the-enablement-squad-to-double-down-on-community-301550011.htmlResearch Gartner Report: Build an Effortless Buying Experience with Revenue Enablement https://www.gartner.com/en/sales/trends/reduce-complexity-revenue-enablementDemand Metric/Spekit Sales Training & Onboardinghttps://spekit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/the-state-of-sales-training-and-onboarding-research.pdf The Top-Performing Sales Manager Benchmark Reporthttps://www.rainsalestraining.com/sales-research/sales-management/reportSEC Tech Tools Reporthttps://www.salesenablementcollective.com/sales-enablement-tools-of-choice-2022-download-it-today/Mindtickle State of Sales Readinesshttps://explore.mindtickle.com/state-of-sales-readiness-report-2022Social BuzzCS Enablement Disucssion https://www.linkedin.com/posts/christinapbrady_if-i-may-be-so-bold-csm-resources-around-activity-6942474310661914624-O89z?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_webHuman-Centred Design in B2B Sales https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-smith-refract_the-game-is-officially-changing-in-sales-activity-6934748531899420672-1Q2z?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_webConnect with the hosts onlineDevon McDermott's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devonmcdermott/Felix Krueger's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hfkrueger/Where to find The State of Sales Enablement:Website (subscriber exclusives can be found here) - http://thestateofsalesenablement.com/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-state-of-sales-enablement-podcast/Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-state-of-sales-enablement/id1558307853Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4ceCJYJLuCbTNbRTriOFpe?si=avn_E9EGSNu3gmHfoqJ_6g

While Zoom has reduced friction during the B2B buyer journey, it has also lessened the ability of sales teams to effectively engage buyers in face-to-face meetings. Zoom fatigue is real and the ability of a sales rep to effectively communicate with buyers remotely has become part of the modern sales skillset. Our guest in this week's episode gives the sales teams of some of the most recognised technology brands in the world the voice and presentation skills needed to make Zoom meetings their competitive advantage. Please welcome the Managing Director and Chief Speaking Officer of Jabba Training, Alistair Davis! Here are some of the questions we cover: Why should salespeople consider working on their voice and acting skills in 2022 and beyond?What are the building blocks of an engaging virtual meeting performance? Do you see that certain demographics or industries have better voice and acting skills than others?What are the most common voice and acting skills that require improvement when you work with sales teams? What are the top tips you can share with our listeners on how to be more engaging in meetings today?Here are some of the resources referenced in this episode:Alistair Davis' LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alistairbdavis/Alistair's Speakeasy Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-speakeasy-6930475401139884032/Jabba Training: https://jabbatraining.com/Connect with Felix Krueger online: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hfkrueger/Where to find The State of Sales Enablement:Website - http://thestateofsalesenablement.com/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-state-of-sales-enablement-podcast/Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-state-of-sales-enablement/id1558307853Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4ceCJYJLuCbTNbRTriOFpe?si=avn_E9EGSNu3gmHfoqJ_6g

Felix was recently invited to join the brilliant Malvina El-Sayegh on the Stay Human podcast. They spoke about the three avenues companies can pursue to benefit from enablement, how to maximise the value of an external consultant, the most common enablement challenges Felix comes across in his work with businesses around the world, and more. These are some of the questions covered in this episode:What has been your career journey and how did you get into Sales Enablement?How did you prioritise initiatives in your quota-carrying Enablement role competing for the mindshare of a large sales team? How long do clients typically work with Sales Enablement consultants? How do you foster a productive relationship when working with clients? How can a consultant help formalise a strategic Sales Enablement approach? What are the three avenues for business leaders to consider when thinking about introducing a Sales Enablement function?Here are some of the resources referenced in this episode:Connect with Felix Krueger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hfkrueger/Learn more about FFWD's Sales Enablement consulting services: https://www.goffwd.com/Connect with Malvina El-Sayegh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malvina-el-sayegh/Subscribe to the #StayHuman podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/stayhuman-sales-skills/id1497180732Where to find The State of Sales Enablement:Website - http://thestateofsalesenablement.com/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-state-of-sales-enablement-podcast/Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-state-of-sales-enablement/id1558307853Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4ceCJYJLuCbTNbRTriOFpe?si=avn_E9EGSNu3gmHfoqJ_6g

With endless logos to choose from, sourcing SalesTech can be a challenge even for the savviest buyers. It gets even harder if you're responsible for both, Sales AND Marketing technology. Our guest in this week's episode is a marketer that has driven Sales Enablement for organisations around the globe. In our conversation, she breaks down the best practice for making purchase decisions, how sales and marketing technologies overlap, how to address sales tech needs as a marketer, and more.Please welcome best-selling author, podcaster, and our go-to expert for sales and marketing alignment, Pam Didner!These are some of the questions we discuss in this episode:There are so many technologies out there claiming to help the sales team. It's overwhelming. How should we go about addressing sales technologies or sales tech?Sales uses SalesTech. Marketing uses MarTech. Are these two overlapping in terms of technology needs? Any duplications or gaps?If I am supporting sales as a marker, what is the starting point to address technology needs?Speaking of sales and marketing working together, ABM comes to mind. Can you talk to us about ABM-specific tech?Here are some of the resources referenced in this episode:Pam Didner's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamdidner/Pam Didner's Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BuildMarketingSkills/?ref=sharePam Didner's website: https://pamdidner.com/Pam's book - Effective Sales Enablement: Achieve sales growth through collaborative sales and marketing 1st Edition: https://www.amazon.com/Effective-Sales-Enablement-collaborative-marketing/dp/0749483644/Connect with Felix Krueger online: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hfkrueger/Where to find The State of Sales Enablement:Website - http://thestateofsalesenablement.com/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-state-of-sales-enablement-podcast/Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-state-of-sales-enablement/id1558307853Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4ceCJYJLuCbTNbRTriOFpe?si=avn_E9EGSNu3gmHfoqJ_6g

Systems and processes are absolutely crucial for consistency in sales. Especially now that the sales tech stack is as complex as it has ever been... and probably ever will be. One can really understand how sales reps might feel overwhelmed when they're asked to juggle multiple platforms during a sales cycle. And that's precisely when Digital Adoption comes into play. Our guest in this week's episode is a digital adoption superstar, and she will share her top tips to support the human element of digital transformation in sales. Please welcome Cisco's Sales Enablement and Digital Adoption lead, Steffaney Zohrabyan. These are some of the questions we discuss in this episode:What is Digital Adoption and how does the function fit into the context of sales enablement? What are the most common problems you have solved as a Digital Adoption pro in the past? What are the most common mistakes businesses make when planning for the human element of digital transformation?How much technology is too much to handle for sales reps?Here are some of the resources referenced in this episode:Steffaney's LinkedIn Profile (follow for awesome content including the latest Sales Enablement jobs): https://www.linkedin.com/in/steffaneyzohrabyan/Connect with Felix Krueger online: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hfkrueger/Where to find The State of Sales Enablement:Website (subscriber exclusives can be found here) - http://thestateofsalesenablement.com/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-state-of-sales-enablement-podcast/Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-state-of-sales-enablement/id1558307853Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4ceCJYJLuCbTNbRTriOFpe?si=avn_E9EGSNu3gmHfoqJ_6g

Another month, another action-packed episode of This Month In Sales Enablement! Devon and Felix catch up to discuss the latest news in the world of Sales and Sales Enablement, industry research, book reviews, social media buzz, and the key insights from recent State of Sales Enablement podcast episodes. Here are the resources referenced in this episode:Buyer Acumen with Mike Kunkle | Interviewhttps://www.goffwd.com/buyer-acumen-with-mike-kunkle-interview/Sales Development Excellence with Mark McInnes | Interviewhttps://www.goffwd.com/sales-development-excellence-with-mark-mcinnes-interview/Developing Sales Playbooks with Malvina EL-Sayegh | Interviewhttps://www.goffwd.com/developing-sales-playbooks-with-malvina-el-sayegh-interview/Book Review: How Clients Buyhttps://www.amazon.com/How-Clients-Buy-Development-Professional/dp/111943470XBook Review: Sell without Selling Outhttps://www.amazon.com/Sell-Without-Selling-Out-Success/dp/1989603572/Methodologies and Frameworks - Discussionhttps://www.linkedin.com/posts/thibautsouyris_sales-discovery-activity-6925381730136670208-HU1S?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=ios_appReport: State of Sales Onboardinghttps://www.allego.com/wp-content/uploads/Allego-State-of-Sales-Onboarding-Report-1.pdf

On paper, the concept of a sales playbook sounds amazing. You capture all the information sellers could possibly need to sell effectively in one place, hand the document over to the sales team, and start printing money. So why doesn't every sales organisation create a playbook that delivers results? Our guest in this week's episode will share her experience in developing high-impact sales playbooks, how to ensure adoption, and continuous improvement. Please welcome the host of the Stay Human podcast and the Sales Enablement Director at ReachDesk, Malvina EL-Sayegh. These are some of the questions we discuss in this episode:What exactly is a sales playbook and why do organisations care about developing one? How do you recommend sales and sales enablement leaders go about developing a sales playbook? What are some of the options to optimise content access and adoption? Have you come across any innovation in this regard? How do you recommend the success of a sales playbook being measured? Here are some of the resources referenced in this episode:Malvina’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malvina-el-sayegh/The #StayHuman Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0nS5BBD2YmVeE9HkUOtwNcThe Sales Brew Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz5vl6xHDetPxFDt-qBlifgPavilion (formerly Revenue Collective): https://www.joinpavilion.com/Connect with Felix Krueger online: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hfkrueger/Where to find The State of Sales Enablement:Website (subscriber exclusives can be found here) - http://thestateofsalesenablement.com/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-state-of-sales-enablement-podcast/Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-state-of-sales-enablement/id1558307853Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4ceCJYJLuCbTNbRTriOFpe?si=avn_E9EGSNu3gmHfoqJ_6g

It's extremely hard to find organisations that claim that Sales Development is an area that doesn't have room for improvement. And that's the exact reason our guest in this episode is an extremely demanded expert in the APAC region and beyond. His recipe for success is a combination of deep Sales Development experience paired with a no-nonsense approach. In this episode, we speak to Mark McInnes!These are some of the questions we're discussing:Why do organisations care about developing their leaders?What are the qualities of an effective leader?Which common leadership mistakes do you come across and what can managers do to avoid them? What sort of leadership style patterns have you come across? For example across certain industries or functions such as sales?What are typically the steps involved in transforming the leadership culture within an organisation?Here are some of the resources referenced in this episode.Connect with Mark McInnes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mcinnes/Connect with Mark McInnes on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mamcinnesConnect with Felix Krueger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hfkrueger/Best Of Sales Skills (BOSS) Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1034566Mark McInnes' Sales Development as a Service: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sales-development-as-a-service/Mark's Salesmail Newsletter: https://markmc.co/salesmail/Sales enablement resources brought to you by FFWD: https://www.goffwd.com/learnWhere to find The State of Sales Enablement:Website (subscriber exclusives can be found here) - http://thestateofsalesenablement.com/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-state-of-sales-enablement-podcast/Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-state-of-sales-enablement/id1558307853Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4ceCJYJLuCbTNbRTriOFpe?si=avn_E9EGSNu3gmHfoqJ_6g