Sales Enablement Society - Stories From The Trenches Sales Enablement Society

Have you ever doubted your abilities and felt like a fraud, despite being very competent? Have you tried to help a friend dealing with feelings of inadequacy? If so you've likely experienced Imposter Syndrome which causes people to feel anxious and inadequate and affects their mental well-being. Learning to overcome it is a critical skill for sustained mental health.

For this special Mental Health Month episode professional Imposter Syndrome Coach Alli Rizacos joins us to share insights into Imposter Syndrome and techniques that anyone can use to help conquer it. Listen in and learn about:

👉 The root causes of Imposter Syndrome
👉 Authenticity vs. Attachment
👉 How to upgrade your personal "operating system"
👉 Moving from self-criticism to building your inner leader
Alli had a 15 year career in sales at companies like Salesforce before leaving the corporate world in 2021 to start her own coaching business as an Imposter Syndrome Coach. She works with revenue leaders to overcome their imposter syndrome and upgrade their mental operating system so that their minds are working for them and not against them. 

How do you enable sales teams to turn average demos into compelling stories that capture their prospects' attention and keep them engaged?  Can demo effectiveness be measured? If so, how should Enablement teams track and improve their demo enablement? In this episode, Brian Geery shares his proven strategy and techniques for enabling sales pros to give demos that highlight solutions to prospects' business challenges and helps them create a vision for how to solve those challenges. Listen in to learn:
7 steps to create a persuasive and compelling demoWhat KPIs to use to measure demo effectivenessHow to give your demo enablement  a makeoverDemo scripts - yes or no?Specific steps for getting startedBrian Geery is a Managing Partner at SalesNv and author of How to Demonstrate Software So People Buy It. His firm transforms software demos, so they win more deals. They give your demo a makeover. Sales leaders at high growth SaaS companies use Brian’s guidance to increase demo win rates, reduce new hire demo ramp time, and enable everyone to demonstrate like a top performer.

True revenue enablement is a strategic approach that aligns sales, marketing, customer success, and product teams to improve customer experiences, drive revenue growth, and increase profitability. In this episode Matt Cohen, Sr. Sales Enablement Manager at Dotmatics and I discuss the foundational elements of creating strategic enablement that he's used successfully. Listen and catch valuable insights into:
Determining  if an organization is ready for strategic EnablementDefining Enablement as a critical first stepSelecting a sales methodologyCreating Enablement aligned to your buyers' experienceMatt Cohen has been in go-to-market roles for the past 7 years since earning his MBA, building enablement for sales tech leaders like Seismic and Clari through hyper-growth. 

Throughout his career, he has leveraged his ability to strategically align resources in a way that fosters adaptability and scale. That passion for alignment is why his career is in Enablement, which he views to be the proactive identification of gaps in the buyer journey and shaping priorities to fill them through the optimization of people, process, and technology in service of revenue. 

Matt co-founded the San Diego Chapter of the Sales Enablement Society, served on the Board of the Boston Chapter and is currently working on starting a new chapter in Nashville. He regularly contributes thought leadership in the form of articles, podcasts, and webinars, and was recognized this year as a 2023 Enablement Leader Making It Happen by SalesHood.

According to Forrester, direct managers have the most impact and influence on sales reps’ success and organizations must make their enablement of sales managers as comprehensive as that of rep-level contributors. Forrester has also found that B2B sales leaders often make flawed assumptions about the ease with which new sales managers can transition from previous roles. 
In our 50th episode Terry Bird, VP of Enablement at Vonage, and I explore ways in which sales enablement organizations can support revenue team managers in various stages of their career. Join the conversation as we discuss:
How much more complex the role of sales leader has becomeGartner's analysis of top performing sales managersThe constant Internal vs. External struggleHow the Voyage team is supporting leaders and enabling them for successTerry is based in the UK and has a long history in technical sales and sales roles prior to moving into the Sales Enablement space around 15 years ago.
In 2008 Terry joined IBM and worked in a number of roles helping to drive enablement transformation, before ultimately landing as Director, Sales Enablement for IBM Global Sales, overseeing enablement programs and tools for a population of over 20,000 sellers and business partners. Terry joined Vonage in 2021 where he took up the mission of helping to establish a company-wide sales enablement function.
Terry loves the challenge of architecting cultural change alongside helping go to market teams deliver success. Away from his day job he has been a DJ for over 25 years, playing all over the world alongside legends of the house and techno scene.

Revenue enablement teams aren't the same as HR - they don’t exist to deliver corporate and regulatory training. Revenue enablement teams exist solely to optimize the performance of all customer facing teams and have a positive impact on revenue.

To fulfill that mission it's critical for revenue enablement teams to create and execute strategies and programs that correlate and align with the financial objectives of their executive team so in this episode Kunal Pandya and I discuss:
Strategic vs. operational enablementThe impact of current economic conditions on enablement teamsMitigating the risk of being labeled a cost center3 key changes you can implement to become more strategicKunal Pandya has over 20 years experience, with various tech and high-growth SaaS companies such as SuccessFactors, SAP, Taulia, HighRadius and UserZoom, leading global revenue enablement teams. He is passionate about building and executing data-led enablement strategies to drive significant and transformative growth and impact.  He can be heard at various events, webinars and podcasts, highlighting the importance of strategic enablement functions in order to deliver revenue impact.

Most business leaders would agree with former Home Depot and Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli that "people, unless coached, never reach their maximum potential," yet many teams and organizations lack a strong coaching culture. 

According to Devon Anthony,  Director of Sales Enablement and Learning at Morningstar, Enablement teams can really impact revenue teams' success and create a multiplier effect by building and nurturing a strong coaching culture. Listen in while she shares:
The differences between coaching and managingCommon misperceptions that devalue coachingHow Enablement teams can grow the value of coachingCoaching "landmines" to watch forDevon Anthony has a passion for developing sales and coaching others. She's spent her entire career in financial services and has been with Morningstar since 2019. As Director of the Sales Enablement and Learning Team, her primary focus is developing curriculum at scale while prioritizing for impact.
Devon volunteers her time as a coach and member of the board of directors for Near West Little League and as a Client Advocate for Administer Justice, a legal aid ministry. Devon enjoys concerts, yoga, and exploring all the cultures of Chicago with her husband Rob and dog Tonka Truck.