Highspot Blog

The cutting edge can be a lonely place to work. While sales enablement has been around for years, we’re now inventing the future of this category thanks to incredible technology and methodology advances. This means many of us in the enablement community are feeling both the thrill of new horizons and the challenges of trailblazing. This rollercoaster means that we’re banding together like never before, creating a swell of demand for community events that elevate the art and science of enablement.

It’s no wonder that the Sales Enablement Soirée has gone global. Developed in partnership with Sales Enablement PRO, the Sales Enablement Soirée is the only industry event designed specifically for this ever-growing community. What began as a way to unite and encourage networking has grown to an event that draws thousands of attendees across three major cities spanning two continents.

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Research from SiriusDecisions’ 2018 Global Chief Sales Officer Study found that fewer than 50% of sales reps are hitting quota and that at 70% of companies, barely 30% of reps are meeting quota. These statistics illuminate an unsettling fact — the majority of sales teams are ineffective.

With less than half of their sales team hitting quota, it’s easy to understand why sales leaders often focus their time and energy on top performers in the hopes that they inspire the rest of the team to keep up. However, this only exacerbates the issue. Neglecting core performers who, on average, make up 60% of the sales force, is a huge missed opportunity. Core performers, or “B reps,” are actually a company’s most valuable revenue driver.

Why is that?

Research done by the Sales Executive Council found that a 5% increase from the middle 60% of performers yielded 80% more revenue than a 5% increase from just the top 10%. If sales leaders want to increase quota attainment, they have to start by improving the effectiveness of their core sellers.

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The phrase “if you’re not early, you’re late” is one of the most familiar pieces of advice passed down from generation to generation and mentor to mentee. So much so that the phrase has over 1.4 billion search results on Google — which is understandable when you consider how often the advice is applicable. From job interviews to product differentiation, it’s always beneficial to stay ahead of the competition.

Sales Enablement PRO recently published the 2019 State of Sales Enablement and the report clearly echoed a similar sentiment — companies without an established sales enablement function are behind the curve and risk falling prey to their competitors.

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Sales enablement is sweeping the globe.

In partnership with Sales Enablement PRO, we surveyed more than 500 executives, sales enablement, and marketing leaders from companies of all sizes across the world. What we found validates that sales enablement is becoming the backbone of successful sales organisations spanning industries and geographies.

More than 79% of participants have a sales enablement process or practice in place, or plan on inventing one this year — a 20% increase from last year’s survey. Despite urgent demand and clear evidence of sales enablement’s business impact, clear definitions and best practices are wanting. The 68% of respondents who reported having a dedicated sales enablement tool named more than 150 different solutions when asked to identify the tools in use — demonstrating confusion in the market around what is truly needed to enable reps.

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Every founder anticipates the moment when their business must scale because rapid growth demands it. But growing a business is as challenging as it is exhilarating.

That’s because it’s difficult to hire, train, and enable a sales force capable of sustained growth. Only 16% of sales leaders are confident that they have the talent they need to succeed in the future. Research conducted by Xerox showed that 87% of the new knowledge learned in sales training is lost within 12 weeks. And once they’re trained, up to 1/3 of a sales professional’s time is spent looking for or creating content to share with prospects.

Though harrowing, these numbers reveal an opportunity for operational changes that can optimize the sales process from onboarding to content. The solution I’m referring to is sales enablement.

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You need the skills to perform and the content to deliver.

Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon. That’s pretty well known. What’s less well-known is his distinguished service as a fighter pilot in the Korean war and his close brush with disaster. On his seventh mission, the wing of Armstrong’s Panther jet clipped an anti-aircraft cable and was cut completely in half. With his plane mortally wounded, Armstrong prepared to bail out, but he had one problem — he had never received proper ejection training.

So, what did Armstrong do? He grabbed the flight manual and studied in the nick of time, learning the protocol and following the steps to make it out alive.

A key moment with a customer isn’t quite as life-and-death as bailing out of a wounded fighter jet — but there is an interesting analogy in this story worth exploring.

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We all know that dynamics between buyers and sellers have changed and continue to evolve faster than the time it takes a hot prospect to turn cold.

As power shifts increasingly to the buyer, sales organizations must transform — or get outmaneuvered by competitors. Buyer demands make it more difficult to engage, connect, and close deals, especially as these buyers become educated earlier in their journey. The 2019 State of Sales Enablement report found that more than half of the respondents noticed today’s buyers conducting more research prior to engaging sales than ever before.

The antidote is great technology that puts the right content at the seller’s fingertips at the right time. But this still leaves a major wildcard — the quality of the content itself. While Highspot can help pinpoint content that’s working or not with analytics, the content’s quality must be addressed with deep expertise.

That’s exactly why we’re so excited to announce the introduction of Highspot Sales Acceleration Partners.

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It’s a whole new world for sellers and marketers. With the dawn of the digital era and the evolution of buyers, forward-thinking companies are transforming their approach to engaging customers — a transformation that begins with analysis and anticipation.

Reflecting back on a successful past first requires looking forward. Agile companies pivot their approaches based on current trends and educated predictions that will shape the business landscape. Many of these trends will be shared at TOPO Summit 2019, where 2,000 leaders (Highspot included!) will come together to discuss critical topics in revenue.

With the conference around the corner, we dove into three of today’s — and tomorrow’s — hottest topics that are impacting the modern market.

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After more than a month leading the EMEA operations for Highspot, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with a diverse range of customers and industry peers here in the UK and around the world. A common thread throughout these conversations is palpable excitement for how modern processes and technology are fundamentally transforming sales for the better.

This theme has dominated London’s Sales Innovation Expo. In the race for revenue, sales leaders and their teams need the most direct route to closing deals and wowing customers. Therefore, we must be diligent in evaluating the latest craze and its potential to make a tangible difference for the business.

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Today’s winning sales teams know that the modern buyer has changed. Buyers expect customized experiences and prioritize vendors who empower them with valuable information and don’t sell to them with generic pitches. Successful sales teams also know that delivering an effective, personalized buyer experience requires actionable analytics around buyer engagement and sales activity data. This is modern selling — using data-driven insights to adapt to buyer behavior and predictably grow revenue.

Highspot Integration with Clari Enhances Revenue Processes, Analytics

Our friends at Clari share our view of what it takes to succeed in sales today. That’s why we’ve teamed up to integrate Highspot into Clari’s Connected Revenue Operations platform. Building on Highspot Everywhere, which focuses on adding value to sellers and marketers no matter where they work, the combination of Highspot and Clari delivers a single workstream for managing and enabling modern selling. Together, we’re empowering marketing, sales enablement, sales operations, and sales performance management teams to effectively collaborate on the fastest, most predictable path to revenue.

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