How Apptio Increased Rep Engagement by 41%

Technology business management software provider Apptio is dedicated to helping its customers make smart, data-driven decisions that will transform their business. With an advanced suite of solutions and products used by 60% of Fortune 100 companies, Apptio has helped global customers better manage their technology and resources to spur business growth. A long-time Highspot customer, Apptio’s needs have evolved significantly since its acquisition by IBM — and Highspot has remained an essential partner as it navigates its rapidly changing environment.

Organizational Change Evolves Enablement Needs

While Apptio has been a long-time customer, it isn’t hard for the team to remember what it was like before it implemented Highspot. In particular, its previous platform caused significant challenges for the go-to-market team. “It was not a good experience for our sellers,” shared Kris Richardson, senior director of sales and partner enablement at Apptio. “It was a poor user experience. Sellers couldn’t navigate very well. The search didn’t work. For anybody that was trying to create content, which was mostly our team and the marketing team, it was very clumsy.” 

But it wasn’t just the content creation process that became painful for Apptio’s enablement team. They found the previous platform’s absence of native analytics disappointing, as it meant they had little insight into the usage and performance of their content. Given the time and effort funneled into its creation, this limited visibility was frustrating and inhibited the team’s ability to design strategic sales assets — and ensure their proper usage. “Without that information, we didn’t know what was working,” explained Richardson. “So, we were just putting up everything we could every day and hoping that our sellers were clicking into it.” 

This inefficiency grated and, ultimately, led the team to Highspot. The partnership proved successful, as the new platform’s capabilities aligned with Apptio’s key goals. And with its recent acquisition, this priority became increasingly necessary to maintain as the team navigated change. With the support of a long-time enablement partner, Apptio’s enablement team was confident they could rise to the challenge and harness Highspot to effectively navigate change.

Knowledge Centralization Eases Complex Transitions

From day one, Apptio’s enablement team integrated Highspot into their daily routine, appreciating how it simplified their content strategy and made it easy to curate and distribute strategic, data-guided content at scale.“Highspot allowed us to create a repeatable process for getting important information and content out to our sellers,” shared Enciso. To ensure reps recognized Highspot as a single source of truth, the team made it a point to consistently reinforce the platform’s value to reps.

As early as onboarding, Apptio’s enablement team instills in each rep the habit of turning to Highspot for their every need. “Every time someone goes through onboarding, we point them to the Sales Plays,” explained Richardson. “We want to get them used to it right away, going to find content on Highspot.” From the outset, reps see Highspot as a trusted partner and learn to use Sales Plays to better land strategic initiatives in the field, helping to drive a 41% increase in rep engagement in enablement programs. With a healthy instance reps saw as a single source of truth, Apptio’s enablement team was well positioned to help reps navigate the company’s acquisition.  

As Apptio’s landscape shifted, reps knew where to turn — during this transition, Highspot adoption increased by 18% as reps flocked to the platform for the support they knew would be there. High engagement made it easy for Apptio’s enablement team to share key updates. “Highspot allowed us to bring a bit of calm to that chaos,” noted Enciso. “It’s a place to put all of the relevant information so we stay floating above water instead of sinking beneath all that change.” In doing so, the enablement team made it easy for reps to adapt and for managers to coach them through the change.

Effective Change Management Boosts Sales Pipeline

With Highspot, Apptio’s enablement team gained an agile partner equipped to support every initiative, from day-to-day enablement activities all the way to change management. Having successfully navigated the busiest phase of acquisition, the team is working hard to maintain and expand their use of the platform. “For us, it’s really important for that high adoption that everything is in Highspot,” shared Enciso. “If sellers need it, it’s in Highspot, and if they ask for it, it’s in Highspot. If they’re going to use it, it’s in Highspot.” With a 92% recurring usage rate, Apptio is confident that its reps are well-equipped to effectively drive business outcomes.  

Establishing Highspot as a trusted partner has led to returns beyond rep performance — and it all comes down to the daily value that a single source of truth provides, from easing the content search to up-leveling rep skills.