"We DO NOT want to involve sales enablement in this new rollout with the reps..."

"We DO NOT want to involve sales enablement in this new rollout with the reps..."

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This is a very concerning trend I've seen three times in the last 90 days with large orgs.

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Senior sales leaders saying, and I quote...

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"Our enablement team sucks a**..."

"Our reps don't find value in the enablement sessions..."

"Our enablement team just hasn't sold ever or in a very long time..."

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Look, I get it. Not all enablement teams are created equal.

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But this is NOT the answer. These training engagements rarely go well.

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There's no one to properly project manage and own the engagement. Nothing gets tracked. And there's no long-term reinforcement plan to make sure everything sticks.

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It's a partnership. Sales leaders need to step up and work WITH enablement to get what they need.

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I've personally worked with world-class enablement leaders like Nate Vogel, Jonas Master, Siobhan Sweeney, and more.

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Here's what their teams do best:

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✅ Trusted Advisors

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At Rippling, Jonas and team believe that enablement needs to show up as a true partner.

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You're in the business. You're listening to call recordings. You're talking to reps. You're looking at the data.

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You go from: "So sales leader, what do you want to focus on in Q1?"

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To: "I have three insights to share from meeting with reps, managers, digging through the data, and listening to a few dozen calls..."

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✅ Share the Stage

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At Shopify, Siobhan and team believe that enablement should share the stage with reps & leaders.

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If an enablement professional isn't actively making cold calls, they shouldn't be teaching reps how to make cold calls.

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But that doesn't mean they can't facilitate the sessions. And bring in the top reps and leaders to demonstrate how they do their thing.

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✅ Management Enablement Rep Enablement

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At Gong/Databricks/and more, Nate and team believe that front-line managers should be the focus of enablement.

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That's right. Yell it loud for the folks in the back.

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Enablement should focus more on managers.

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How they'll coach, reinforce, measure, and hold reps accountable. You'll get way more ROI from any training effort when you do it this way.

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~~~

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Let's show some love.

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Tag one of your favorite enablement professionals in the comments below.

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