The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that productiveness decreased by 2.7 p.c within the first quarter of 2023, however hours labored elevated by 3%. With productiveness needing to be high of thoughts for a lot of organizations attempting to do extra with much less, how can gross sales enablement scale what attractiveness wish to drive productiveness?

Shawnna Sumaoang: Hello and welcome to the Win Win Podcast. I’m your host, Shawnna Sumaoang. Be a part of us as we dive into altering tendencies within the office and how one can navigate them efficiently. Right here to debate this subject is Michal Sever, the senior director of product advertising & product training at Nayax. Thanks for becoming a member of Michal! I’d love so that you can inform us about your self, your background, and your function. 

Michal Sever: Hello. It’s wonderful to be right here. Thanks for having me. I’m really working on this wonderful high-tech trade for greater than 17 years, practising innovation at wonderful corporations. I used to work at Amdocs, Microsoft, Gentrack, and now at Nayax. Nayax is definitely a FinTech firm, we’re specializing in funds addressing retails from all sizes, segments, and areas. We’re current in additional than 80 international locations. 

Now, put up covid and with self-service on the rise, we’re positioned in an incredible place to serve our clients finest as we place cashless cost on the heart of our gravity, enabling our clients, the retailers, the retailers, the operators to deal with their enterprise, whereas with out hardwired software program, they will neglect in regards to the hardships of chip funds and simply guarantee that with our options they will improve the revenues and scale back their operational bills. 

At Nayax, I’m main the product advertising and training staff. I’ve an incredible staff and we’re on the core of enterprise right here. We’re really the lacking hyperlink between advertising, market, gross sales, and product, and we’re holding every little thing aligned, tackling challenges as they arrive alongside, since challenges are inevitable. What drives us, Nayax and I, and my staff are studying. We’re studying on a regular basis. We’ve got a studying ecosystem and coping with difficult conditions, we discover that studying is without doubt one of the best methods to bridge these gaps. That is what drives me, and my staff, and every day it’s a brand new day right here at Nayax we’re studying lots. That’s me, my function, the corporate I work at. 

SS: Improbable. Properly, one of many issues that I like about your background is you’ve gotten quite a lot of expertise in model advocacy and storytelling. How does that background assist affect your method to product advertising and product training?

MS: I’m very a robust believer in storytelling. I imagine that behind each narrative there are a gazillion tales, but it surely actually will depend on the particular person that you’re telling the story to. Ultimately, the premise of storytelling is knowing the narrative, and behind these narratives are feelings. Our means as product entrepreneurs and product training leaders is to inform the narrative of our clients or let’s say our prospects or everybody that we need to ship a narrative to know their pains, the challenges of every particular person that’s standing in entrance of us. That is our superpower. The storytelling, understanding the narrative, understanding the ache behind every act. As soon as we construct the story round these narratives and pains, I believe it’s an awesome functionality for every product, marketeer, and product training chief.

SS: What does good product training appear to be to you? Possibly mentioned one other means, what are your finest practices for creating efficient product teaching programs? 

MS: I believe this fully pertains to the storytelling facet and the emotional narrative, once more, and I’ll clarify. What we do at Nayaz, we’re consistently attempting to find out about our buyer’s journey. The journey doesn’t need to be confronting solely us. The journey can begin wherever and at any time. Our clients have their journey that they’re coping with their companies with their operations and generally even with us. They’ve a really complete day of their lives every day and to ensure that us to create one of the best practices and efficient product teaching programs, we have to actually know our clients and to know their journeys, let’s say throughout the board. 

As I mentioned firstly, it’s a studying ecosystem. Every day we be taught one thing new about our clients and about their journey. As soon as we notice how our clients are wanting and what their journey is, solely then once we know them, we are able to set our program into motion. That is what we’re consistently doing and we name this whole framework the engagement cycle. That is our greatest apply. We’re ensuring that we’re partaking with our clients in each section of this journey and in each section, and it doesn’t matter whether it is firstly of the cycle earlier than he turns into our buyer, and he’s nonetheless within the advertising or pre-sale section, or if he’s transferring on to the order to activation course of after he mentioned, I do, and he determined, let’s say, to get married to us, or if it’s afterward when he desires to upscale or to get extra educated and perhaps even to upsell or, or to cross-sell. 

In each section of this engagement circle, we have to perceive his drawback, his pains, and his feelings with a view to handle him with the best messaging, the best story, and the best content material, which may be very segmented. From pre-sale by way of activation to progress, we at all times must guarantee that our clients are completely happy. I believe that is just like the baseline or the basis of finest apply in our area from the underside up and high down. Protecting a advertising umbrella additionally offers us air protection to stay high of thoughts of our clients and prospects, and ultimately sustaining transparency and information, on a regular basis, information about our clients and sustaining the information inside the buyer’s house is about us. It’s like a street from us to them and from them to us with a view to keep transparency, information, and understanding of one another. I believe that is the premise of efficient product teaching programs. 

SS: I like that. I believe that’s improbable. Assist me tie that again to what we had been speaking about within the introduction round gross sales productiveness. How can efficient product advertising and training drive gross sales productiveness? 

MS: The idea of gross sales productiveness that’s being affected by our actions, the PMMs actions, first, it actually will depend on the great relationship between the gross sales and the advertising groups. Gross sales and advertising need to go collectively, particularly to make the PMM work. It has to go hand in hand. We have to dance nicely collectively with a view to be efficient and productive. One of many fundamental focus areas for advertising and product advertising and particularly is to create profitable and segmented gross sales enablement kits. By enabling gross sales in the best method and with the best content material, gross sales may be extra productive, save time, and efficiently drive closed-won alternatives. I’m going again to storytelling and emotion and connections. Product advertising managers are accountable for creating the gross sales kits that will probably be pushed by feelings and pushed by relevance by way of the section vertical and even the particular timeframe inside the touching level.

In an effort to construct a productive gross sales package that can have an effect on productiveness inside gross sales, all of the collaterals, the presentation, the product guides, and different supplies need to equip gross sales in a segmented means. They must be successfully communicated to the gross sales from inside the PMM staff. These supplies ultimately can empower the gross sales representatives to ship fixed and persuasive messages throughout their interactions with the prospects. 

I’ll give two examples. The primary instance in these, let’s say collaterals, that must be constructed is first is making a related worth proposition. One of many fundamental focuses inside the gross sales enablement package is to speak a singular worth proposition and advantages of the particular product that the gross sales will need to take to its prospects. The gross sales groups must articulate the worth place to potential clients as a result of when a buyer understands how a product can remedy their drawback or fulfill their wants, they’re extra more likely to make a purchase order, which implies that the gross sales course of or the cycle will probably be extra productive.

One other instance is, after all, the messaging. Product advertising can make sure that the gross sales staff has focused and compelling messages that can resonate with particular buyer segments as a result of every message pertains to one other buyer. There aren’t two clients or two personas inside clients that can conform to the identical method or the identical tone of voice. The message may be created in some ways. Tailor-made messages can allow the gross sales consultant, once more, to attach with the shoppers in a extra deep emotional method or stage with a view to drive extra productiveness to their actions. In fact, there’s the outbound perspective as nicely, which implies that efficient product advertising may also help construct a robust product or a model fame, establishing the highest of thoughts and belief and credibility inside the buyer’s domains and naturally every little thing that has to do with lead era all through your complete buyer journey. 

I believe to sum it up ultimately if product advertising and the gross sales group are working nicely collectively and dancing nicely collectively, as I mentioned earlier than, there are 4 fundamental points that may be decided as productive and likewise may be measured as a result of it’s actually essential to measure success on a regular basis. First, I believe by working collectively, we may give time again to gross sales that they will both use to method extra prospects or they will simply sip a espresso on the seaside, no matter they need to do extra. No, I’m simply joking. Second, every little thing has to do with a greater buyer expertise. If a buyer is completely happy and happy and we’re approaching him with related messaging and the related tone of voice, he would possibly buy extra. He would possibly cross-purchase, et cetera. Third, pipeline creation. If we’re delivering the best messaging and the best worth proposition in the best channels, we’d enlarge the pipeline. Final, we deliver a better, sooner win charge, messaging, worth proposition, and correct gross sales kits. I believe all of them, whereas working with gross sales, can undoubtedly drive increased productiveness for each departments. 

SS: Now, previous to implementing Highspot, what challenges had been your reps going through because it pertains to gross sales productiveness, and the way have you ever been in a position to remedy these challenges since implementing Highspot?

MS: Nayax has massively grown within the final couple of years. We additionally skilled a really profitable IPO and our gross sales group grew lots. We turned greater than we was, and it turned slightly bit arduous to handle from afar. Our headquarters is in Israel, and it was actually troublesome to keep up a single tone of voice for everybody. That was a very enormous problem with a view to keep constant promoting. Now that we serve greater than 80 international locations, simply take into consideration the implications of gross sales package creation and the necessity to create so many alternative messaging for various personas in several verticals, segments, and international locations and, after all, languages, however nonetheless preserve one distinctive worth proposition and comparable model fame.

It turned messy and the necessity to bridge between what headquarters wished to say in regards to the model and its product and the way it was translated to the sector turned difficult. We needed to discover some sort of an answer, not just for sustaining one tone of voice but in addition to have like a single supply of fact wherein all of the content material resides, like a content material repository that’s on a regular basis up to date and true to what we’re promoting. What occurred is we noticed lots of people from the gross sales group simply utilizing content material from a few years in the past and never correct content material. We’re working in a really fast atmosphere, every little thing right here is microservices, the ICD and we’re on a regular basis persevering with to take a position and develop, and promote. 

We noticed that persons are not using essentially the most correct and related and newest content material, and due to this fact not sustaining even the transparency and the information that’s required for purchasers. It was a giant drawback, so we had been really looking for a platform that can remedy all of those conditions, a platform that can keep a single supply of fact for everyone that can talk in a single voice and ultimately, most significantly, remedy the content material chaos that we had. I do know that you just guys name it content material chaos at a Highspot, so we seek for it, after which we discover a Highspot. I believe the remaining is historical past as a result of the issue was solved virtually fully. 

One very last thing we additionally wished to seek for a platform that’s fully data-driven. It was actually essential for us now that we have now such a big gross sales group, to guarantee that all of the gross sales are working in the best route. It’s not a matter of belief, it’s a matter of aligning and having productive gross sales cycles. We seek for a system that first will probably be fully linked to our CRM system, which is after all Salesforce, and that we’ll be capable of join between the advertising collaterals or the product advertising collaterals to the alternatives or leads themselves. We additionally wished to avoid wasting time for our consultant. We didn’t need them to seek for the best content material whereas they’re in a sale alternative whereas they’re on a name, we wished them to avoid wasting time and to seek out the collaterals they want swiftly and with out having the headache of messing round. 

SS: Properly, I’m glad that Highspot might assist. I’d additionally love to know, we’ve been on this subject of gross sales productiveness, what’s an instance of an initiative or program that you just’ve applied to drive gross sales productiveness, and the way have you ever leveraged Highspot to assist this?

MS: By the best way we name Highspot “Nayax Win”, we modified the identify with a view to match our group as a result of we name our gross sales group winners, so we known as Highspot ‘Nayax Win’. Which all people loves. If I’m complicated and saying win as a substitute of Highspot, excuse me, but it surely’s burned to my head already. 

Referring to your query, we love the truth that Highspot is embedded into Salesforce you click on on one button after which it opens up and all SDRs and the gross sales group can see the advertising collaterals which are related to a particular alternative. The truth that it’s simply in entrance of them with the collateral that they should use inside a particular name or inside a particular alternative is basically useful, but it surely’s not sufficient. One of many fundamental options that we love about Highspot is the power to pitch from inside the system. We’ve got created many pitching templates in accordance with particular clients, particular verticals and segments, and naturally, regarding particular merchandise. The truth that you may be in Salesforce, engaged on a particular lead, for instance, for our product, after which seeing simply in entrance of you the related FAQs, ceaselessly requested questions, or objection dealing with, after which the related one web page that may shut the deal.

When you end the dialog with the lead, you inform him I’ll ship an e mail with all of the related materials, and also you simply click on the pitch button, after which it opens up a display the place you’ll be able to both report your self, or you’ll be able to simply ship the collateral by way of to your clients. That’s wonderful. Ultimately, the shopper receives a really good touchdown web page wherein they will see the collaterals, and the abstract of the dialog, and I believe for each methods, for gross sales representatives and likewise the shoppers, it creates a sense as in the event that they’re all engaged on the identical web page. 

For us, the power to attach the CRM to our Highspot or Nayaz win to ease the journey for our clients on one hand and the work of our SDRs was wonderful. We see that it actually drives gross sales productiveness from the timesaving perspective, but it surely’s not sufficient. What we’re reaching to see, and I suppose we are able to speak about it afterward in additional element, however we need to see the correlation between Highspot utilization and the closed gained. I’m positive that there’s a excessive correlation between utilizing the best messaging and the best collaterals and proper messaging and it will definitely results in fewer touching factors.

For us, let’s say, a profitable program or to indicate full productiveness would be the means to indicate increased numbers within the closed wons that our collaterals which are pushed into Nayax Win, or Highspot, versus those that didn’t. We are able to see all of it as a result of Highspot is totally data-driven, so we are able to see the names of the reps who used it and who didn’t. Subsequently we are able to undoubtedly see who’s driving productiveness using Win, and we see the distinction, which is wonderful. We’re solely three months into the method and we already see the distinction between a closed gained of reps which are utilizing Highspot and those that are usually not.

SS: I like that. That’s improbable. Now, you additionally lately hosted your organization gross sales kickoff occasion just a few months in the past. You talked about that your staff exceeded your KPIs for engagement from the gross sales staff. I’d like to be taught slightly bit extra about that. I do know a few of us are heading into kickoff season midway by way of the yr, what had been a few of your finest practices for delivering an enticing occasion that basically motivated your sellers?

MS: We had an incredible SKO. Really, at Nayax we don’t name it SKO, we name it Join as a result of our promoting mannequin is oblique and direct. It implies that we’re promoting lots by way of distributors and companions, so we name it join as a result of we join all of the teams collectively. We had a really profitable SKO in January after three years that we haven’t met one another head to head. It was actually emotional and completely happy. It was actually wonderful to satisfy once more after so a few years, however once we introduced all people collectively, we had quite a lot of content material to ship.

I believe the 2 most partaking periods, one in all them, by the best way, was pushed by a Highspot, however one of many two most partaking periods that we had was inspiring. The primary one was an expo. We created an exposition of every little thing that we promote. As I mentioned about Nayax, we’re specializing in cost as our heart of gravity, however the cost is definitely a part of a whole answer that’s based mostly on {hardware} and software program. What we have now first is our built-in level of sale with software program that’s embedded inside the level of sale. Then we have now the administration suite behind it that may handle all of the operations with our companies, and naturally, all our loyalty and engagement packages for elevated income and recurring clients.

What we’ve completed at SKO, is we introduced quite a lot of our units which are linked to the retail units themselves, the unattended machines, the retail machines, and we requested our gross sales to play with them and to see the way it works as in the event that they had been customers, the operators themselves which are having the customers use their machines. I believe they discovered lots about new options and new features, how one can use them, which issues happen, and in the event that they happen, and we had the product managers determine on every answer and product explaining to the gross sales group as soon as they’re practising and using the machines as if they’re our operators or the customers of the operators to allow them to contact it themselves and really feel it themselves. It was a real engagement and so they liked it. 

The second was really a job play wherein we selected real-life examples of conditions wherein our gross sales consultant wanted to promote one thing to operators and clarify the precious place and the advantages behind our options. We created 10 completely different conditions, which had been very difficult, and we had a panel of judges, which was our two CEOs, and our complete c-suite. We requested the gross sales consultant to indicate how they’re planning to handle the sale. What number of touching factors, which content material do they need to ship in every touching level, and the way are they planning to handle it? Within the gross sales performs themselves, what we examined was not what they promote or how they promote the particular product, but in addition how they’re promoting by way of gross sales delicate expertise, which was a mix of coaching and training.

I believe the mixture of teaching on high of the coaching on the options themselves was very partaking and profitable as a result of they discovered lots with regard to not solely the capabilities of the merchandise but in addition their capabilities as salespeople and gross sales representatives on how one can leverage their delicate expertise to higher locations. These two periods had been extremely profitable, however your complete SKO was wonderful and it was a lot enjoyable. I can’t await the subsequent one. Severely. 

SS: I like that. Now you even have a 92% lively learner charge in your coaching and training packages in Highspot. How have you ever leveraged Highspot’s coaching and training capabilities to actually develop partaking product training per packages, and the way has this motivated productiveness?

MS: I have to say it wasn’t straightforward and I really feel as if we solely began, however your complete staff was actually engaged. It’s the gross sales staff and the product staff, the product advertising staff, and the advertising staff. We had a hackathon to construct all of the supplies and we actually constructed all of it with a view to guarantee that we’re not neglecting any section, any vertical, any line of enterprise, any geographies. It’s nonetheless a piece in progress. I imply, it’s not finalized in any respect, and we nonetheless have an extended approach to go, however there are some things that we did that had been actually essential with a view to obtain such a excessive rating in a decrease time frame. 

I believe the primary one is to have a gross sales enablement champion that can drive your complete growth and engagement and will probably be just like the lacking hyperlink between gross sales and product advertising, gross sales, and headquarters. I believe that is undoubtedly one thing that raised the bow for us. As soon as we had our gross sales enablement champ listening to gross sales pitches and A/B testing scripts and reviewing every little thing that we’ve completed, it actually leveraged our coaching and training capabilities. This particular person from my staff actually bridged the hole, and as soon as she spoke with the gross sales groups, she got here again to us, to the advertising staff on what to repair and what to do higher, and that is how we higher ourselves. I believe it was actually essential. 

In an effort to inspire utilization and engagement, all people used the packages and system we wanted to package deal it alongside gross sales enablement periods. We’ve got a staff that we’re managing as if it was a WhatsApp staff inside Microsoft Groups. We’re consistently sharing info with it. I believe ultimately, we’re solely firstly, we nonetheless have an extended approach to go to ensure that me to really feel that we’re fully bringing within the productiveness from the system, however we’re to start with, we’re already saving time for reps. Let’s say the tip recreation will probably be to indicate the whole correlation between closed gained and the utilization of the collaterals, after which we are able to undoubtedly talk about full productiveness. We nonetheless have an extended approach to go, regardless of the excessive rating that you just gave us.

SS: Yeah. I like to listen to that although. Properly, final query for you. What are some key enterprise outcomes that you’ve got been in a position to obtain since implementing Highspot, particularly because it pertains to gross sales productiveness? 

MS: Every month we see a rise within the utilization of salespeople inside the system, and we see a correlation between the utilization and the income from closed gained. The primary month that we began using the system, which was March, we had been standing on zero engagement. Now, within the gross sales group, we have now about 100 customers. We have already got 35% of engagement. From this 35% of engagement of lively customers which are actively utilizing pitches and our gross sales performs and are visiting the assorted spots each day, we see a rise. I don’t need to state a quantity as a result of it’s consistently altering, however we have now a rise in there, let’s say closed-won capabilities.

I will probably be completely happy to share the numbers, however solely in just a few weeks as a result of we’re nonetheless sharpening our analytics there. As I mentioned earlier than, it’s already starting and we did set up a single supply of fact, which is 100% success. We don’t see folks utilizing any supplies from their desktops anymore, which implies that this KPI was 100% achieved. By way of a single supply of fact achieved by way of one tone of voice. This was additionally, for my part, let’s say 90% or 95% achieved. 

We see that everyone is utilizing the messaging that we wish them to make use of. We see a transparent path within the change and the way persons are talking about Nayax in the identical messaging, as I mentioned firstly, the story that we wished them to talk about and to inform, we see it and we hear it throughout the globe from america, from Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, all people is using the identical tone of voice, which is wonderful.

We nonetheless have an extended approach to go. There’s a saying, by the best way, which I like. I all of a sudden remembered from Robin Shama that he mentioned that change is tough at first, messy within the center, and lovely on the finish. I believe ultimately the adoption of Nayax win or Highspot, it’s all about behavioral change for the salespeople, and from that perspective, from that KPI of a behavioral change, I believe we have now no less than 85% completion as a result of we see the utilization and we see persons are adopting it.

It’s arduous to undertake a unique approach to make the most of content material and to devour content material, and a unique approach to pitch after 15 or 17 years that you’ve got been pitching in the identical means all of a sudden to have any individual are available in and say, no, do that, do this. It’s arduous, however we’re on the best way and we need to affect the rise in closed gained with the system. I imagine we are going to get there. I believe the tip recreation for us will probably be to see a whole correlation between Highspot utilization and closed gained. In an effort to do this, we’ll preserve pushing and it’s not straightforward, however ultimately, it’ll be beautiful, so we have now persistence. 

SS: I like that. Thanks a lot for sharing your story with us at this time. I respect the time. 

MS: For positive. It was pretty being right here and thanks for having me. 

SS: Thanks for listening to this episode of the Win Win podcast. Be sure you tune in subsequent time for extra insights on how one can maximize enablement success with Highspot.