Building Blocks, Close Up! How Enablement and Sales Managers Can Partner

Hello Enablers and happy Friday! Welcome to the 19th edition of our Building Blocks, Close Up! newsletter!

There's a lot of talk in the sales enablement community and market in general about the need for sales and marketing alignment. I wish I saw more of it actually happening, but I've written about it, too, and see the need, so you certainly won't hear me disagreeing. When it happens, the results can be impressive: less internal friction, more effective messaging to both the market and individual buyers, more efficient lead gen, improved velocity (right content in the right hands at the right time), and increased sales results.

Good stuff, right??

But there's another alignment and partnership opportunity that gets a lot less airplay yet has equal or even greater potential to drive sales results: the alignment and partnership between Sales Enablement and Front-line Sales Managers (FLSMs).?

The alignment & partnership between Sales Enablement & Front-line Sales Managers has tremendous potential to drive improved sales results.

If it sounds as if I’m ignoring the need for top-down support for enablement efforts from company executives and especially sales leadership – trust me, I’m not. Sponsorship and support is critical and we've talked about it in other newsletter editions. Leaders have a key responsibility in sharing the change story and inspiring and gaining support from front-line managers and employees. But without buy-in (not just compliance) from FLSMs, delivering large-scale organizational performance improvement through enablement is a pipe dream. Yes, I said it...

Without buy-in (not just compliance) from front-line sales managers, delivering large-scale organizational performance improvement through enablement is a pipe dream.

The role of these managers in driving change is a well-acknowledged point of view, so I'm not alone here. Engaging FLSMs is a critical strategy and worthy of discussion.

Sidebar:?Sales Enablement is Change Management

Just a quick note... I want to recognize that I’m talking about sales enablement as if it were some sort of… [prepare yourself]…?change management project.?

[Insert ominous music here.]?

In case there is any doubt, I want to dispel it here, before I move on.

Sales Enablement IS Change Management. If you don't acknowledge that, you will never deliver the best possible results from your enablement investments.??

Engaging Your Front-line Sales Managers

With that said, let’s talk about how Sales Enablement leaders can get FLSMs engaged in your sales performance change project. I could write a separate book about this single topic, so for this newsletter, will confine myself to four key recommendations.?

FLSM Buy-In

Gaining FLSM buy-in is the first step. Executive sponsorship and top sales leader support are certainly important, but if you don’t have true buy-in from managers, top-down support will only gain you a certain level of compliance. You need full engagement and discretionary effort.?

We could debate the efficacy of this practice, but we all know that typically, FLSMs get promoted because they were good sales reps. And, they also still see their reps grappling with reality every day. This makes your FLSMs a great source of content, customization advice, program feedback, and real-world reality checks.?

Getting your frontline managers involved in content development or customization is a great way to not only ensure your content will make a difference, when used, but to gain your managers' support. Engage them, listen closely, take their advice whenever you can, explain why if you can’t (and have a good reason), and this will go a long way toward getting their buy-in.

FLSMs as Coaches

Preparing FLSMs to coach effectively is another critical step. It’s hard to ask them to coach if they haven’t received great coaching as a model, or at least been well trained to do it. In one client organization, years ago, where I was asked to improve sales coaching effectiveness to help them lift sales results, managers thought they were coaching when they said,?"Mary, you’ve missed your goal for the past two months and if you don’t hit it this month, I’ll be forced to document it and start performance management with you."?(And no, I'm not kidding.) In another company, "sales coaching" was where the managers sat down with the reps to tell them what they were doing wrong and what to do instead. Then, it was?"Go get 'em, tiger!" and "Do better next month!"

This isn't a post on coaching, specifically (however, this post and this post are, if you would find that helpful), or performance management, but generally, to coach behaviors effectively after sales training or a sales methodology implementation, managers must know how to:

• Use reporting and analytics to identify areas for improvement.
• Hypothesize about the possible behavior gaps that are responsible for the performance gaps.
• Have a dialogue with their rep and observe them in action to confirm their hypothesis (or determine the actual behavior gaps), compared to what was taught and known to be an effective practice.
• Conduct an effective coaching session where the rep is engaged in both the discovery process (coming to their own conclusion about what the manager now realizes) and building the solution. (Interestingly, this is not much different than what we expect reps should do with their buyers.)
• Engage the rep in the construction of an action plan to implement a solution that will address the issue and improve their results.
• Get the plan in place and follow-up appropriately, coaching further, as needed.

With content that will work, FLSM buy-in, and effective coaching skills as a foundation, I’ll share a formula for a successful partnership between sales enablement and FLSMs.

Formula for Success: Sales Enablement + FLSMs

In short, using training as an example, this is the formula:

• Train Managers First
• Involve Managers During Sales Rep Training
• Partner for Knowledge Sustainment
• Partner for Skill Practice, Transfer, and Application
• Partner in Coaching to Mastery

In addition to training, this works for anything that is skills-based, such as following a process, personalizing content, conducting sales call planning, selecting the right content or collateral to satisfy buying process criteria, or more.?But for simplicity and consistency, let's continue to use sales skills training as an example.

Train Managers First

Depending on the size of your sales force and management team, some managers will have been involved in the sales methodology content development, and some may not have been. If you have a small manager force, involve everyone. If you can’t, select wisely. Often, the involvement of key, respected sales managers will help with the buy-in of others – especially if the involved managers update the others (positively) during the content development cycle.?

Even if they were engaged, your FLSMs should still be trained first in the final program content – as should those who weren’t as closely involved – before their reps are trained.?

I often joke that if I only had a dollar to spend on enablement, I’d spend 75 cents on the sales managers.?

[That’s hyperbole, to make a point, but not that far off.]?

If you expect your managers to coach and drive results with what was taught, they need to be the experts in your organization on the content. They will need their own reinforcement/sustainment, application/transfer plans, and coaching on both the rep program content and the sales coaching training, and this is where the Sales Enablement team can partner with sales leaders to support the FLSMs, for the benefit of all.

And, as mentioned briefly in the previous section, the FLSMs should receive training on sales coaching, and the same sort of support as you’ll provide for the rep training on sales methodology (content).

Show your respect for the FLSMs and support them in doing their jobs more effectively and getting better results from their reps, and you’ll have all the support you need, in return.

Involve Managers in Sales Rep Training

Yes, I know what you’re thinking:

• "But Mike, I just trained them on the rep content. You expect me to ask them to attend the training TWICE???You’ve lost your mind or don’t get reality!"

I may have lost my mind, but yes, that is exactly what I’m recommending, and what I have done, dozens of times, across multiple organizations, from SMB to Middle Market companies to Fortune 500 enterprises.?Is it always an easy sell??No, of course not.?Is it doable, frequently??Yes, absolutely.?You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

In fact, we're doing this right now at SPARXiQ, with clients, when we implement our Modern Sales Foundations methodology (over the course of six months or so). It's working. (Certainly it helps when you have a sharp sales leadership team who "gets it" and believes in what you’re doing, too.) Now, in fairness, I haven’t always succeeded, but it is completely possible. Sometimes, I’ve had to create an abbreviated training for managers, but I don’t lead with this option. It’s a negotiation fallback position, to use only as needed.

If you’re a "pick your battles" person, I believe this is one worth picking. In your organization, you’ll have to use your best judgment. Situations vary, and I always try to recognize that.?Nudging sometimes comes with some risk, but just remember that order-takers don't sit at the dining table.

?When managers attend the rep training sessions, have them attend to:

1. Set the stage upfront, for context.
2. Observe and support (and add "color commentary" throughout, as the spirit moves them, or as you purposefully orchestrate).
3. Set the tone by shutting their laptop (if onsite), putting their phone down, turning their webcam on (if virtual), and not answering emails or stepping away constantly for phone calls.
4. Perform an occasional demo for the group (helps with rep buy-in).
5. And, especially to be an extra coach for exercises, activities, and role plays.?

Plan for some preparation and alignment between you, the trainer, and the FLSMs to ensure the right expectations are set in advance, including roles, participation, and effective learning-support behaviors.

Knowledge Sustainment

There are various ways to support knowledge sustainment or retention, including?post-training sales meetings, follow-up quizzes/testing/assessments (aka "retrieval learning "), follow-up reinforcement or practice sessions (aka "spaced repetition "), and/or elearning, as just some options. Today, with the proliferation of sales enablement apps and tools, there are also options on the market that offer technology support for sustaining knowledge gained in training programs. For this purpose, look for a tool that can automatically send and track answers to questions, provide feedback based on correct/incorrect answers, do the same with brief quizzes, or simulate flash cards.

Skill Practice, Transfer, and Application

Getting people to use what you teach on-the-job has been a Holy Grail pursuit for so long in the learning/training profession, that it amazes me that we’re not better at it, as a whole.?

The first step is to provide enough practice, role play, and simulations with feedback loops and re-runs to develop comfort and improve skills. This newsletter edition offers some deeper advice on all of that.

Next is transfer (getting ready to use the new skills with buyers and customers) and application (actually using the skills, on-the-job). Not everyone differentiates between transfer and application, and frankly, I've only started to do it in the past few years. It makes sense to me because the latter (using the skills on-the-job) rarely happens without the specific transfer preparation.

I’ve used performance support (job aids) and Meetings in a Box, Manager Toolkits, or Manager Support Guides for years to help managers run post-training meetings to reinforce the training and help reps prepare to apply what they learned to real-world situations.?

Most of the major sales training firms offer multiple options to support transfer and application, and we do the same at SPARXiQ. Unfortunately, a common insider complaint in the sales training industry, is how difficult it can be to get clients to purchase these critical add-on solutions or to follow the vendor recommendations.?(Stunning, right? But true.)

If that were because organizations had their own solutions and were prepared to execute with discipline, I wouldn’t worry about it.?Unfortunately, that’s rarely the case.?Often, sales training remains event-based, with only good intentions and the hope that reps will apply what they learned. As my friend and fellow sales enablement author, Roderick Jefferson , often reminds us, hope is not a strategy.

The options continue to grow here for skill practice, too. I think Allego , with whom we partner at SPARXiQ, has some phenomenal options, including virtual coaching challenges, "hot seat" exercises, and most recently, even realistic simulations with an AI bot. I'm still a fan of two people calling each other on the phone (if you sell over the phone), or recording a role play with Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom. These options don't offer AI feedback or other fancier features, so I'm probably showing my age, but I grew up in sales with cassette tape recorders and VHS video recorders, and even they worked. My friend Guy Wallace often reminds me of the Claude "Butch" Lineberry quote...

"A hungry dog is not prevented from eating by the color of the bowl."

Meaning, for us, that even if you don't have the flashiest new tools, you can still radically raise skill and comfort levels through psychologically-safe practice with feedback loops and re-runs. Research shows that learner comfort (or discomfort) with new skills is a significant factor in whether those skills will be applied (or not).

Keep in mind that as good as these learning/sales enablement tools may be, most are designed to improve messaging or enable skill practice, but don’t necessarily support transfer (readiness for application) or the actual application (using the skill on the job, with real clients).?Performance support, manager follow-up, post-class meetings, follow-up training, and holding reps accountable are the old stand-bys that still work.?If you can incorporate process-oriented parts of the training into CRM, workflow support, or other sales enablement solutions, that’s an added bonus to make the new skills and behaviors "the way we do things around here." Whether you do it "old school" on a shoestring budget or pull out all your high-tech bright shiny objects - just do it.

• Prepare for transfer
• Follow-up to ensure application (both the activity and the quality of skill use)

And then you can... (drumroll, please)...

Coach to Mastery

If reps remember what they were taught and apply it on the job, you are still only halfway home.

[Sorry.]

When was the last time you learned a new skill or a shift in a complex behavior and mastered it while you were learning or immediately afterward??If you’re a sports-minded person, think about a tennis or golf lesson, which involved a new grip or swing.?Or perhaps trying to become a better public speaker or change eating and exercise habits.?These examples usually resonate with people and prove the point.?

Changing behaviors and habits is not easy.?Initial application does not guarantee mastery.?

Mastery is gained over time.?

This is why elite athletes, public speakers, and executives often engage coaches to reach higher levels of performance, just as some people engage a personal trainer to reach their health goals. Why we would expect this to be any different for sales professionals, is something I will never understand.

After the training, your reps will need coaching, and you’ve prepared your FLSMs to do it.?Now your managers need to execute, not just to help reps apply new skills and behaviors, but to develop new habits, and refine how they’re doing things over time, until they reach mastery (often to a level of unconscious competence).?

Although, I will say that my personal experience with top-performer analysis suggests that the very top-tier of performers (top 4%) shift between conscious and unconscious competence more frequently, as they continually try to learn and improve on their own.?This is not common, however. Most of us mere mortals need coaching.

Coaching to mastery is a longer-term effort, of course, and should be part of every FLSM’s arsenal and every rep’s personal development plan.?I can go one step further to suggest that what was learned in training become part of the organization’s entire performance management system, but that’s a topic for another newsletter.?For now, I’ll end here, and hope these thoughts will help you partner with your FLSMs.

Related Resources

Here are some additional resources for you. Peruse and read as time allows, dictated by your interest.

• Building Blocks, Close Up! - Sales Coaching (This newsletter)
• Aligning KPIs to Create Successful Partnerships (Nick Salas, via the SEC)
• Reaching and Changing Frontline Employees (from HBR: requires an account but not a subscription - and worth it)
• The Frontline Advantage (HBR)
• Ensure Sales Training Success with Change Leadership and Management - Part 1 and Part 2 (ATD)

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_____________________

Well, that's it for this week! Did you learn something new reading this newsletter? If you did, or if it just made you think (and maybe chuckle from time to time - bonus points if you snorted), consider sharing it with your favorite enablement colleague, subscribing right here on LinkedIn, and checking out our new?Building Blocks of Sales Enablement Learning Experience . Felix and I are both Building Blocks Mentors for the weekly group coaching sessions. We hope to see you there!?

Until next time, stay the course, and?#MakeAnImpact With #Enablement !