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Rajendran Nair

AMA: Medallia VP Product Marketing, Rajendran Nair on Sales Enablement

July 20, 2021 @ 10:00AM PT

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  1. How do you keep competitive, personas, and market research info up-to-date and moving from product marketing to sales materials?

    Rajendran Nair
    Rajendran Nair

    Medallia Vice President Product Marketing • 4y

    This really depends on your product and industry. Let me outline a framework with four elements:

    • The customer perspective
    • The competitor perspective
    • The technology perspective, and
    • The marketplace perspective

    Take a look at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/product-marketing-three-words-part-ii-rajendran-nair/ and https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/product-marketing-three-words-part-iii-rajendran-nair/. I have laid out the framework I use to listen to the market.

    2,050 Views
    2 requests

  2. What sales enablement changes do we need to make as we shift focus from selling to SMB and mid-market to selling to enterprise?

    Our sales team is used to selling to SMB and mid-market.

    Rajendran Nair
    Rajendran Nair

    Medallia Vice President Product Marketing • 4y

    I am assuming here that you have already created stories/collateral that will be required to sell into the enterprise. FWIW, here is a framework I use to develop stories - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141028002202-1469522-product-marketing-in-three-words-part-i/, but happy to drill down with you here or offline if that helps. Selling to the Enterprise is likely to be very different from selling to SMBs and mid-market. Some key differences to note: The sales cycles are longer The decision mak ...Read More

    435 Views
    4 requests

  3. Which KPIs do you typically use to track sales enablement success?

    Rajendran Nair
    Rajendran Nair

    Medallia Vice President Product Marketing • 4y

    The most common KPI is the win rate. However, I dont think this is an accurate measure of your work as the eventual win depends a lot on other factors, starting with the salesperson running the cycle.

    I prefer to track the number of sales cycles that go past the initial demo stage because it more accurately reflects the results of your work.

    392 Views
    1 request

  4. What should I include in my product marketing budget?

    I already have things like Customer Visits, a Sales Enablement / Content Management tool, SKO, pricing model consulting.

    Rajendran Nair
    Rajendran Nair

    Medallia Vice President Product Marketing • 4y

    This is a good list to start with. I will add a couple: Analyst/3rd party thought leadership pieces: Having independent, 3rd party content is very helpful. If you are focused on the Enterprise, having content from top tier analysts is helpful. I have worked with Gartner, Forrester, The 451 Group, Ovum Research and IDC in the past Graphics/multimedia: you will need to generate lots of great content that you deploy across channels. You may have good writing skills in your team but you will likely ...Read More

    2,866 Views
    1 request

  5. Where would you start if Sales Enablement was new for a company?

    Rajendran Nair
    Rajendran Nair

    Medallia Vice President Product Marketing • 4y

    There are three key elements you need to consider: Your story and the constituent “story-lets” Your internal audience - sales being the most important, but you need to address the needs of other customer-facing professionals (customer success, support, professional services, etc.) Their audience (and how you can enable them to communicate better with them. To begin with, you will need to be in the thick of the action with the sales team. Listen in on sales calls, have weekly/monthly calls to col ...Read More

    729 Views
    2 requests

  6. How do you prioritize sales enablement needs across different product lines?

    Rajendran Nair
    Rajendran Nair

    Medallia Vice President Product Marketing • 4y

    I am not sure I understand this question but let me try. It starts with the corporate objective - what is the revenue goal for each product. Sales Enablement will need to focus on the product by priority.

    You also need to consider the lifestage of the product. For example, a new product may need additional focus as you evangelize it with the sales team.

    Did that answer your question?

    354 Views
    2 requests

  7. What type of content do you recommend a rep shares after that rep has a 30 minute discovery call to keep a conversation moving?

    Rajendran Nair
    Rajendran Nair

    Medallia Vice President Product Marketing • 4y

    To be clear, this answer is about assets that a rep should share after the initial discovery call but prior to the deeper dive (mostly demo) call. At a bare minimum, the rep should share a summary of the call, enumerating the key value proposition of your product (pre-canned) questions brought up by the prospect on the call (and the answers if possible/available) questions that the rep may have for the prospect, and the next steps to keep the conversation going. This could include other content ...Read More

    1,451 Views
    1 request

  8. I'm new to Sales Enablement and I'm curious how heavy-handed my approach should be. How much input does Sales expect from me, and what are some things that the sales team should be doing on their own?

    (For instance: pitch decks, collateral, competitor research, FAQs, etc.)

    Rajendran Nair
    Rajendran Nair

    Medallia Vice President Product Marketing • 4y

    When I am starting up a Sales Enablement practice (or it is a new product/market or even a new sales team), I prefer an intense, heavy handed approach, because that helps me develop and fine tune my stories and the assets I use to convey/manifest my stories. Over time, sales will have a bigger role in iterating on these assets, and possibly, to innovate on the messaging too.

    684 Views
    2 requests