What strategies help you reinforce your enablement efforts, so Sales fully comprehends and leverages what you are training them on?

You have to be very clear up front around the objectives of the enablement effort itself. That is to say if you're running an enablement session on X product and its for sales that are brand new to the product, then outline within the calendar invite itself that this is a '101 level' training and you should not expect deep dive nor overly technical information to be part of the delivery. This helps level set first and foremost what they're going to get out of the session (and what they aren't!) I've always also found it helpful to have a really strong opening slide/talktrack around what they should expect to learn from the given session. Lastly, be sure to finish with 'Find out more' type resource slides and even better, when will there be further learning delivered? i.e if this was a 101 session, when is the 201 session etc? That lets them know that this is just the beginning and there's plenty more to come!

• Gamify your enablement trainings, whether during trainings or over chat forums like Slack or Google Meet. Ask questions that reinforce the most important takeaways from an enablement training, and reward those who answer correctly with points.

• Familiarize yourself with Sales teams' current capabilities - strengths / weaknesses by listening to recent calls with customers. Then, share live examples of ways they could have improved the conversation by using the strategies you are training them on. You'd want to get with them 1:1 to deliver the feedback, then ask if they're comfortable with you sharing with a larger forum for purpose of training.

• Focus on a smaller inner crowd of evangelizers, who will evangelize your message to the wider Sales team. You can also rely on them to give you feedback of what is sticking vs. not.

In smaller settings, asking sales to playback what you've enabled them on helps reinforce enablement. Ask them to practice explaining a new feature to you or giving you an elevator pitch on your product product. To reinforce efforts more broadly, make sure you have measures of success in place for your enablement efforts. For example, asking sales reps to record their sales calls when they are using a new pitch deck. Or, send out a sales survey after a new product launch to follow up on what's working/what's not from a messaging perspective on prospect calls.

As you are seeking solutions to reinforce training materials on a product launch or key initiatives, it is always helpful to initially understand why this is necessary. A brief survey and/or conversation with the sales leads that you are supporting can further direct so you can effectively optimize existing sales enablement efforts. There are different objectives and roles within sales (e.g. account executives, business development managers, and customer relationship managers) that need to be supported appropriately.

Some ideas for evaluating knowledgebase & re-inforcing training could include:

• Product certification: If it's a new product launch, and fairly technical, it may be important for all those in customer-facing roles to be certified.

• Assessment Quizzes: Engaging, short, and meaningful quizzes can support confidence and ensure alignment on the material that was shared between marketing and sales. Another concept related to this could be a scorecard with a bit more of a gaming component to make it fun!

• Office Hours: Do you remember office hours in school? Well, this is similar, but allowing different slots for Q&A, especially if led by a peer, can be quite helpful. The format can vary based on what's most productive and effective for the team.

• Customer Stories: Oftentimes, when we hear things as a story versus a core message with supporting benefits, even if relevant, it's more effective. There are many formats a story can be in from use cases to case studies

Enhance sales enablement effectiveness by focusing on engagement, peer endorsement, and concise content:

• Secure Early Buy-in: You need an endorsement from the top sales reps and have a reality check, so collaborate with them to review and endorse training materials before broadcasting them, ensuring relevance and credibility.

• Leverage Peer Influence: No sales want to listen to marketing. So, it's essential to incorporate success stories from sales reps into training sessions to echo key messages and demonstrate real-world applications.

• Prioritize Conciseness and Relevance: Sales are busy, and learning is never their priority. Design training content to be brief and directly beneficial, emphasizing how it supports sales objectives in a clear, easy-to-consume format.