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When Kara Underwood joined Wrike to lead globalemployee and partner enablement, the collaborativework management software company was in needof a new, easier way to roll out onboarding and otherreadiness programs to its rapidly expanding team.With Wrike growing globally, creatingenablement team can regularly gathera consistent onboarding experiencebest practices from and vet content andfor salespeople in all regions was oneenablement deliverables with is critical toof Underwood’s most urgent priorities.success of a sales enablement program.”Since the company was adding 10-25new sales colleagues per month, sheAlong with developing a business planneeded to act quickly.and agreeing on goals and metrics withexecutives, another important task was toRevamping sales enablement programsfind a sales readiness platform that wouldis a challenge for any leader comingsupport onboarding, certifications andinto a new role at a new company. Butother enablement programs for Wrike’sUnderwood had been in this positionsalespeople and partners.before, having held many sales trainingand enablement roles at technology“We needed something that was easycompanies since 1998. One of her keysto implement and scale, with goodfor success involves having a plan fordata integrity and reporting, where weher first 100 days, which she treats like acould scale out content across multiplediscovery process with a new client.audiences,” said Underwood.“You should really understand [yournew organization’s] challenges,at a new company,” she said.Making the BusinessCase for SalesReadiness Technology“Make sure you’re tailoring whateverWhen it came to onboarding, part ofyou’re building appropriately and thatUnderwood’s approach was to give reps ayou’re checking with your internalsingle source of truth from day one.needs, inhibitors and best practices,of developing sales enablementclient on an ongoing basis to ensure itsrelevant and on-target with their needs.“What I’ve seen work is putting fact-Introducing a sales task force made up ofbased content around sales process,high performing colleagues from varyingsales tools and [the company’s productsales roles and geographies that the salesoffering] into eLearning courses, videos11

COVER STORYor documentation where people can getand get reps up to speedthat content from day one. Committing toquickly. She highlightedmaintaining that content on an ongoingthe value of having thebasis is important because it is volatile andfunctionality of both athere are constant changes,” she said.learning management system(LMS) and a video coachingAll she needed was a platform that couldtool in a single platform,make that possible. She was already verywhich would eliminate the need to togglefamiliar with the sales enablement andbetween multiple systems and sift throughreadiness technology landscape and haddata in different reports.experience using one particular platform atthe previous companies she’d worked for.That platform was Brainshark, whichUnderwood has gone back to time andRole-BasedOnboarding andCertificationstime again. At a former company, shereferred to Brainshark as a critical part ofOnce Underwood got the sign-off to bringher enablement strategy and the drivingBrainshark to Wrike, she began to put allforce behind cutting new reps’ time toaspects of her sales readiness strategyproductivity in half.into motion. She designed onboardingcurriculums byBut even thoughsales role (salesUnderwood haddevelopment rep,confidence thatBrainshark would bea fit for Wrike, shestill had to sell theplatform internallyand get buy-in fromthe C-level. She puttogether a businesscase showing thatWrike’s existingsolution for salestraining resultedin inconsistentreadiness, too manysupport tickets,productivity loss for“If you want tosee behaviorchange and youwant people tolearn, you needa multi-facetedapproach. That’swhere a solutionlike Brainshark iscritical.”her team memberssales engineers,account executives,account managers,sales leaders,channel sales, etc.).When new hiresarrive on their firstday, they experiencea multi-prongedtraining approachthat helps them learnand apply knowledgein multiple waysand see a roadmapfor what they needto learn and when.and unreliable data.For example, new hires might watchThen she demonstrated how the ease ofa training course on facilitating a firstuse of the Brainshark platform would helpmeeting and product demo, then applyWrike save time, increase productivitythat knowledge in a video coaching12activity, which is then reviewed by asales manager or sales enablement teammember. From there, the sales colleagueswould bring that knowledge full circle atan in-person onboarding workshop andduring shadowing activities with veteransalespeople. Finally, the new reps wouldcomplete a certification indicating theirreadiness to start selling.“The certification process is a requirementfor all sales roles. Brainshark is helpingto manage that process and track it,”explained Underwood.Brainshark also enables the Wrike SalesEnablement team to easily create newcontent and upload existing assets foronboarding curriculums. When contentchanges, it’s simple for them to updateit quickly.“It’s very easy to maintain content withBrainshark and leverage it for otheraudiences,” she said. “Other tools don’tmake content maintenance easy. I’vealways found if it’s too hard to update thecontent, it just doesn’t get done. Most salescontent is volatile and can be out-of-datewithin 3-6 months.”Underwood and her team can now keep ramptimes on track by monitoring reps’ progressand certifying them before they go out intothe field. And because sales onboarding hasrun so smoothly with Brainshark, Wrikealso uses the platform to onboard other newemployees and partners.

COVER STORY“Brainshark is helping us deploy this level ofdelivering a new demovolume – it’s hard to manage all of those role-for a new persona. Tobased curriculums for employees and partners.prepare the reps, the salesThe system allows us to do that with itsenablement team assignedflexibility. And our rigorous certifications needpre-work, including coursesgood reporting, which we’re able to do withoutregarding, ‘how to tailora lot of manual processes.”your approach to specificSalesReadinessat goingtrainingVideo opsSales kickoffpre-workand activitiesPartnerenablementpersonas’ and ‘how to demoHelping Reps ‘Wrise Up’Through ReadinessPreviously, Wrike had a lot of product trainingcontent for salespeople, but not a lot of coursesregarding selling and positioning the valueof the solution. With Brainshark, the salesenablement team can quickly create or bring inexisting content and design learning paths thatcover a lot more ground.Having all that content has been helpful forreps, but Underwood said the key to readinessis ensuring that reps are learning, practicingskills and earning certifications on an ongoingbasis, especially after onboarding ends.“You’re only going to get to a certain level ofknowledge and productivity with new hires,”she added. “You’ve got to look at how to take itto the next level, keep people up-to-date andcontinue to invest in them.”Underwood has extended her multi-prongedapproach to ongoing training. Activities likementoring from tenured reps and sharingsuccess stories and lessons learned are nowpaired with eLearning and coaching activitiesin Brainshark to keep reps’ skills and knowledgesharp. And when the company gets togethereffectively’ and resourcessuch as a pitch deck.“Brainshark gave us anopportunity to better useour in-person time atkickoff, by having peoplego through the materialfirst before they gotthere, which allowed formore time for interactivediscussion, exercisesand celebrating success,”Underwood said.Onsite at kickoff, all salesroles had other activities to complete throughBrainshark’s coaching tool to test theirreadiness. For example, sales developmentreps (SDRs) were asked to upload aprospecting email and account executivescomposed a deal strategy example based onWrike’s Value Selling methodology, as wellas a competitive value-based analysis anda time-based incentive letter, so managerscould evaluate the responses and providefeedback.The theme for the company’s most recent SKOwas ‘Wrise Up,’ and the event had no shortageof readiness activities to help reps be at theirbest in 2020. Salespeople were tasked withprogram, you’re going to get betterproductivity, a better end-user experience,better reporting and a better customerservice experience with Brainshark. There’s amarketable difference.”She said it’s important to be able toexecute on her learning philosophy, butthat method must also match up withthe needs of modern sales teams today –which often means multiple sales roles,Technology Leadership Readiness Successfor milestone events such as sales kickoff, it’s achance to see all of that knowledge in action.holistically at all the aspects of an enablementThroughout the year, Underwood said salesreadiness technology and reliable data helpto strengthen her enablement programsand ability to be an effective leader.“At the end of the day, when you look13across multiple locations, and enablementprograms that need to be tailored to eachrole’s key skills and goals.“If you want to see behavior change andyou want people to learn, you need a multifaceted approach. That’s where a solutionlike Brainshark is critical.”

4 Ways toSpeed UpYour SalesOnboardingWhen onboarding is fast and effective, itcan reduce ramp times by 3.4 months andimprove quota attainment by 7% – makingspeed an especially critical part of your newhire training approach.1. Start onboarding soonerTraditionally, onboarding begins onthe new hire’s first official day withthe company. A speedier onboardingstrategy would include “pre-It’s sales enablement’s job to not onlydesign an onboarding program that deliversthe right skills and knowledge, but to makeit an efficient process that decreases time toproductivity and gives you the best chanceat achieving sales goals. Check out 4 helpfultactics for accelerating sales onboarding inany organization.boarding,” which gets sales learningstarted before Day 1, giving reps achance to hit the ground runningduring that critical first week.Pre-boarding can be as simple ascreating a short training coursethat gives reps a high-leveloverview of company products andsolutions, value proposition, targetindustries and buyer personas. Thekey here is to make this learningpackage available as soon as anew seller’s paperwork clears.14

2. Make microlearninga priorityyour organization well and haveUsing a sales readiness platform,already spent months (or years)sales enablement teams can leverageselling in your target markets.onboarding data in a few ways:In-person bootcamps, which area common onboarding tactic, hitTry pairing new hires with high-1. See which training courses arereps with a ton of new informationperformers and create a checklist ofbeing viewed, and for how long, toat once – information they oftenlearning activities for each duo. Thebetter understand what content isforget once they start selling. Long,mentees might observe three of the(or isn’t) resonating with new reps.live training sessions can alsotenured rep’s calls in their first 30require major resources, like traveldays. In turn, the mentor can lead a2. Track the learning progress ofexpenses and time commitments“pre-brief ” and “debrief ” explainingindividuals and teams, ensuringfrom subject matter experts.how they approach each call andsales hires complete requiredtheir thought process behind it.courses and assessments ontime – and that managers areMicrolearning courses improveknowledge retention by deliveringIf you’re onboarding reps in a large ornew information in a series ofdispersed organization, you can also“bite-sized” chunks, such as shortuse a video coaching tool to capture3. Better understand whether sellersvideos, animated presentations, andbest practices from the A-players onhave mastered onboarding materialinfographics. This makes the learningeach team. Top reps can record short,using video coaching, whereby theymore consumable (and retainable).informal videos describing something“stand and deliver” what they’veas simple as an effective cold-callinglearned and submit a recording forSales readiness technology allowsstrategy or how they won their biggestscoring and feedback. If reps aresellers to easily access microlearningdeal. The best examples often make greatconsistently struggling with certaincontent on the go and progressadditions to formal training content!skills (e.g. objection-handling),holding each accountable.through onboarding at their ownteams can review and re-calibratepace. Video-based courses can berelated training as needed.further enhanced with attachments,links, and interactive quizzes. This4. Generate scorecards to gainmakes learning on the job easy andgreater visibility into the salesflexible, whether reps are traveling,activities of new hires bothat home, or visiting a client.during and after onboarding.4. Gain insight into youronboarding processThis makes it easier to identifyperformance challenges thatneed to be readdressed with3. Shadow A-playersTime to productivity is an importantadditional training, whilemeasure of sales onboarding success,providing insight into how newbut it’s also a lagging indicator. Knowingrep output is measuring up withwhether your program is workingthat of others on their teams.right now will help you course-correctsooner – and avoid waiting months toPeers can be priceless resourcesrealize that new reps are struggling.for new salespeople. They know15

How to Reducethe Hidden Co tsof Sales TrainingIf your sales training is builtorganization might pay to flyaround a set of sporadic bootreps into HQ, book hotel rooms,camps, the reality is that repscater meals, and book valuablewon’t retain most of thattime with subject matter expertsinformation. That’s because in-for each session – a shakyperson sessions often hit repsinvestment if sellers forget mostwith a lot of new information atof what was discussed.once, which can cause cognitivebacklog (which means learningHowever, the wrong approacheffectively goes “in one ear andcan also incur some not-so-out the other”).obvious costs. Here are 3 hiddentraining expenses and how salesThere are clear costs associatedreadiness technology can helpwith on-site training. Anyou reduce them.16

Hidden Cost #1:Sales Rep Turnover For many companies, sales onboarding is ineffective, too slow,or both. But for new sales hires to be successful, they need to betrained quickly and armed with the skills and knowledge thatwill help them start closing deals as fast as possible. The moreIf the answer is ‘no,’ you risk assuming sellers are ready to engagesuccessful a rep is, the more likely they are to enjoy a long andbuyers when they really aren’t. This can lead to trial-and-errorfruitful tenure at your company.learning for unprepared reps, who end up “practicing” in front ofbuyers, which can damage your brand’s reputation.But training goes beyond new hire onboarding. Sellers who arein Year 2 or 3 in the organization also need development – andSales readiness technology enables companies to hold repswithout it, they’re at greater risk to leave for another company.accountable for what they’ve learned and move beyond simplychecking for course completion. You can track individual andCompanies can use sales readiness technology to streamline theteam learning progress and measure sales readiness throughonboarding process. These tools allow you to quickly create newcertifications, which require reps to “stand and deliver” whatcontent, enhance it with quizzes and attachments, and makethey’ve learned in training.updates as needed. Content can then be organized into formallearning paths that are tailored by role or onboarding stage. Thebottom line: you can create, deliver and track all onboardingprocess and start selling as soon as possible.Hidden Cost #3:Missed OpportunitiesSales training tools also make it easy to proactively “push” bite-To get better performance from the B- and C-players in yoursized eLearning courses to reps on a consistent basis, which helpsorganization, use sales readiness technology to 1) address salesto combat turnover of second- and third-year reps and gives themskills gaps and 2) call attention to reps who are struggling.activities faster – which will allow reps to move through thea pathway to career growth in your organization. (An inside salesrep, for instance, might want to learn skills that prepare them for aTechnology makes this possible by providing sellers with a singleclosing role!)place to access learning content and earn certifications in keyskills, whether they’re at home, in the office, or in the field.This ensures that everyone, including dispersed or remote teamHidden Cost #2:Brand Reputationmembers, is equipped with the resources needed to improve.Managers can also view reps’ learning progress, making it easyto identify which ones are on top of their training and which mayYou probably know when someone views and completes abe falling behind. For those who need more help, managers canrequired learning course. In fact, many companies primarily relysend out microlearning content and assessments to reinforce theon this “check-the-box” approach to sales training. But do youoriginal training material and get them back on track with theknow whether reps can actually use what they’ve learned?other reps.17

Enabling Remote Workers:5 Thoughts for Sales ReadinessAs we all know by now, this is unlikely to be aMost companies are quickly exploring how besttypical start to the year for businesses.to do just that, and that certainly includes salesorganizations.With concerns over travel now heightened,annual activities like sales events and industryThe first priority, of course, is to do what it takesconferences are quickly becoming grounded,to ensure the health and safety of everyone.and many businesses are faced with the reality ofFor many businesses, this has already led tosupporting a primarily remote workforce.restrictions on travel (

The result is that a sales manager views sales enablement as a critical problem-solver and driver of sales performance. Data-Driven Approach Can (and Will) Transform Sales Readiness SALES ENABLEMENT VOICES 9 For sales enablement leaders, rep performance data informs what materials they need to create and prioritize. It also allows