About This Episode

Bilbo Baggins was hoodwinked into a journey by a bunch of hungry dwarves. He wound up tangling with a dragon, Gollum, and a little old ring, At first, Bilbo was pretty reluctant to leave the confines of his lovely Hobbit-hole, and who can blame him? He had everything a Hobbit could ever need! While he did wind up loving adventure, and a whole lot of really awesome nerd stuff happened in the wake of his departure from The Shire, I cannot help but identify with our furry footed, staturally challenged literary friend right now. 

Across the board, from C-suites on down, we are hearing that sometimes people feel they are accomplishing so much and adapting really well to new business practices and remote lifestyles, and other times it’s as if they are walking around in circles, unsure where to even start and wondering if anything will ever be “normal” again.

John Moore, Vice President of Revenue Enablement at Bigtincan has some great insight and experience with all of these conflicting scenarios. Bigtincan has employed a global remote team since it’s 2011 launch, and has ironed out the virtual kinks that many companies are just seeing now for the first time. 

On top of his veteran remote status, John, and his Bigtincan team specialize in Sales Enablement, which may be just the ticket for a lot of sales teams who are floundering and disjointed as we all make the slow and cautious trek towards the “new normal” 

Pandemic protocols: Transitioning off site.

So, there’s a global pandemic, and your company needs to adjust, and perhaps pivot towards new and unexplored avenues.

Your sales team is trying to figure out how to do “contactless sales” and your CIO may just be an essential worker with all of the work they are doing on the front lines of your business. 

Sales enablement may just make more sense right now than ever. 

Bringing in a team like John’s at this stage gives you and your sales team much needed support and guidance, while they also act as an external sounding board for team members and leadership alike. 

They can provide solutions for pain points like:

• Content management
• Fluid and adaptive sales practices 
• Training and coaching solution
• “Re” Onboarding processes
• Document automation

“Sales enablement is really anything that can help a customer facing person do their job better.”-John Moore

What do you have in place to address these and other issues for your team as they adapt? Your team has to get settled, and get back to selling, which is now a completely new and unexplored landscape. 

Phase 2 Actionable Enablement  

Everyone is in place, and now you have to completely restructure how you do business! 

John counsels sales teams and leadership on how to sell in this new environment. 

His advice? Start with some understanding and human connection. 

Giving your team empathy and support is Step 1. 

Step 2 is to have them translate that same approach into their sales approach, by being compassionate and understanding of everyone’s personal situation. 

All bets are off. 

There are no dinners to host for clients, no professional sports to take them to, no golf courses to shoot around. 

Human connection is what they have right now, along with the sales and marketing tools they have access to. Make sure they tap into the real assets. Themselves and your organization. 

Re-onboarding

As things start to move closer to beginning to ease your team and operations back into an in-person environment, John recommends you do a Re-onboarding for everyone. 

They have been through a lot, and may be reluctant to re engage. Ask this one question above everything:

How can I help?

Put the empathy and support you’ve been practicing into overdrive and be sure to address the following things:

• Make sure employees feel comfortable coming back to work. If you aren’t sure what they are thinking, ask them. Listen. 
• Put all of the right safety guidelines in place and communicate  your efforts in a way that the employee needs.
• Educate them on “new normal” basics,  and alternative ways to approach the sales cycle.
• Be patient. 

This is a whole new world for all of us. The efforts you put into your team, will inspire them to turn around and put those same efforts into your potential and existing client base. Always be thinking of ways you can help. These practices will bring teams, leadership and clients together on a human level which may just be what everyone needed all along. 

For more engaging sales conversations, subscribe to The Sales Engagement Podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or on our website.