This article comes from Sannidhi Jhala’s talk, ‘Training analysis & business impact: measuring success’, at our 2023 Seattle Sales Enablement Summit, check it out in full here.

Like many enablement leaders, I've lost sleep worrying if our team could be at risk in the current climate. But when our CEO emphasized enablement's vital role in empowering top sales talent, it reaffirmed the immense value we provide.

While our goal remains helping sales teams win more and work smarter, how we do it has changed quite a bit! In this article,

I'll share 3 ways I've evolved our approach using training analytics to drive real business impact.

My aim is to provide tactical tips so you can demonstrate your team's strategic value and cement your role as an indispensable partner.

By way of introduction, I'm Sannidhi Jhala, Senior Manager of Global Go-to-Market Enablement at LinkedIn, and I lead a talented team that empowers LinkedIn's sales to hit their goals.

I hope you find these insights helpful as we advance enablement's influence together.

So, let's dive in!

  • Become great problem finders, not just problem solvers 
  • Define value like your customers do
  • Master level 3 of Kirkpatrick’s model
  • Final thoughts

1 - Become great problem finders, not just problem solvers 

In the past, enablement meant experienced sales folks telling others how to sell. Today, we’ve got to go beyond solving known issues to uncovering hidden challenges using data. I call this becoming problem finders.

Finding the right problems gets you that seat at the leadership table. Solving known issues is just baseline stuff – uncovering hidden pain points shows your true strategic value.

For example, when my CEO asked me to create training on selling multi-year enterprise contracts, I didn’t just run off and design a program.

Instead, I first analyzed data on behaviors of our top enterprise deal closers. 

Lo and behold, I found five key habits that made these top performers 23% more likely to land enterprise contracts compared to reps not demonstrating these behaviors. Powerful insight, right?

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But here’s the kicker – only 20% of our salesforce exhibited these habits! I realized if the other 80% adopted these behaviors, we could drive $100 million in incremental revenue. Now that’s an eye-opener for any CEO.

My discovery allowed me to pivot the enablement focus away from a generic enterprise sales training. Instead, we could focus on scaling the key behaviors driving top performance on these deals company-wide.

Finding problems

And the best part? You can drive similar problem finding insights even if you’re a small team with limited resources. Just follow these two simple steps:

1. Interview your top performers to identify what makes them different from the pack. Look for key themes top players demonstrate that others skip.

2. Review available sales data to quantify and validate those behavioral differences. Identify the most high-value habits you can prove will move the needle. 

💡 For example, look at win/loss data in your CRM. Or analyze call recordings through tools like Gong. Even simple Excel reports can surface themes. 

Focus enablement on spreading those two or three most high-value behaviors, rather than diluting your efforts. Use data to spotlight what truly drives results.

That’s how any team, large or small, can shift from solving known problems to uncovering issues that warrant enablement investment.

Try it out – the insights you’ll get will surprise you!