Biggest Challenges Faced by a Sales Enablement Specialist at Viant Technology
Natalie, a Sales Enablement Specialist at Viant Technology, finds that the biggest challenge in their role is influencing behavior change across a dynamic sales team comprised of both seasoned veterans and new hires, requiring a tailored approach to communication and resources, because "you either have the veteran and sometimes that saying is you can't teach an old dog new tricks, um, and then on the other hand, you have newbies who they don't know what they don't know". In order to address this challenge, it is important to focus on curating the resources for different audiences, while also understanding how to balance short and long-term priorities, by taking a more bird's eye view perspective.
Sales Enablement, Behavior Change, Communication Strategies, Prioritization, Team Dynamics
Advizer Information
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Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
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Natalie Paterson
Sales Enablement Specialist
Viant Technology
Chapman University
Chapman University | M.S. Food Science
Chemistry
Technology, Advertising, Communications & Marketing
Sales and Client Management
Scholarship Recipient, Transfer Student
Video Highlights
1. The biggest challenge is influencing behavior change across a dynamic team with varying experience levels (veterans vs. newbies) and addressing their different needs, resistance to change, and confidence levels.
2. Key strategies to tackle this challenge include understanding and communicating to different learning styles, meeting people where they are, and building relationships to foster open conversations and provide tailored support.
3. Sales enablement requires balancing short-term, immediate sales priorities with long-term company improvements, utilizing a bird's eye view to understand competing priorities across different departments.
Transcript
What is the biggest challenge in your role?
What I enjoy most is helping people and bringing out their best. The biggest challenge is influencing behavior change across a dynamic team.
A sales team has a mix of veterans, who have been in sales, and maybe at the company for over a decade. Then you have newbies with perhaps one to five years of experience. As a sales enablement specialist, you are trying to influence and help people with different levels of experience.
You might hear the saying, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." On the other hand, newbies don't know what they don't know. A lot of information is thrown at them, and they're still figuring things out, gaining footing and confidence.
The biggest challenge is how to help people who need different things, require different skills, and may be resistant to change or new systems and tools. Others might overuse and over-rely on systems and tools, lacking confidence in their own abilities.
The two ways we tackle these challenges in sales enablement are by understanding how to communicate to different learning styles and meeting people where they are. Don't try to blanket your teaching, resources, and tools to everyone. Curate them for different audiences.
Utilize the relationships you've built to spark conversations informally. While getting coffee or walking through hallways, ask people how they are doing and how you can help. These relationships will help address the challenge of influencing behavior change.
The second skill is constantly zooming out. As a sales enablement department, there's a pull between balancing short-term, immediate needs and long-term company improvements. We have a bird's-eye view of what's happening across the company, which siloed individuals may not have.
This perspective helps understand how priorities compete. When addressing the challenge of influencing people, it's important to communicate to different learning styles and meet people where they are. Then, zoom out and understand needs based on short-term and long-term priorities.