By Seismic
The podcast currently has 21 episodes available.
In today’s episode of The Enablement Edge, hosts Steve Watt and Heather Cole interview Kunal Pandya, VP of Global Revenue Enablement at Corsearch, and Founder & CEO of Sales Velocity Labs.
Kunal is a seasoned expert in global revenue enablement, and he helps to explore how enablers can transform their roles and prove their strategic value within any organization. Arguing that the current perception of enablement as a cost center has made lasting impacts on the industry, Kunal emphasizes the importance of not shying away from the data.
Kunal also provides practical advice for enablers seeking to elevate their function within their organization, underlining the importance of benchmarking and obtaining leadership buy-in before implementing enablement programs. By demonstrating how different levels of competence and performance can result in measurable revenue gaps, enablers can justify their initiatives and establish credibility.
Amidst all of the data and metrics, Kunal does remind all of us that the people are what matter most in enablement. Empathy and human relationships are as foundational as anything else, especially as AI changes the way we work.
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Guest Bio
Kunal Pandya is the Vice President of Global Revenue Enablement at Corsearch and the Founding CEO of Sales Velocity Labs. With a rich background in championing sales enablement, Kunal has dedicated years to transforming the perception and impact of enablement functions in organizations.
Kunal holds over 20 years of experience in the technology and high-growth SaaS industry. Throughout his career, he has built revenue impacting enablement functions and strategies for some of the fastest growing global tech companies, while at the same time being recognised as one of the top twenty enablers in the world.
Kunal founded Sales Velocity Labs to elevate the effectiveness of worldwide sales enablement, to impact revenue by a minimum of 15%.
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Guest Quote
“The perception of enablement has been such that companies have laid off hundreds, if not thousands of enablers globally. This has to change. Because we cannot have enablement in that position. We know where it belongs, we just have to prove it. We have to make it believable.”
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Time Stamps
00:00 Episode Start
01:08 Today’s Topic
03:00 Welcome Kunal
03:54 The biggest challenge facing enablement today
06:26 Why showcasing ROI is difficult, but necessary
09:55 Which four categories should enablers be measuring?
14:46 How to separate your impact from factors beyond your control
20:41 The path to continuous improvement
24:22 Highlighting the value of data
26:46 Kunal's advice for enablement leaders
32:00 On the Edge
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Links
In this week’s episode of The Enablement Edge, hosts Amber Mellano and Steve Watt are joined by Seismic’s own Irina Soriano and Meganne Brezina.
The conversation revolves around their must-read book, "Tomorrow’s Enablement for Today’s Leaders," which introduces the transformative Enablement Value Chain (EVC) framework. The EVC approach underscores the criticality of integrating analytics, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and distinguishing between field enablement and field activation to drive tangible business outcomes.
Irina and Meganne share valuable insights about field activation and its role in bolstering traditional enablement efforts. They share practical advice for leaders on measuring and demonstrating the impact of enablement programs in driving engagement, behavior change, and business outcomes. This methodical approach ensures enablement professionals can tangibly link their initiatives to organizational success, securing much-needed buy-in from leadership for continual investment in enablement activities.
A recurring theme is the importance of adaptability and continuous learning in the rapidly evolving world of enablement. Irina and Meganne stress the need for a methodological yet flexible strategy that can scale as the organization grows, encouraging practitioners to push for innovation while exercising patience for outcomes. By sharing their experiences and actionable insights, the duo aims to equip fellow enablers with the knowledge and tools needed to advance their careers and significantly impact their organizations.
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Guest Bio
Irina Soriano, VP of Enablement at Seismic
Irina has over a decade of global enablement leadership experience. She joined Seismic in 2019, taking on the challenge of establishing the company’s enablement department from the ground up. With diverse experience across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the US, Irina possesses a deep understanding of varied markets and a successful track record in building enablement teams.
Beyond her role, she's an active contributor to industry organizations, leading the New York Women in Sales Enablement (WiSE) chapter and she has been recognized as a Top 20 Enablement Influencer. Irina is committed to gender equality, published her first book, "Generation Brand," in 2021, and empowers individuals through TEDx talks and mentoring.
She also founded SISTERLY with her sister Jo to create a community for women to liberate limiting beliefs and grow into their full potential in business. Irina resides in NYC with her husband, Chris, and is a stepmother to twins.
Meganne Brezina, Senior Director, Enablement at Seismic
An active participant in the enablement community and a practitioner for over ten years, Meganne was named a 2023 Enablement Legend Award winner by the Enablement Squad for her frequent contributions.
She is a member of the Revenue Enablement Society and its Indianapolis chapter, and she founded and currently leads the Indianapolis chapter of Women in Sales Enablement. For WiSE, she also serves on their global board of directors as a global lead. Recently, she was invited to be an Enablement Advisor for RISE, a new organization conducting research and providing strategic insights to advance the profession of enablement.
She earned her Certified Change Management Practitioner designation last year from ACMP and published a book with Irina Soriano called "Tomorrow's Enablement for Today's Leaders," which articulates an innovative approach to strategic enablement with the Enablement Value Chain.
Outside of work, Meganne is a mother to three children under the age of seven, wife to her entrepreneurial husband Chuck, and still makes time to ride horses on a weekly basis.
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Guest Quotes
“There's a handful of us that have been doing this kind of thing for a long time, but there's still always the need for innovation. And it's very hard to sometimes get that information. We were just reaching a point where folks are like, ‘What else is there? I've done all of it. Where's the next best thing that I can implement in my practice?’ So we knew there was a need, but it was even much bigger than we originally anticipated.” – Irina Soriano
“Due to the high velocity that many organizations are experiencing, this theory of change management is becoming more and more important. It's important in the way that we're communicating with the field. It's important in the way that we're managing our own enablement initiatives and how we're really rolling them out. ‘How are we doing this in an effective way that truly drives the behavior changes?’ And I think that all starts in the way that we manage that strategy up front.” – Meganne Brezina
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Time Stamps
00:00 Episode Start
04:38 Meganne and Irina's key to enablement
05:39 Tomorrow's Enablement for Today's Leaders
09:58 What is different in the Enablement Value Chain (EVC)
13:40 Identifying the analytics that really matter
21:02 Field Enablement vs. Field Activation
25:10 What are field councils?
29:00 The state of enablement in 2024
32:20 On the Edge
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Links
In this episode, Steve Watt and Amber Mellano are joined by Nicole Ward, Senior Director of Revenue Enablement at OneSource Virtual (OSV), to learn why she joined the organization as their first enablement hire and how she and the team found so much success.
Nicole is an industry expert and thought leader who joined OSV after a decade of managing an award-winning team of enablement innovators at Citrix. Today, you’ll hear all about her remarkable achievements with OSV. Her highlights include a substantial reduction in new hire ramp time and time-to-first-opportunity, along with impressive improvements in deal sizes and win rates that she attributes to her strategic approach and collaboration with various business functions.
Throughout the interview, Nicole emphasizes the importance of obtaining executive buy-in and stakeholder alignment early in the process to ensure success. She advocates for focusing on a few key pillars and avoiding the temptation to "boil the ocean” when first starting. Nicole's emphasis on leveraging data, maintaining ongoing communication, and building cross-functional relationships demonstrates how critical these elements are for effective enablement.
By sharing her experience and practical advice, Nicole provides a clear roadmap for building a robust enablement function that can adapt and thrive amid organizational change.
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Guest Bio
Nicole Ward is a passionate and technology-forward global revenue enablement leader with over 14 years in the field. She is currently the Senior Director of Revenue Enablement at OneSource Virtual after a decade of managing an award-winning team of enablement innovators at Citrix.
Nicole believes that a successful enablement program must be centered around empathy and be inclusive of all customer-facing teams. Nicole is a bridge builder who will work cross-functionally to drive productivity and ensure satisfaction with enablement programs. She is data-driven and process-oriented with a laser focus on bringing enablement into the context of actual opportunities with CRM integrations.
On the personal side, Nicole is a multi-tasking mom who resides in London, Ontario, Canada with her husband James and two small children. She enjoys cooking, cycling, traveling, and she dreams of pursuing a sommelier certification someday. Fun fact: Prior to starting her family, Nicole was one of Canada's early lifestyle "influencers" and launched Canada's first conference targeted to style influencers in 2013.
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Guest Quote
“In enablement, we are bridge builders, and we are serial collaborators. It's all about connecting with people across the organization to understand what they do, how can I learn from them, what can they learn from me, how can I support them, what are their goals, can I attach myself to their goals, especially if they were key stakeholders in enablement. It's all about building your internal network.”
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Time Stamps
*(04:31) Nicole's key to enablement
*(05:56) Coming in as the first enablement hire
*(07:52) When do you know that you're ready for the next opportunity?
*(09:56) Building out the enablement function before day one
*(13:01) How to leverage the greater team around you
*(15:50) The data behind Nicole and OSV's success
*(18:40) Why you need to partner with your fellow business functions
*(22:06) Being thrown into the deep end
*(28:25) Nicole's advice for others
*(30:45) On the Edge
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Links
In this episode of The Enablement Edge, Steve and Amber sit down with Jonathan Kvarfordt, Founder of GTM AI Academy, to explore the dynamic intersection of AI and enablement in the modern business landscape.
Jonathan is an industry leader and an enablement expert. And in this episode, he reveals what originally fueled his fascination with AI and its potential to revolutionize enablement strategies. He shares the crucial skills and experiences that have been instrumental in his professional growth, shedding light on the innovative ways he leverages AI to optimize enablement processes.
Steve, Amber, and Jonathan strike a balance between blue-skying possibilities for AI and enablement while also offering practical advice for those wishing to implement AI in their daily work. Some of the insights Jonathan shares include ways to implement AI tools to streamline processes, make data-driven decisions, and unlock new opportunities. Additionally, you’ll hear his “GRACE” framework that he uses every day when prompting tools like ChatGPT.
Jonathan also discusses the broader implications of AI on the enablement landscape, highlighting its potential to revolutionize how teams operate and achieve their goals. He gives real-life examples of AI appliations that have led to substantial improvements in business performance, encouraging viewers to stay ahead of technological trends. Jonathan's insights offer a roadmap for those looking to advance their careers by integrating AI into their enablement strategies.
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Guest Bio
Jonathan Kvarfordt is the Founder of GTM AI Academy focusing on upskilling go-to-market teams and individuals in sales, customer success, marketing, and other functions with AI tools to do things better, faster, and easier.
As a sales and enablement executive with 15+ years of experience, Jonathan develops, delivers, and implements enablement programs for global organizations, Fortune 500 clients, and startups. He has an established history of helping companies double their revenue through sales team transformation and the creation of enablement structures. He was recognized in SEC’s 2023 Enablement Ones to Watch report.
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Guest Quote
“I look at enablement as more than just a content person. Going back to the original question of ‘what are we actually here to do? And does that equal a live group training?’ Most of the time, no. But a lot of people associate enablement with live group training. That's not what enablement is. So I think that's the larger question of really understanding what are we actually here to do and how can AI influence or impact that and just leveraging it as any other tool as you would to be more productive.” – Jonathan Kvarfordt
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Time Stamps
*(00:00) Episode Start
*(01:08) Today’s Topic
*(03:24) Introducing Jonathan Kvarfordt
*(04:53) What is GTM AI Academy?
*(08:30) AI is not just about speed
*(14:40) The scaling power of AI
*(18:43) Enabling on empathy
*(22:42) Enablement cannot be replaced
*(27:45) How to level up your enablement team immediately with AI
*(32:28) Building the perfect AI prompt using GRACE
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Links
In the debut episode of The Enablement Edge, hosts Steve and Heather chat with Nate Vogel, VP of Global Sales & Partner Enablement at Databricks, the world's first data intelligence platform powered by generative AI.
Nate shares insights into his career journey, highlighting what sparked his passion for data, the skills and experiences that have propelled his success, and the innovative initiatives he’s implementing at Databricks.
Throughout the interview, Nate emphasizes the importance of data in securing a "voice at the table" within an organization. He offers practical advice for viewers looking to enhance their own enablement strategies and underscores the importance of “being the truth-tellers” on your team. By leveraging data in decision-making processes, Nate explains how businesses can pinpoint opportunities, predict trends, and mitigate risks more effectively. This approach not only fosters innovation but also equips teams with the insights they need to drive strategic initiatives. You’ll hear real-life examples from Nate’s experience with Databricks to further drive his point home.
Additionally, Steve and Heather ask about Nate’s other passion – mentorship. Nate shares personal anecdotes about the mentors who guided him throughout his career, and discussed how mentoring relationships can help mentees navigate challenges, avoid common pitfalls, and seize new opportunities. They underscored the dual benefit of mentorship, noting that while mentees gain knowledge and support, mentors also refine their leadership skills and broaden their perspectives.
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Guest Bio
Meet Nate Vogel, an accomplished professional with an impressive track record in the field of sales enablement with 30+ years’ experience leading teams at Southwestern Advantage, Tableau, Salesforce, Gong, and now Databricks as the Global Vice President of Sales Enablement.
Before joining Databricks, Nate held the position of Global Vice President, GTM Enablement at Gong where he excelled in fostering growth and sales development within the organization, along with being a thought leader in the enablement community.
Prior to that, Nate's expertise in enablement flourished during his nine-year tenure as Global Vice President of Sales & Partner Enablement at Tableau and Salesforce, where he spearheaded sales training, partner, and leadership development programs. Under his leadership, Nate expanded his team at Tableau from three enablement professionals to over 80+, empowering them to efficiently train thousands of sellers, leaders, and partners worldwide.
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Guest Quote
“In enablement, something that is important is to be truth tellers, to lead with data. Sometimes that data is ineffectiveness, and ineffectiveness of adoption. So this idea that you can go out and see adoption metrics and see what your customers are saying is super important.”
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Timestamps
*(00:00) Episode Start
*(01:10) Today’s Topic
*(02:50) Introducing Nate Vogel
*(04:36) When Nate first realized the power of data
*(07:40) The right enablement for the right people
*(11:10) Why enablement starts with managers
*(15:00) Measuring and doubling down on behavior changes
*(19:10) Becoming truthtellers with data
*(23:30) The strength of mentorship
*(29:29) How to effectively scale mentorship programs within your organization
*(32:25) What it means to have "no sharp elbows"
*(35:35) Rapid fire questions
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Links
Traditional go-to-market motions are a thing of the past, and one key function will shape the future of revenue generation: Enablement.
The Enablement Edge – powered by Seismic – is bringing you the secrets, strategies, and tactics for enablement that drive meaningful impact.
You’ll get valuable insights and expertise from enablement leaders to power GTM efficiency, productivity, and transformational change across your organization.
Welcome to The Enablement Edge.
We’ve spent 13 episodes uncovering key insights from experts in enablement, sales, marketing, customer success, revenue operations, and more. To celebrate the growth, learning, and invaluable wisdom we’ve heard along the way, we’re gathering the best of the best all into one episode.
So whether you’ve tuned into every minute or are new to the Go-to-Market Magic scene, join us as we revisit some of the most insightful guests and captivating episodes we had the joy of creating.
Here are the key takeaways:
It’s a mix of conversations, lessons, and actionable advice that will inspire, motivate, and prepare you to elevate your approach to enablement.
Jump into the conversation:
[00:00] Introduction
[03:24] The importance of human connection in sales discussions
[09:01] Improving sales through insights and relationships
[11:00] Timing is crucial for successful senior executive engagement
[15:51] Supporting CS leaders to succeed
[17:46] Overcoming lip service to achieve real alignment
[21:46] Value delivery in small, incremental steps
[22:59] Understanding go-to-market, sticky products, and psychology
[27:53] Prioritize internal and external team enablement strategies
[32:35] Processes can be challenging
[34:30] AI streamlines lesson creation and improves learning content
[36:22] Watch out for season two
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Enablement is expanding beyond sales, especially as AI gains traction.
But as AI integrates into the enablement landscape, how can you preserve and enhance your teams’ human strengths in customer interactions?
We switched things up by inviting two guests to this roundtable episode to hear from companies both big and small. So, we’re talking with Steph White, Senior Director of Revenue Enablement at Loopio, and Rebecca Reyes, VP of Sales Enablement at IBM.
Steph brings her passion for integrating AI into personal and professional development, and Rebecca highlights the transformative power of AI in sales and enablement.
The conversation expands on revenue enablement’s role in transforming go-to-market teams, the importance of aligning with leadership for effective change, and fundamental selling skills despite technological advancements.
Here are the key takeaways from our conversation with Steph and Rebecca:
Jump into the conversation:
[05:16] A focus on driving sales velocity for revenue
[07:54] Enhancing team skills and client impact
[14:00] Expanding client enablement and focusing on content creation
[17:23] AI transforming from a dream to a reality phase
[26:47] Using AI to complement and enable productivity
[29:31] Focusing on basics for sales growth in 2024
[35:29] Heather and Steve’s takeaways
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When was the last time you involved executive leadership in your sales process?
If it’s something that feels daunting, nerve-wracking, or like too much work, this episode is for you.
When leveraged correctly, you set your executive team up to come into the sales process swinging (and they’ll probably knock down that sale if you get our analogy). So why aren’t more people doing it?
Toby Carrington, Chief Business Officer at Seismic, brings his invaluable insight into the critical yet nuanced art of engaging executives early in the sales cycle to build relationships, trust, and, ultimately, better business outcomes.
Here are the key takeaways from our conversation with Toby:
Jump into the conversation:
[03:18] The value of leveraging senior executives
[06:11] Navigating timing within the sales cycle
[08:22] Managing the fine line between relationship-building and sales objectives
[14:49] Setting schedule boundaries
[18:44] Understanding the role of authentic connections
[24:10] Strategies for building engagement
[29:02] Common pitfalls made when engaging executives in the sales cycle
[31:25] Heather and Steve’s main takeaways
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What are the best and brightest minds in enablement talking about these days?
In this special episode, we’re taking a pulse on the enablement industry and hearing directly from enablement professionals at Seismic’s annual Shift conference — including leaders from Loopio, Sands Capital, Bank of America, UPS, Experian, Proofpoint, and more.
Along with Seismic’s Heather Cole and Steve Watt, they’ll reflect on the topics they wish more go-to-market leaders were discussing, the innovations they’re most excited about, and all things AI.
Here are the key takeaways from this special edition of Go-to-Market Magic:
Jump into the conversation:
[01:21] Loopio’s Stephanie White on how AI can make enablers even more impactful
[01:51] Ways UPS is using AI to improve efficiency and prioritize their customers
[02:37] Actionable ways to leverage AI for enablement (and how to mitigate common concerns voiced at Shift 2023)
[05:00] Bank of America’s main hope within AI
[12:19] Heather’s main takeaways for the audience on AI
[15:44] Madison Glass on why Experian is a big proponent of LiveSocial for social selling
[20:47] Why social engagement is crucial and what Tyler Murphy at ProofPoint had to say about being a thought leader on LinkedIn
[22:09] Tips for navigating compliance in regulated versus non-regulated industries
[23:27] Heather and Steve’s closing thoughts on rising above the noise, building better social profiles, and leveraging LinkedIn as a tool
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The podcast currently has 21 episodes available.