Highspot’s initial analysis of both buyer and seller feedback revealed that they were losing a noticeable number of deals—not to competitors, but to indecision.
Further investigation showed:
- A clear correlation between win rates and the number of stakeholders engaged within an account, particularly when those stakeholders included executive-level buyers.
- When deals involved multiple personas within an account, and at least one or more of those personas were executive-level or “above-the-line” buyers, win rates increased substantially.
These insights pointed to multi-threading and power threading (engaging executive-level buyers) as high-impact areas for improvement that could directly address the “closed, no decision” problem.
“At Highspot, we definitely start with the data,” says Lizenbergs. “The data allows us to understand what current performance looks like. What things are working that we want to optimize—that we want to accelerate? Where are we seeing blocks or bottlenecks or something’s just not working?”
The Implementation
The first step to address their needs was to develop a sales message that everyone in the organization could align on—from frontline reps to the executive team.
For that, Highspot engaged Corporate Visions for customer acquisition and executive conversation messaging and skills training.
“For the first time, because the CEO was in the room and the executive team was in the room and we had frontline reps in the room and they aligned to a message, we had something that all levels of the organization could share together and believe in,” says Kelly Lewis, VP of Revenue Enablement at Highspot.
“Having former CEOs, CFOs in the room talking with [reps] was so inspiring,” Lewis notes. “I’ve never seen people leave a training event so excited.”
Armed with the new messages and skills, it was time to enable the team.
This process included:
- Creating tailored playbooks for different roles, including account development and account managers, ensuring every rep has relevant, actionable guidance at their fingertips. “What good looks like” examples in these playbooks showcase best practices from top performers, while in-app nudges provided timely reminders and suggestions within the tools that reps use daily.
- Using technology to coach their sellers in the moment. Specifically, managers were equipped with coaching playbooks and tools to support their teams effectively. Highspot uses the TruVoice win-loss analysis platform to gather buyer insights on eight key sales competencies, allowing for targeted improvement based on unbiased feedback from prospects and customers. They also use AI-powered coaching tools to analyze call data and provide personalized coaching to their reps at scale.
- Measuring results across multiple dimensions, from enablement activities to business outcomes. Highspot implemented a measurement framework they called “enablement walk to value.” This approach tracks progress from initial enablement activities (like course completion rates) through to rep activities, effectiveness metrics, and ultimately business results like win rates and revenue impact, providing a clear line of sight from enablement efforts to bottom-line results.
The new approach allowed Highspot to become more agile and responsive in their enablement efforts. Rather than rolling out large, generalized training programs, they can now quickly develop and deploy targeted interventions that address immediate business needs.
It’s a true shift to “just-in-time” enablement, providing salespeople with the exact support they need, precisely when they need it.
