I started my career as a classroom teacher. I poured a ton of my own money into my classroom because I felt that it would impact my students’ ability to learn. When I transitioned into sales enablement, I thought I wouldn’t have to worry about getting money for my revolutionary take on teaching salespeople. Aspirational? You bet. Realistic? No way. 

I was totally surprised when I went to purchase the “latest and greatest” tool or program that I knew was going to increase learning for my salespeople exponentially.  I presented these learning plans to the organization’s stakeholders, only to have my request denied. (Trust me, it wasn’t because of lack of preparation or passion.)   

I was frustrated, and immediately felt that the organization didn’t care about learning. That wasn’t true, though. If they didn’t care about learning, I wouldn’t be employed.   

Here’s what I learned: My stakeholders are not in the business of education; they are in the business of making money. Profits guides their focus and decision making, and they typically look for a “sure bet” when spending resources. But learning is squishy, and it can be tough to make a solid ROI case.   

I talk about this epiphany like I figured it out years ago. But, nope. This just happened over the past few weeks.  I joke with the executive vice president that she crushed my soul my first 60 days on the job. She didn’t really crush it, she just taught me that I need to be scrappy. 

What’s more, I know I am not alone.  My session at ATD 2016 International Conference & EXPO will focus on how to effectively build a sales enablement program on a limited budget. I will hit on a few key themes in my “Interactive, No Death by PowerPoint,” session: 

• how to get and maintain support of your sales leadership team

• a practical use of the new ATD world class sales competencies model

• a holistic approach to ramping your salespeople

• how to approach your enablement design into consumable chunks that your SMES can understand

• how to build knowledge retention while holding your salespeople accountable. 

Join me May 24th for my session TU418 - Competency-Based Sales Enablement: Don’t Start With the Roof; Start With the Foundation!