AMA: Udemy Former Director of Product Marketing, Grace Kuo on Sales Enablement

Hello! From a PMM perspective, Sales input is critical to a successful SE strategy. They know the needs of their team so they can help SE prioritize and focus. Usually finding a partner in Sales leadership can help you avoid too many cooks in the kitchen and streamline feedback. Where SE can add value is providing strategy on delivery (role play, compeition, certifications, etc.), structure, and content. The size of your company and enablement team also differentiates how much effort you can you play as well. Growing companies and larger sales teams will need more enablement and guidance - whereas in smaller companies, the sales team will be doing more scrappy and do things on their own. Where PMM plays a role is content and helps prioritize initiatives in the level of importance (narrative, competitor, product training, etc.). 

Great question! In my experience, we work with SE to help them understand what's coming down the roadmap (big initiatives, product launches etc.) so they can plan and schedule training accordingly. Having a really tight relationship is critical so both sides have visibility into the needs of the GTM. Product Marketing should provide the core content but leverage the strengths and reach of SE to help deliver the training and structure it strategically. For example, SE can take a look at the training and reflect on how to bring it to the GTM teams in a thoughtful and effective way. 

Prioritize the top sectors - pick 2-3 and then build a playbook you can replicate. I would also say, set realistic expectations with your GTM teams so they understand your limited bandwidth and be clear on what you can get to and what you can't. Work with your sales and CS leadership in terms of focus and priority (product training, onboarding, systems training, etc.) so that there's clear alignment as well!

This is always a fun topic! Here are some approaches I've taken in the past: * Using a collateral tracker like Highspot (you can see # of views, # of times it's been sent, etc.) * Track keywords in Gong and watch the meetings to see if your collateral is being used * Surveys to gauge efficacy * TALK TO YOUR SALES TEAM to get feedback!