How do you get sales people more engaged and paying attention during enablement sessions?

This is a great question and probably one of the hardest to actually achieve depending on the topic and the environment you're doing the enablement in. I think the trick is to ensure THEY know why they're there and why it will be beneficial for them to pay attention! The same way you would always design your product messaging, value proposition etc around the customer and the benefits they will get from your products, make sure you are clearly articulating what the sales teams are going to get out of these enablement sessions. Speak their language! "You will be able to sell more x product when we're done" and "You will be able to retire more quota, do bigger deals, and sell faster once you go through this session" and the like. This will help reinforce 'why they should care' and set the right expectation around it being of value to them!

• Gamify the session as much as possible - ask questions to recap each part of the session, and reward points

• Make it really clear at the start of session what's in it for the sales person. You're here to help them succeed. And that it's in their best interest to be fully present so that they get the most out of the session

• Lastly but most importantly, make sure your content is actually engaging. You can do this by getting feedback from sales leaders before the session, and a few sales people you have a safe relationship with.

Find ways to make it interactive. For example, if you are training them on a new pitch deck, ask a well-respected sales rep, coach, or the sales team lead to actually do a real pitch with the new deck during the enablement session. The reps will pay attention to how another rep makes a pitch/uses a deck. Or, if you are leading a roadmap enablement session, ask reps to share which customers requested these features and why before diving into the benefits of a feature. This gives context on the customer pain points and makes the enablement session stronger.

Let them do the talking! The longer you present slides, the more likely they are to tune out and not engage. There are a couple of different ways I like doing this:

1. Find a champion within the sales org to help present new information and build credibility. For example, if you want to train the team on a new pitch, recruit a rep with lots of influence who can do some early tests in market, and then have them deliver the pitch and share their learnings in the enablement session. This is a win on so many levels. You battle-test the asset to improve it before a larger rollout, you get direct feedback on how well it works for the sales team, and you get a trusted voice advocating for the asset once it's time to launch!

2. Create spaces where enablement becomes interactive. This can include open forum discussions, small group activities, or even something as simple as pop quiz-style polls. Break up the monotony of slides, and find ways to bring participants into your sessions. It will be more fun, and increase the chance that your content will be absorbed.

I think there are a few key things that help get sales more engaged during enablement sessions:

1. Involve sales before the session for input on topics and content.

2. Use real-world examples, and give public credit to the people they come from.

3. Recognize that sales is "coin operated", and perhaps they don't need what you have to tell them in that moment... make the sessions available asynchronously so they can come back for the details when they need them. Use a chat tool for asynchronous interaction over time.

4. Keep your own energy high. Especially over remote sessions, if you come across as disinterested or "flat" people will wander back to doing their emails while listening.

5. Be a facilitator between the content and your audience as much as a presenter of the content to your audience. Keep it interactive, ask questions, put people on the spot in a kind way.