Hello and welcome to OrchestrateSales.com's Inside Sales Enablement Season 3 Enablement History. Where we hop in the Enablement Time machine and explore the past, present, and future of the elevation of a profession.

On Episode 6, Erich Starrett hosts Christopher Kingman M.S., Global Head of Digital Sales Enablement at TransUnion, in the OSC Studios. And - SPOLER ALERT - this Ep is COMPLETE with a first of its kind opportunity to meet our guest IRL and face-to-face! Along with some of the best-of-the-best who have made (and continue to make) Enablement and Digital Sales history. And with not one but two ISE Insider benefits to make it easy on the travel budget.

Chris has a captivating Enablement past as the youngest SES Fore-founder in "the room where it happened" ...just up the street from his Florida home. He is also well known for standing up in that very room as the voice of the next generation.  He shares his unique perspective on the past, while concurrently holding executive board roles with both the Revenue Enablement Society and Emblaze.

Don't miss insights from this consistent practitioner, leader and volunteer on the Enablement front lines about the past, present and future of the function and profession. 

Highlights include:

PAST:

> Participating in the founding meeting of the Sales Enablement Society with people who came from as far away as the Netherlands like Thierry van Herwijnen and big names like Gerhard Gschwandtner and Jill Rowley invested their time, talent, and travel generously.

Dr. Robert M. Peterson, who never lets Chris forget that he was the "youngster" there.

PRESENT:

> Chris' board role with Emblaze (fka AAISP) is informed by years of involvement including at the F2F events. 

> RES and Emblaze have partnered around the concept that your enablement person and your CRO/CSO are two sides of the same coin.

FUTURE:

> Developing the first standards-based Enablement Executive Education program.

> The 2024 Emblaze #digitalnow Revenue Growth Summit in which the RES is cultivating the Enablement track, and Chris and RES President Gail Behun will be hosting a "How to speak CRO" session. 

We also announce an ISE Season Three exclusive...

> Book NOW! RSVP ASAP for the upcoming summit in Chicagoland from April 2nd to 4th! An opportunity to meet Tim and SO MANY other thought leaders face-to-face at the 2024 digitalnow Revenue Growth Summit in association with OrchestrateSales.com's ISEs3 podcast.

Hosted by Emblaze, powered by Corporate Visions, bringing together sales, marketing, and success leaders to address the challenges and opportunities of digital selling. The link below includes an embedded "OSCISE" code for specially discounted ISE Insider Nation access! https://salesenablement.captivate.fm/diginow24

(Check out the "mentioned in this episode" section👇🏻)

Don't wait - hit PLAY! - to hear about all of the above

...and so SO much more.

Join in the journey with curiosity

alongside those courageously treading

the past, present, and future frontlines

of a growing function and global profession.

Please click 👇🏻, subscribe 📲, listen 🎧 ...and 🎙️ join the conversation! 

ORCHESTRATE Sales!

Let's #ElevateEnablement TOGETHER!

Mentioned in this episode:

ISEs3 PROMO CODE for Emblaze DigitalNow Revenue Summit 2024 in Chicago

Hit salesenablement.captivate.fm/diginow24 and it will plug in promo code OSCISE automatically -- for $745 off of the Emblaze DigitalNow Revenue Summit 2024 registration fee! Hope to see many Enablement Insider Nation smiling faces soon in Chicago. Or, more specifically, *just* outside of the Second City ...on April 2nd!

Emblaze DigitalNow Revenue Summit 2024

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Visit us on the Orchestrate Sales Property

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Hello, everyone.

2

Today we have Mr.

3

Chris Kingman, coming hot off

the SKO train at TransUnion.

4

And he is also, if you don't know,

a member of the executive board

5

who's got a few ideas up his sleeve

about the possibility that someone,

6

even me, might be able to be,

my words, an MBA in enablement.

7

Chris, let's start there.

8

Anything I missed in your vast,

wide, and global portfolio

9

Christopher Kingman: Thanks, Erich.

10

I can proudly say I'm also a member

of the advisory board for Emblaze, the

11

professional sales leadership network.

12

I have a foot in each pond, if you will.

13

, Erich Starrett: I would say

you have a foot in each ocean.

14

I got a big toe in each pond here.

15

I'm, , president of the

Atlanta chapter of the RES.

16

And,, recently the

board here with Emblaze.

17

So I have a lot to learn

from you, big brother.

18

And, love hearing that talk track.

19

I think we're onto something.

20

So today, you know what, let's go ahead

and start out with super simple, . When

21

did you first hear the words sales

enablement and what did they mean to you?

22

Christopher Kingman:

That's a good question.

23

, I think in maybe 2015, 2014, I

built a small enablement and

24

support team within TransUnion in

a local office in South Florida.

25

And , the manager that I was

assigned to somebody based on an

26

acquisition, the question was,

Hey, what do you want to go do?

27

And I said, I want to go do this

thing called sales enablement.

28

And I was on LinkedIn trying

to understand, the evolution

29

of sales operations, sales

training and development.

30

I was building, , product training,

product demos, new hire onboarding.

31

And consistently every kind of article

I would come across would say, what

32

is sales enablement, what's this

thing, and you pull on that thread.

33

It started to unravel rather quickly.

34

There's a lot of emerging opinions

and emerging kind of ideas on it.

35

The big consulting firms were

all kind of putting their pieces

36

together and their stances.

37

, and I think it all culminated

with the founding of, the

38

society as a LinkedIn group.

39

And some of the early works of

, those wonderful folks driving the

40

conversation and being very open.

41

About conversing with anybody who had

anything to say about it, that drew me in,

42

, and then stars align and the first meeting

was 30 minutes, 45 minutes up the street.

43

Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have

flown across the country for that.

44

So I drove up to the meeting, , and

I got to see, , a lot of these

45

people that I've been exchanging

with online and they knew who I was.

46

They were like, hey, it's good to see you.

47

Thanks for coming.

48

I did the first signed the statements that

everybody signed, worked on the definition

49

Erich Starrett: Awesome.

50

Christopher Kingman: and that was it.

51

It was off to the races.

52

, and then over the years, just.

53

More and more both staying on

top of the research and being

54

in, invested in the research.

55

Ingesting as much as I could in the

earlier parts of my career, , and

56

then volunteering here and there with

the society, , being on the advisory

57

board, , doing a lot of kind of side

projects and then eventually being

58

asked to join the board as well.

59

Erich Starrett: Wow.

60

What a storied history.

61

You might be the winner in the

past, present and future categories.

62

So you already jumped into

my question number two.

63

So maybe I'll throw you a little

bit of a curve which is where, when,

64

and how does the sales enablement

now revenue enablement we'll get

65

there in a minute, fit into your

timeline and professional journey.

66

You were there at the original.

67

You're one of the 100 ish.

68

I hear fore founders.

69

So thank you for that.

70

Now on the executive board.

71

Curious.

72

, along that journey.

73

Can you in that meeting?

74

Are there 456 10 people you remember?

75

Part of it is my personal treasure hunt

I'm on to identify the hundred, right?

76

So maybe we could take it offline and

you can rattle off as many folks as

77

you can remember were in that room,

the room where it happened, right?

78

, but are there a couple folks that

stick out early on, , that maybe

79

you're even still in touch with and

are still part of the evolution?

80

Christopher Kingman: Sure, , we all

know Scott was there and doing most

81

of the work with Scott Santucci.

82

Erich Starrett: Oh, okay.

83

Yeah.

84

I've heard of him.

85

Christopher Kingman: He's going to mention

I was there, so I'll talk about him

86

being there, Scott commands attention.

87

He did an awesome job of

driving the conversation.

88

It was interesting to go to something that

I thought at the time was like, wow, I

89

don't know what I'm going to get when I go

to, I just, I know I got a strong feeling.

90

I got to be there.

91

I got to go see what this is about.

92

And you can tell very quickly, like

there is some intention behind doing this.

93

We're not just, no, we're

not in a room full of.

94

People,, just talking about the

weather, like there was some things

95

that needed to get out in the open and

discussed and aligned and agreed upon.

96

It was a successful meeting.

97

I don't know if we would have

made it this far if we didn't have

98

the engagement and the outcome.

99

And a lot of people traveled very

far, , to be there, Thierry came

100

from the Netherlands, I believe.

101

. And you had lots of big names.

102

You had Gerhardt there.

103

You had a bunch of other folks.

104

Jill Rowley was there.

105

, you had,

106

Erich Starrett: She always is mentioned

that we're six or seven for six or seven.

107

Rowley is always.

108

And that's yeah, I love that.

109

She was there.

110

Christopher Kingman: She played a

very, impactful role in the early

111

days, was very generous with her time.

112

When people want to talk to her

about hey, how do we grow this?

113

What do we do?

114

How do we grow my network?

115

Just an awesome person to know, right?

116

Like influencer for sure.

117

But when you actually sit down and talk to

this person, they had something for you.

118

Even when you had nothing,

I had nothing to offer her.

119

And she still gave me value.

120

It was great.

121

,

my favorite person enabled my Rob Peterson was there.

122

Cause obviously Rob takes every

chance to pot shot me and remind

123

me that I'm much younger than him.

124

Erich Starrett: Dr.

125

Rob.

126

Christopher Kingman: Still

keep in touch with Rob a lot.

127

And every time he's got an enablement

question, , I feel very honored that

128

he always reaches out to me for help..

129

That's where I met Rob

and I met Howard Dover

130

Erich Starrett: yes.

131

. Doctor Dover.

132

That's awesome.

133

He's got a book too.

134

I got to get him on the show.

135

Talk it up.

136

Christopher Kingman: you should,

it was an amazing experience.

137

The thing that always gets brought

up, especially when I guess I get

138

looped into the conversation is.

139

I was the youngest person in that room.

140

,

Erich Starrett: That's cool.

141

Christopher Kingman: Now,

I don't care about that.

142

People, of other generations tend to make

a big deal, I guess about 10 years ago,

143

the whole millennial thing was a really

big, , point of contention, if you will.

144

So it was a hot topic,

145

in that session the conversation

navigated to what about millennials

146

and how are they changing buying?

147

And I felt it wasn't that I needed to

say anything, but I believe Scott said,

148

are there any millennials in the room?

149

And I was the only one other than two

vendors who were not there to talk, right?

150

They, they were just supporting.

151

I was the only one I stood up.

152

They said this and, because I

know Scott talked about this, too.

153

Erich Starrett: Yeah . You were

in episode one of season three.

154

Christopher Kingman: I think I I

recall I said something like this.

155

Millennials aren't special and we

don't need to be treated special.

156

I believe that then I believe now

we're no different than a generation.

157

And that was it.

158

It was the only thing I said, but for

some reason, I got a lot of praise

159

just for standing up and saying that I

don't, I didn't think it was a big deal.

160

, but just because I was the youngest

enablement person who opened their

161

mouth that carried me just a little

bit, the first conference , where I

162

could actually talk about the stuff

that I do and, hopefully demonstrate

163

I know what I'm talking about.

164

And my age has nothing to do with this.

165

Erich Starrett: I'm a believer.

166

And, honored to have you

here on the podcast, Chris.

167

So let's shift to the next one, What

of the founding positions, right?

168

And I don't need to tell you them..

169

But, , of the three and just for the

audience, I'll reiterate, position one

170

being sales enablement as a strategic

approach and there being different

171

flavors of it in the four primary areas

that were originally discussed back

172

in Palm beach, talent message., demand

management and administration where

173

the four kind of flavors of enablement

174

Position two, in order to accomplish

the mission sales enablement

175

needs to be chartered as a cross

functional business within a business.

176

To be effective.

177

And then finally, we're evolving to

something the aspirational state at the

178

time was chief productivity officer.

179

So of those three, which you're

clearly very familiar with and

180

might have even penned one of them.

181

Okay.

182

Which subgroup were you in of those three?

183

Do you even pay any attention

to those three anymore?

184

No, Where are we today?

185

Where are we going?

186

Christopher Kingman: I worked on

one of the projects, but I couldn't

187

tell you which one of those it

was, because it was so long ago.

188

, they're still relevant, but

they could also use an update.

189

I'll tell you, My stance on really

what the position for me is.

190

Erich Starrett: Okay,

191

Christopher Kingman: I believe that it

is - and should be - a strategic approach.

192

I've always loved eliminating friction.

193

I think that is for me - that's the

thing that I strive for the most.

194

I have teams that oversee

training and development.

195

We build.

196

All kinds of programs to help you upscale,

to help you be better at your job to

197

help you understand what you should be

doing based on your expectations and make

198

sure you get the most out of your tools.

199

At the end of the day, I view

sales as an organic conversation

200

between a customer and a seller.

201

An exchange that's based on value

and context and it has to be organic.

202

It can't be forced.

203

Everything else around that is

an opportunity for enablement to

204

improve and to reduce the friction.

205

I don't necessarily think chief

productivity officer is the

206

title I would align with, or

it resonates the most with me.

207

I don't know.

208

If you could collapse it into such

a concise thing, I used to call

209

it the chief director of traffic.

210

Erich Starrett: it's better than fixer of

broken things, stepping up strategically.

211

Christopher Kingman: Yep.

212

I don't like fixer broken things.

213

I don't like land misfit toys.

214

I think it mislabels what we do.

215

Erich Starrett: And I think those were

said in jest as that was the perception

216

of rather than, Hey, this is who we are.

217

It's people think we're

this, but we're so much more.

218

That's the impression I

get, but I wasn't there.

219

Christopher Kingman: Yeah, I

totally agree with you Erich.

220

I think that's.

221

we, we may be having that conversation

for another decade, right?

222

I think, when we talk about.

223

, where the position is going.

224

It's almost like it's the

person who removes all of the

225

roadblocks to revenue attainment.

226

Erich Starrett: I love that

227

Christopher Kingman: I like to

think about enablement and what

228

we do as to increase the ease of

buying and the ease of selling.

229

Erich Starrett: both.

230

Christopher Kingman: aligned to

those concepts, everything that we

231

do falls in one or two , buckets.

232

And I try to make it

as simple as possible.

233

Erich Starrett: So You want to

simultaneously reduce the friction from

234

both the inside out, but really leading.

235

- because I know you - leading

with the outside in, right?

236

Love that.

237

So on to four and you've already

brought up a few of these.

238

I'm gonna keep digging any good stories

that could be considered SES history.

239

Even RES.

240

It's been around six months There might be

some little nooks and crannies we haven't

241

heard of even in just that amount of time.

242

Or even lore, something that is

unknown to the larger community or

243

I love the millennial thing, I love

that you unpacked it further already.

244

Or maybe just something that

you haven't shared before

245

and you had a front row seat.

246

Christopher Kingman: The consistent

theme for me Over the history of the

247

society is that it is volunteer driven.

248

Everybody who I've ever engaged

with, that's part of it.

249

In some leadership capacity has a job

or two and they still find time to try

250

to elevate the profession in some way.

251

And, I would say everybody gave something.

252

Some people.

253

We're there for a long time.

254

Some weren't that long, but

I'm always impressed with, the

255

diversity in the walks of life

that say, hey, I want to help.

256

This means a lot to me.

257

This community means a lot to me.

258

I've gotten so much out of it , and

it doesn't have to be a person

259

in a leadership position that's

influenced a member . Members

260

learn from members all the time.

261

For me, it's always been.

262

The networking has always

been the real highlight.

263

The friendships that I've made, right?

264

,

I talk about Rob Peterson, but, , there's a dozen other folks that

265

I still connect with,, frequently.

266

And you get to meet new people

all the time and they're so

267

very talented and they're, they

have a different perspective.

268

The number of people I've met over

the years is just, it's astonishing.

269

I would not have met that many

people sitting in a singular

270

career, , the amount of friendships

I've built, I think those are great.

271

And the doors that it opens I don't

think I'm a podcaster, but I end up

272

on, a dozen or so a year just from

people's Hey so and so from this

273

place said to talk to you about this

thing, but cool let's have a chat.

274

the consulting opportunities that it's

opened, the endless amounts of, Hey,

275

I want to pick your brain about this

platform I'm building because I want to

276

know if people like you would buy it.

277

Stuff like that.

278

I've met so many smart and talented

people who are going to blow sales tech

279

out of the water in the next decade.

280

Just through networking and

just the relationships, they

281

end up, in my inbox and I'm so

excited to talk to these people.

282

Erich Starrett: I'll

put words in your mouth.

283

What a great poster child for that

community and how you are doing

284

that very thing right now as we

speak, as a matter of fact, right?

285

, so great answer.

286

And I too, I'm a big fan of

the amazing community I can't.

287

Put any kind of price tag on

the folks including yourself.

288

I've had the opportunity

to meet and learn from

289

Let's head on to the recent past back in

Ses still calling it that at the time exp

290

in sd san diego back in october It seems

like that was years ago at this point.

291

, the big announcement, ? We're evolving.

292

We're becoming the revenue

enablement society.

293

I loved how each member of the board

stood up, gave their personal take.

294

And so really, it would be great.

295

Maybe some of the folks in

the audience haven't heard.

296

What is your take on sales versus

revenue and kind of maybe give us even

297

a little bit more of a peek behind the

curtain on why you gave it the green

298

light and were all in as an advocate

299

?

300

for a Forrester conference.

301

, and one of the questions is, what do I

think the evolution of enablement is?

302

And I said, drop the sales.

303

Sales enablement is a

self limiting term, right?

304

And it paints the perception that all

we do is help sales or enable sales.

305

As I've grown, across my

organization and the things that I

306

get exposed to and want to work on.

307

And as my team has grown, not all

of that is aligned to the frontline.

308

And although I'm a big proponent of you

should never lose sight of the frontline,

309

you should always have a relationship with

your sellers, with your sales leadership.

310

You should listen to their

calls if you can, you should

311

see them in action if you can.

312

I don't spend as much time with them.

313

I spend time with procurement and legal.

314

And as I was telling Erich before this

telephony engineering, these people don't

315

understand sales per se, or their needs

or the motions that they go through.

316

And as an enablement professional,

it's just as much my responsibility

317

to help the sellers, but also help

people in my organization understand

318

what supports the sellers, right?

319

At the end of the day, what, what

brings in the money that then

320

funds all of the investments?

321

It's sales.

322

It's not, doesn't materialize.

323

I don't know where we don't

engineer our way to a lot.

324

We don't, red line contracts

are to do a lot of money.

325

We sell stuff.

326

And anything that, gets in the

way or causes friction, right?

327

If we point backwards or impacts

productivity or people's, the, if it

328

makes it harder to buy or harder to sell.

329

I think somebody should have the

ability to, almost like the Patriot Act.

330

Hey, this is slowing us down.

331

I'm going to unpack this

and we're going to fix it.

332

I don't, there's very few things

I think should be off limits.

333

And as I've grown in my career.

334

The door is open to fixing larger

and broader issues that have largely

335

been sitting in silence, right?

336

And instead, look, when you look at

them holistically of how is this, break

337

in legal process impacting selling?

338

How is the break or how is the outdated

telephony system impacted selling?

339

What could happen for sales?

340

How can we enable sales

better if this is improved?

341

It's those questions that after sales

enablement fixes onboarding and skill

342

training and career pathing, And

gets them up and running and, gets

343

them through negotiation training.

344

What else are you going to do?

345

You need to go fix the

bigger, broader things.

346

I think that's where we're headed.

347

Certainly where I've been

headed and where I've been.

348

And so when it came time to vote on

that decision, there's no question.

349

Erich Starrett: I heard you call out some

of those flavors of enablement, right?

350

as we shift from sales Enablement to

revenue enablement of those four flavors

351

I think what you're saying is the talent

enablement bucket so to speak Of the

352

onboarding, the new hire ramp up the ever

boarding, the SKO ing all of those things

353

that are more in the talent development,

skills development, helping empowering

354

folks with message sales specifically of

the other buckets, the administration, the

355

marketing messaging, funnel management.

356

Which of those other domains or

flavors do you see being focused

357

on more through the lens of revenue?

358

Christopher Kingman:

That's a good question.

359

I think the talent, all the

components that you listed

360

under talent will be number one.

361

And that, wherever you are doing

enablement, if that's all you do and

362

You want to call it a sales enablement.

363

That's great.

364

I think where we're going is

that accepting our influence in

365

an organization should expand.

366

And the things that we should

tackle is going to get broader.

367

When we talk about the evolution

to revenue enabling, a lot of

368

the idea here is to help people

be better at those things.

369

That aren't discussed.

370

How do you get better

relationships with procurement?

371

What are procurement practices you

need to understand to be better

372

at sourcing sales tech, right?

373

Everybody knows you need a tech stack.

374

It's debatable what

goes in that tech stack.

375

No one talks about how do I navigate

buying one from my procurement department

376

when no one wants to fund this?

377

That's enablement, right?

378

Like I have to go and figure out who

I need to talk to and how to fund it.

379

And then I need to work with procurement.

380

To then figure out what exactly are

the internal mechanisms to do this?

381

It's not we picked name a platform.

382

We're good folks.

383

That's just the beginning.

384

That's not even the beginning.

385

That's the middle.

386

And so I think if you're thinking

about evolution of the practice, right?

387

Think about the evolution

of every process.

388

I do spend a lot of time

with my procurement team.

389

And they're fantastic people who just

want to educate me to make my job easier.

390

So I make their job easy, right?

391

For me, the collaboration and the

strategic nature and, breaking down

392

silos is something we've talked

about forever, and that is part

393

of the evolution of enablement.

394

It's a core component.

395

The , fifth (flavor) could be

silo breaker for all I care.

396

Cause I think that's,

it's an important aspect.

397

Like it's a requirement of

your job at this point to me.

398

Erich Starrett: And part of what

brought me all in on the inside sales

399

enablement podcast, first couple of

seasons to begin with , I love that

400

you said silo breaker the commercial

enablement orchestrator and that concept.

401

I was like, that's what I've been doing

my entire career, whether I was in field

402

marketing , or on the sales front lines

or in sales ops or effectiveness, I always

403

had this tendency to knock down some

silos more strategically than tactically.

404

So it sounds like the low hanging fruit

might actually be working with some

405

of the different functions internally.

406

Christopher Kingman: Yeah, it's

gonna be, it's gonna be organization

407

dependent whether demand management

is number one for you, right?

408

Because that whole sales marketing

getting along thing that we've

409

talked about for years some people

have gotten it figured out, right?

410

I don't think it's gonna

be cats and dogs forever.

411

I have a great relationship, my

marketing department, they're awesome

412

people and they totally get what I

need, but that was not always the case.

413

Before this call started, Erich and I

were talking about the latest Gartner

414

report on their fresh take on enablement

and it's all around driving behavior.

415

If you take that framework

and you say, okay, I need to

416

change a seller's behavior.

417

Here's what I need to do.

418

Think about your person in

procurement, your person in it.

419

Are they rewarded for certain behaviors?

420

How are they compensated?

421

Probably have no idea, right?

422

You don't deal with engineer

compensation models.

423

They may not be incentivized to

do anything outside of their silo.

424

but I guarantee you, if you

went to them and you said, hey.

425

This process doesn't work.

426

Would you mind if I helped you fix it?

427

You're probably going to

get a pretty warm reception.

428

Step in.

429

Say, we want to make this better because

it does impact revenue down the line.

430

Without being forceful and without

people telling people that they're

431

terrible at what they do there's always

a, tactful way to say this doesn't work.

432

We need to make it better.

433

And, Leverage age old mechanisms,

executive sponsorship, go to the CRO.

434

Hey, this is not working.

435

And here's the downstream impact.

436

If we fix this goes away today.

437

Tomorrow, this is possible, right?

438

They're simple conversations.

439

You're applying the same

level of behavior, modeling or

440

defining on different functions.

441

It's no different.

442

We need to fix something, or

we need to optimize something.

443

it just not maybe the very next

step to revenue recognition, right?

444

It may be two steps

down the line, or three.

445

Erich Starrett: To your point, since it's

not revenue generating, maybe the first

446

click, how do you track that metric?

447

And some of that's going to be a little

esoteric, but it's going to land in

448

a , adept customer facing frontline.

449

Christopher Kingman: Back to

the talent comment, right?

450

Those are your big rocks.

451

Those probably are your priority, and

chances are if you're in enablement,

452

you were hired to focus on them.

453

It's table stakes, right?

454

And I would, I'd caution you don't move

on to engaging with procurement until

455

you figure out new hire onboarding

456

Erich Starrett: right

457

Christopher Kingman: You can't build,

can't build a castle by stacking pebbles.

458

You're going to have to

bring in some big rocks.

459

It may not seem like the biggest priority,

460

but I have to assume that if

you are a competent enablement

461

professional, eventually you will

figure out all of the components.

462

And if you prove that they work, typically

that'll help you secure investment.

463

If you're semi articulate about,

we did this thing, brought in this

464

money, give me more investment.

465

I'll bring in more people.

466

We'll do more things, bring in more money.

467

Eventually you're going to get that

stuff figured out and it's, you're

468

going to need to go fix something else.

469

So why not prepare for

that day instead of.

470

Saying it's I'm never going to do that

or it's never, it's never going to happen

471

if you're really good at enablement,

chances are you're going to get

472

the reputation of somebody A can

fix things or B is strategic and

473

can orientate the organization

in the direction they need to go.

474

. Erich Starrett: You're making the pivot

from reactive to proactive . And back to

475

the Gartner report we were discussing,

they're basically leading with the new

476

mandate is be in at the chief strategy

officer, just in general, at the

477

corporate strategy level and have that

next couple of things, slay that first

478

dragon, crush it, get on everyone's radar.

479

And that dragon is probably

going to be talent enablement.

480

And then have that strategic.

481

And next we're going here and here.

482

And have the eyeballs of the executive

suite watching you through that lens.

483

Oh, talk about elevating

the profession, right?

484

Christopher Kingman: You got to

sway hearts, minds, and metrics,

485

you got to make sure that people

know that you can help them.

486

You got to show people you care

about their success, and then

487

you got to move the needle.

488

And that's, I think that's the foundation

for enablement success sales or not.

489

Erich Starrett: New t shirt.

490

Swaying hearts, minds, and

metrics one executive at a time.

491

We've done a such awesome past.

492

Thanks again.

493

So in the present what attribute or aspect

of enablement are you most passionate?

494

You shared the volunteering.

495

You shared the Emblaze , I'm

really excited to see what y'all

496

are doing at the top so that we

can implement that out here in the

497

chapters as we partner with our peers

498

Christopher Kingman: As I mentioned

at the beginning, I'm on the

499

advisory board for Emblaze.

500

I've, it's been, I've been

honored to be involved with

501

that organization for years now.

502

They are a great group of

people that truly care about

503

sellers and sales success.

504

So I think they're all just

enablement folks at heart.

505

Two years ago I joined, I joined their

sales transformation executive forum.

506

If you are a seller listening to this,

and if you are a sales leader or a CRO, I

507

definitely recommend you check them out.

508

It's CROs from very large sales

organizations and they would bring

509

their problems to the table, or new

research would be presented and it

510

would be interpreted and more and more.

511

The impression, was that

these aren't sales problems.

512

These are enablement problems.

513

And I went to their

executive retreat, which.

514

Probably one of my

favorite conferences ever.

515

Big heads of sales, big organizations.

516

Vendors were all there and it's three days

of whiteboarding and solving problems.

517

And I had a fantastic experience helping

people navigate their challenges.

518

And they were talking about onboarding

and training and upscaling and

519

how to pick a methodology, right?

520

I don't think these are sales

manager challenges anymore.

521

There are concerns for sure, but

I don't think you should task

522

your sales leaders to solve these.

523

I think that's what enablement is for, to

free up your sales leaders, to go do what

524

they need to do, coach sellers and sell.

525

And at one of the summits, I think

two years ago, I, got some time

526

with the leadership team from

AAISP now Emblaze, and I said, I

527

think this is what you need to do.

528

We need an enablement thing.

529

And a year later, they added an

enablement track to their summit,

530

and it was the most attended, most

requested track, and it was great.

531

The summit was great.

532

Huge turnout . I got to

present, I had a blast.

533

And, now this year, RES and Emblaze

have partnered, and this is all

534

around this concept that Your

enablement person and your CRO are

535

two sides of the same coin, right?

536

They need to be joined at the hip,

in lockstep, they need to be in tune.

537

If you're an enablement person and

you are not the most strategic, and

538

that's totally okay, you should be

partnering with your CRO to help fill

539

in the gaps of your strategy, right?

540

And if you're a CRO and you are

bogged down with all of these

541

things, how do I train people?

542

How do I coach them?

543

I don't have this.

544

I don't have that.

545

Where do I get a tech stack from?

546

You need to go and find

yourself an enablement person.

547

And my dream for this event was bring

those people together and put them in

548

a room and whiteboard their problems,

549

cROs, come on in, bring

all your challenges.

550

From I don't know what enablement is,

to how do I put together a business

551

case, to how do I figure out what

content management piece I need,

552

get it in there and have them hash it out.

553

Have these leaders see

the value of enablement.

554

For enablement people and practitioners,

go to the event and meet CROs.

555

I want to put people in jobs.

556

It's very important, especially

in our industry, we've definitely

557

been impacted by the layoffs.

558

So many folks that I know are open

to work, and that's unfortunate.

559

Because I think enablement can

conquer market conditions when

560

it's applied, but sometimes those

choices aren't really in the hands

561

of practitioners, the, from the top

down, it's cut, cut, cut, save money.

562

And they're impacted and it's unfortunate.

563

And so let's get you in front

of sales leaders, let's network,

564

let's let them see your value.

565

And hopefully that will

turn into something.

566

And I think this is just

the beginning, right?

567

Certainly, I'll be there, trying

to talk to everybody as possible.

568

President Gail Behun will be there.

569

We're doing a panel

together how to speak CRO.

570

There'll be a lot of other enablement

practitioners and presenters there.

571

I think it's going to be an amazing

experience and I think this is

572

the beginning of something great.

573

And, shameless plug for the event.

574

It's April 2nd through 4th,

just outside of Chicago.

575

It's in the same place every year.

576

I cannot stress enough,

especially, for sales leaders who

577

want to understand enablement.

578

I think this is the place

you need to go because you're

579

going to get the right info.

580

Erich Starrett: I there's

a Cracker Jack prize in this

581

episode for the first time ever.

582

That I can't wait to reveal that has

exactly to do with what you just shared

583

so let's go future We talked about

the possibility of this MBA in

584

Enablement, we talked about that a

little bit at SES experience, right?

585

In October.

586

Where are we at?

587

How quick is the future coming?

588

How soon will our children be at high

school and the career counselor's

589

going, you should be in enablement,

and here are the 15 universities

590

that you can go to get a degree.

591

Christopher Kingman: That

future cannot come soon enough.

592

I don't know if I'm doing an MBA

anytime soon, but we're developing

593

the first executive education program.

594

We recognize there is a

need for a few things.

595

one of my mission goals at

SES is to establish standards.

596

If you look at the Society of Automotive

Engineers, they have standards

597

for things like, why shouldn't we?

598

Now that can be tough because a lot

of what we do is very subjective,

599

but ultimately we're tied to metrics.

600

And there's, common themes,

best practices that can emerge.

601

If you compare 10 onboarding programs,

all 10 are going to be different, but

602

they can still contain the same things

that make up a good onboarding program.

603

It's educating people

on these things, right?

604

What do you need to look at?

605

How far and how wide can you go?

606

Enablement's great because you can

be an absolute expert at one thing.

607

I have a bunch of trainers on my

team and they're very specialized.

608

And I have one guy who

just does sales tech.

609

So all he does is train on sales tech.

610

I have another person who does skills.

611

I have another person that does onboarding

and they are the masters of those things.

612

And it's amazing, but that doesn't

have to be your experience.

613

You can be.

614

A mile wide, an inch deep, you can get

exposure to everything because that'll

615

help you shape your organization, but also

focus on the things that either A, your

616

organization needs, or B, your passion.

617

And that's what we're trying to do.

618

We're working with a major,

university in the United States.

619

We're putting together a

very accessible program.

620

That covers what we believe to be, pretty

full spectrum of everything that's related

621

to enablement and what drives enablement.

622

And where you can focus your attention

and we're bringing in the right

623

people, the practitioners with the

backgrounds, the education to bring

624

forward best in class experiences

and best in class certification.

625

And we're working on an introductory,

beginner level certification, if you will.

626

. And in the advance, you're going to bring

forward a business case, just like a

627

capstone project, and you're going to go

through the program, learn what you need

628

to learn to then improve this thing, and

then present to a panel of expert judges.

629

We hope to launch this thing by

September of this year, because we

630

want to bring a cohort of folks to the

experience, sales enablement experience.

631

In October to talk about the value, right?

632

We want to make sure that the vendors

in our space, the participants,

633

practitioners, the leaders all know

that we're putting our name on this

634

and saying this is the education.

635

This is the certificate.

636

Erich Starrett: Couldn't

be too soon, Chris.

637

Thank you for all your efforts in that.

638

And you want to talk about

elevating the profession, you

639

start with education, right?

640

It's talent development,

you might say, of ourselves.

641

Without further ado you ready?

642

Drum roll, please.

643

Affiliation with the 2024 Digital Now

Revenue Growth Summit in Chicagoland.

644

As Chris already shared, April second

to fourth, the must attend event of

645

Digital First Revenue Leaders, , with a

session about how to talk CRO with Mr.

646

Kingman and Gail Behun.

647

Don't miss that one hosted by

Emblaze powered by corporate visions.

648

We have a coupon code for you for not

99, not 299, 395 dollars off off to our

649

inside sales enablement season three.

650

enablement history listening audience.

651

And what better timing than with a man

who embodies in so many ways the past

652

and present and future of enablement.

653

Chris, I can't wait to see you

face to face again in Chicagoland.

654

And thanks again, and

you get the final word.

655

What's the parting shot?.

656

Christopher Kingman: The future of

enablement continues to be bright.

657

I will encourage everybody to lean

into the evolution of the trade

658

of the practice, open yourself to

leaning into the evolution of your own

659

skills, your development, your careers

660

we've come a long way as an organization

as a, a career, if you will to being,

661

loosely organized and a loose set

of skills to very organized and

662

things are only getting better.

663

I only hope to elevate the profession and

expand awareness, to a different audience

664

and a different set of folks that will

really value and benefit from what we do.

665

And I think we're gonna make great

strides towards that this year.

666

Erich Starrett: Outstanding.

667

With volunteers like you and

the volunteers around the world

668

that are driving the RES and the

combination with Emblaze, all of

669

that's possible and then some.

670

I'm all in.

671

Thanks again, Mr.

672

Kingman, , and thanks to

everyone for listening in.

673

Christopher Kingman: Thank you, Erich.

674

Thank you, everybody.

675

Erich Starrett: Pleasure.