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 ISEs3 Ep15 host Erich Starrett is joined in the Orchestrate Sales studios by new friend Danny Wasserman, whom he finally met F2F at Corporate Visions Emblaze #DigitalNow24 in early April. Danny has done game-changing tours of Enablement duty at top logos including Databricks, Gong! and Tableau.

Q: So how *DOES* #RevenueEnablement gain a seat at the table in "the room where it happens?

And what does THAT have to do with peanut butter, sausage, and Shake Shack?

A: (in part) "whether it's in sales. Or whether it's in CS or it's in enablement, you cannot trivialize or overstate the importance of the intersection between hospitality and the world of business."

Dive in with me and Danny to talk Strategy, Technology, Human Connection, and...

PAST:

⌛️ Danny was onboarded at Tableau at about employee 2k. The IPO had just recently happened, and his first "real" taste of enablement was onboarding with "the truly incomparable" Sarah Bedwell

⌛️ Joining Enablement at after a sales spiff started a bit of a riff. "I was fortunate enough to be within the cocoon of Mother Goose (Nate) Vogel."

⌛️ "My dirty little secret is that I'm an enablement? Dude. You couldn't have captured the essence of how I felt about being a former seller who had sort of taken a bite of the forbidden fruit."

⌛️ Frank Slootman boldly came out and said, why am I going to put all of the customer success on one person?

⌛️ Nate recruited Danny to re-join Enablement forces at DataBricks.

PRESENT:

💼 "If I'm not fighting that hard for my cabinet seat with whatever executive I'm trying to maintain my position with, there's a dozen people behind me that will absolutely eat my lunch."

💼 Per Danny Meyer - American restaurateur and a guiding voice in Danny's career: In addition to IQ, do you have what he calls HQ: hospitality quotient?

💼 "Genuinely what enablement provides is service. And I think if you feel that passionately, if you feel that authentically and genuinely, the beneficiaries of what it is that you're providing will also sense that ...you will not allow or tolerate yourself to serve a mediocre product."

FUTURE:

🤖 Kyle Healy, who's the SVP of Enablement at a insurance company "When we think about AI's place in our profession, do you want to embrace that technology like Iron Man, or do you want to attempt to resist it like Terminator?"

🤖 Potential impacts of AI and technological advancements on the enablement profession

🤖 Necessity to adapt and integrate new technologies while preserving the human element

🤖 Ongoing collaboration and learning opportunities in enablement practices

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

ORCHESTRATE Sales!

Erich

#RevenueEngine #DigitalTransformation #ChangeManagement

#Orchestrate #SalesEnablement

Mentioned in this episode:

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Hello everyone.

2

And welcome to inside sales enablement,

season three enablement history.

3

And in our studios today, I think

might be one of the few human beings

4

I've met on planet earth that can out

caffeinate me , I just had a chance

5

to see Danny Wasserman live and in

person at digital now in Chicagoland.

6

And he put on a show

that was a sight to see.

7

Such an amazing career that he's

had in and around enablement.

8

So many hooks into the things that.

9

I believe in and know that enablement

can be, he epitomizes and shared a

10

lot of the peak behind the scenes.

11

He and Nate Vogel have been following

each other around for a minute.

12

That goes back to Tableau where he

did everything from sales readiness,

13

To being the global sales methodology,

lead strategist, and then headed over

14

to Gong where he was ultimately the

director of go to market enablement.

15

So he's, he's got some killer street

cred and now he's taken on a new

16

adventure at Databricks, which you

might've heard of, they're doing

17

quite well now with Danny on board.

18

About four months under his belt.

19

Danny Wasserman: Yeah, the only

thing that I need to, for the record,

20

correct is, you know, following

Nate Vogel is an accurate statement.

21

Nate Vogel following me would

be an inaccurate statement.

22

That guy leads from the front.

23

There's nothing about either my style or

my demeanor that would inspire someone

24

like Nate to want to follow me, but I

could very much vouch for the fact that I

25

stand on the shoulders of giants, both on

Nate's shoulders, but then all the logos.

26

You just mentioned and for the momentum

and the buzz and the hype and cache

27

around Databricks right now, I can

claim absolutely zero credit for.

28

So just lucky, lucky to be a part of that.

29

Erich Starrett: So Danny, we've

got you here in the studio.

30

I'm curious with someone with that

kind of a history with those kinds

31

of logos sales enablement, when

did you first hear those two words?

32

What do they mean to you?

33

Danny Wasserman: Yeah, so I had

always worked in startups early stage.

34

I've been a small company guy through and

through, and I was a co founder of one.

35

I had tried my luck at a few others, and

my first taste of what at the time felt

36

humongous was Tableau, when I joined back

37

The IPO had just recently happened,

and that was my taste of enablement

38

was going through a onboarding

program that was spearheaded by the

39

truly incomparable Sarah Bedwell.

40

Another person who deserves to

be enshrined in the great halls

41

of enablement professionals.

42

I think Sarah stood head and shoulders

above anyone else that I had experienced

43

in a sales training capacity.

44

And I think for the next two

years, I'll be honest, I really

45

thumbed my nose at the profession.

46

I think that I put my

head down as a seller.

47

I was on a warpath as a

gunner, as an alpha, as an

48

utterly neurotic control freak.

49

Formulaically, sales was a perfect

place for me because there was no

50

voice telling me to stop working.

51

And I was positively reinforced

from being that tenacious in

52

what I achieved and what I made.

53

And along the way, I kept feeling

like, God, I think I have a better

54

hold and handle on how to be successful

in this profession than the counsel

55

and the advice I'm getting in

the beginning of my sales career.

56

It's hard because you want to

take in all these opinions and

57

some of those can be competing.

58

Some of those can be contradictory.

59

There can be conflict in

what you're being told to do.

60

And you want to pay respect and

homage to supposedly the authorities

61

on what you should be doing.

62

And I just found while Sarah being the

exception, most enablement I was getting

63

felt pretty fluffy or self evident.

64

And I think as such, enablement amongst

some of us in sales was pretty poor.

65

And stigma stigmas follow people.

66

And I think the adage, right, those

who can't do, those who can't teach.

67

And I say that somewhat tongue in cheek

because that haunted me as I continue to

68

find success in sales and was being asked

to moonlight as a facilitator for one

69

course in our onboarding for new hires.

70

And I loved it.

71

I loved it so much.

72

I've always wanted to be a teacher,

but I knew a teacher's salary Was

73

never going to foot the bill for

my lifestyle or some obligations.

74

I felt compelled to meet namely

Sending kids to college debt free.

75

So for years, I was so reluctant to

even entertain a call from nate But

76

as time went on I realized wow, okay.

77

Here's this guy.

78

I think he's a little You know different

in his approach to how he does this.

79

He's so savvy with people And this was

sort of a long You Drawn out courtship

80

between him and I so much so that

the tipping point truly the reckoning

81

Was at month end I was in a knockdown

drag out fight with my best friend

82

on the sales team over a thousand

dollar spiff and I was Slandering

83

his name cursing everything about him

because he beat me in the 11th hour.

84

He's still a sheisty mother

But no i'm just kidding.

85

I remember driving home and I remember

thinking this isn't who I want to be A

86

thousand dollars should not get in the

way of any relationship, let alone mutate

87

me into this person I don't want to be.

88

And that's really when I think the

tables turned and the scales flipped.

89

And I started seriously entertaining

this with Nate and that was what eight,

90

10 years ago, three companies ago.

91

Erich Starrett: I do enablement, right?

92

, that's such a great story.

93

And look, look where and, and

how visible you are today.

94

And so speaking of enablement becoming

more visible and I'll say getting our

95

act together, the Sales Enablement

Society, now Revenue Enablement Society,

96

when or did the Sales Enablement

Society come into play for you?

97

Danny Wasserman: I think it's funny that

you talk about, Oh my God, my dirty

98

little secret is that I'm an enablement.

99

Dude.

100

You couldn't have captured the

essence of how I felt about being

101

a former seller who had sort of

taken a bite of the forbidden fruit.

102

And people actually cautioned me

before I left like, dude, no one's

103

gonna take you seriously anymore.

104

You're out of the clubhouse.

105

You're out of the locker room, right?

106

You're just a consultant now.

107

And there were definitely times I

felt that, but I think it was because

108

of my experience as a former seller.

109

It was whether it was the haunting

fear of being pegged that way was

110

either both motivating or terrifying

that I never want to get anywhere

111

close to being pegged that way.

112

So I came out swinging.

113

I came out with spice.

114

I came out with, I think pretty, I'll

use the word again, tenacious approach

115

to do enablement as if I was still

a seller, what would captivate me?

116

And think having a pretty ruthless bar for

any content that was associated with my

117

name had to be ruthless I mean not just

riveting but you wanted to be dripping

118

on every last word and it was backed

by citations and science and numbers.

119

And to your point now we're having

our time in the sun Because of some of

120

the tech that's come out in the last

few years that gives us a leg to stand

121

on So it wasn't always so hunky dory.

122

I mean there was some doom and gloom and

enablement and if you didn't have a leader

123

like nate who had the ear Of the king,

whether it was the CRO of leadership,

124

it was a dogfight, an uphill battle to

garner a shred of mind share legitimacy.

125

So again, when I say I stand on

the shoulders of giants, I was

126

fortunate enough to be within

the cocoon of Mother Goose Vogel.

127

And I think now the playing field has

been leveled thanks to tools like gong.

128

Or again, I don't want to

be like the gong fanboy.

129

Gong is one of many solutions

that give enablement a much more

130

scientific backdrop to fall back on

the recommendations they're providing.

131

But yeah, man, like only until

probably the last 24 months have

132

I sort of proudly stood up and

banged my chest and said, yeah, I'm

133

Enablement and this is freaking cool.

134

Erich Starrett: It's like, it's a

biblical thing, but there's this

135

whole conversion of Saul to Paul.

136

I love how you went from sales

enablement sucks to I'm the king

137

of the sales enablement world!

138

And in fact, I loved your presentation,

fighting for your cabinet seat,

139

everything you just said, like

that's so perfectly embodied.

140

And it's a story I'm going to

be borrowing from shamelessly

141

and giving you all the credit.

142

But along the same lines, when the

sales enablement society was founded

143

back in 2016, the hundred ish folks

that were there landed on three things.

144

And the 1st 1 was that enablement is

not just talent enablement, but there

145

are at least 4 flavors of it that they

started off from the ground floor,

146

which were talent, of course, but then

messaging and marketing enablement.

147

And administrative sales

ops, revenue operations.

148

And pipeline enablement and they

broke those out into different because

149

there are different strategic elements

and there are different parts of the

150

internal executive suite and revenue

engine that you have to have that seat

151

at the table in order to effectively be

able to enable, which was position two.

152

In order for enablement to be

effective, it has to be run as a cross

153

functional business within a business.

154

And then the third, was that enablement.

155

Hey, we're here in a room.

156

We're putting a stake in the

ground this is a thing we're

157

building a global society.

158

What are we evolving from to?

159

And, it was like, well, there are

CFOs, there are CIOs that evolved

160

from, you know, smaller jobs.

161

What about chief productivity officer?

162

So the idea that we're elevating

the profession to something.

163

Your presentation about fighting

for your cabinet seat seemed to be

164

grounded in some of those concepts,

which of those resonate with you?

165

Danny Wasserman: Yeah For sure, man.

166

I think that even the audacious

aspiraitons from the onset of the

167

society were day there will be a time

where we no longer think that a chief

168

productivity officer in that role is

novel or that that would be atypical.

169

But that becomes commonplace

as we legitimize the place

170

for learning in the workplace.

171

And I think that, as I

alluded to, I'd love to teach.

172

You know, I spent my summers as a

camp counselor, then as a guide.

173

So there's been this educational

component and bend to my life

174

for as long as I've been working.

175

And yet, we can all appreciate that

teachers are grossly underpaid.

176

So if you have this passion to teach,

but also feel the burdens financially

177

of what it means to live in today's

society, you can't pencil out those,

178

you know, Those math equations.

179

How I got to enablement was an accident,

but it was again, I, I talked to so

180

many folks who are trying to get out

of sales because of any number of

181

destructive forces that come with

that, the burnout, the anxiety, they're

182

just no longer passionate about it.

183

And everyone looks to enablement

because you're adjacent to revenue.

184

So you tangentially feel

the excitement of that.

185

But you don't have the weight of quota.

186

And not to say that there isn't

piles that come with our job, too.

187

Don't get me wrong, like, every job you

have to shovel so I don't want to, paint

188

this as hunky dory, like, Oh, we've

made it to Oz or the Promised Land.

189

I sit in the Garden of Eden,

Drinking Evian every day.

190

That's not the case.

191

But I do believe sometimes people

struggle with trusting the process.

192

That if you're passionate about

what it is that You are doing the

193

success and the opportunity, the

financial, maybe not leisure, but

194

the depressurization of some of those

pressures will alleviate over time.

195

So long as you continue to use your

passion as the barometer for how you make

196

decisions, because you can't inherently

turn off that passion or excitement.

197

That will presumably beget success,

which will then beget hopefully

198

some of that sense of satisfaction.

199

Back to your question about the society's

sort of inception and its pillars.

200

Yeah, I think you have, different

personas within enablement that you

201

think rather than it being a one size

fits all, that that helps at least

202

shape specialization in the profession

that then yields more legitimacy.

203

I think instead of four,

I think about it is three.

204

There is a persona within the profession

that is a facilitator, someone who is

205

a theatrical thespian because we've

all sat through presentations where

206

it is worse than watching paint dry.

207

And time is money for all of

us, but especially in sales.

208

So you really appreciate someone

who can breathe, not just life, but

209

excitement into what the hell it is

they're talking about in a riveting,

210

compelling, captivating story.

211

That skill set will set you apart,

even if it's not your own content.

212

How do you as an actor, actress,

Bring that to the workplace.

213

Could not have predicted that there would

be a time and a place and value for that.

214

The second persona I would say, I think

you alluded to it, was sort of this

215

more administrative or operational role.

216

Enablement as you get bigger, take on

incredibly squirrely, rat's nest problems.

217

And are you the type of person that

leaves no stone unturned and the

218

granularity of the minutiae that you

want to obsess over so that all the

219

trains Leave on time and that we're

under budget and finishing early.

220

That's a really Necessary

sort of pm skill set.

221

And the third I would say is more of

for anyone who's a godfather fan Is

222

the tom hagen consigliere type, you

know You didn't stay in sales or sales

223

leadership because you had to be front

and center But do you love pulling on

224

strings as a chief of staff strategist?

225

And I think somewhere in that third

persona, you blend a little bit of each

226

of those other two, but I have seen people

make wildly successful careers out of just

227

being niche in one of those three buckets.

228

So when you were talking about, hey,

like enablement can't just be a paint

229

by numbers, peanut butter smear.

230

I think those are the types

of personas I advise people.

231

What's going to fill your cup?

232

What's going to unlock the best

parts of Erich or Danny or Jane

233

Doe, and if any of those speak to

you, then trust in the process and

234

follow your passions and enablement.

235

Erich Starrett: Well, you've

definitely found your calling Danny.

236

You can own a spotlight like no other,

and really appreciate you coming

237

on the show to, share some of that

talent and wisdom with the audience.

238

So, in october of last year, a

new historical milestone in that

239

the Sales Enablement Society

shifted to revenue enablement.

240

I'm curious, especially with the

logos you've represented, the

241

passion you've had, the, I can't

even imagine how many enablement

242

professionals you've interacted with.

243

What does that shift mean if anything

mean to you in those words, sales

244

enablement to revenue enablement.

245

Danny Wasserman: I think it

speaks to a few things, right?

246

With the pervasive shift to subscription,

You know, there's a lot of debate.

247

Should there be a

customer success function?

248

Should everyone own that?

249

You know, Frank Slootman boldly came

out and said, why am I going to put all

250

of the customer success on one person?

251

And I think that revenue comes from

a variety of different angles and

252

sort of stereotypically sales being

more of a newer incremental role.

253

Revenue generating function and CS if

we use that genErichally speaking as a

254

renewal function Well, all of those people

need to be better not because again,

255

they're bad at their jobs But because

it's just so damn competitive and the

256

pace of change is such blisteringly fast

That I would say Everyone can continue

257

to up their game and we now have the

tools where you can capture your game

258

footage, analyze it at scale no less as

opposed to in silos or in isolation of

259

one individual and actually draw some

more scientific conclusions about how

260

are we going to make everybody better.

261

And so much of I think the interest in

being part of this tech scene is the

262

upside of being an equity shareholder.

263

We all have a vested interest in holding

ourselves every day to a higher bar.

264

So moving out of sales to revenue, I

think, not only covers end to end that

265

cycle, which also then includes, you

know, the niche specialization of the

266

BDR, SDR, XDR function at the tip of

the spear with prospecting all the way

267

end to end cradle to grave to renewal.

268

It can't be a one size fits all.

269

So I love that we're revenue.

270

As part of my talk that you heard

at digital now, I also think that

271

because of the tech that's specifically

geared at our world, the lines blur

272

even further into operations, right?

273

We were pretty discreet five,

six, however many years ago.

274

Ops were the people that were

the analysts that told you what's

275

happening underneath the hood.

276

But they can never actually

capture how are things going?

277

Or why are they going that way?

278

Simply just more what's happening.

279

And I think now when we talk about

sales enablement to revenue enablement,

280

it's end to end cradle grave.

281

All those personas plus the

ability to actually hold court.

282

With not sales operations,

revenue operations.

283

I think that same transition is taking

place on that side of the aisle.

284

Erich Starrett: For those that, that

weren't there , this was, All through

285

the lens, maybe you get a little bit

of a background on what you meant

286

by fighting for your cabinet seat

and being in that room where it

287

happened and how that room changed.

288

What is that room where

enablement happened?

289

What did it used to look like?

290

What does it look like today?

291

What should we be doing in the

present as enablement to get us there?

292

Danny Wasserman: No doubt.

293

I left sales because I was toying

with the idea of getting my MBA.

294

Right.

295

And I thought what nobility comes

with an MBA from a school that

296

prides itself on having prestige.

297

And then I'll be happy.

298

And then I'll feel intelligent.

299

I didn't.

300

And I did sales for a while and I

looked and I said, I want to be in that

301

room that you're speaking of, Erich.

302

I want to be in the tent.

303

I want to see how strategy is hatched

or show me how the sausage is made.

304

And don't just show me

at some point in my life.

305

I want to.

306

I feel that my fingerprints are

all over that sausage, and that

307

sounded oddly , so forgive me.

308

But you get where I'm going.

309

Enablement was a way

for me to cut corners.

310

And get there faster and to try and

pony up to the people that do have a, I

311

think, really, you know, typical standard

seat in that entire process in the room.

312

And as time has gone on the margins

for error in any role have become

313

compressed to being razor thin.

314

And there's a stat that looks at.

315

The average tenure of a CRO in

today's day and age is 19 months.

316

So I hate to militarize what it is

that we do in sales because that

317

feels as cliche as calling it sports.

318

But yeah, we're battling

against competition.

319

So in prepping for my presentation, I

used the analogy of a sort of war cabinet.

320

Dating all the way back to the 1800s

where it was first used in England,

321

but it was first actually published

322

So, for those historians out

there, that's World War I.

323

And, Lloyd George, who was Prime

Minister at the time, was trying

324

to think about when there's so much

complexity in my job as Prime Minister.

325

I need some advisors.

326

I need counsel so I can

bounce ideas off of them.

327

And initially it was suggested

that he have a handful of advisors.

328

Let's start with three.

329

And very quickly, that burgeoned to being

unwieldy and out of control, where it got

330

as high as 23 people in his war cabinet.

331

You talk about being absolutely paralyzed

by the analysis and democracy of

332

maintaining some sort of understanding

of what 23 people are telling you.

333

It's impossible.

334

So, Churchill, famously, for acting

decisively and assertively, he looked

335

at that and said, This is bull....

336

So he brought it down to four.

337

And I think about, I want to

be in that cabinet war room.

338

I want my fingerprints on the sausage

, that we got to stick with that bit.

339

Now it's too good.

340

And if the equivalent.

341

In this analogy to Churchill is the CRO.

342

What am I doing to fight and using that

term operatively fight for my opinion

343

to rise above a lot of other noise.

344

And that's not me slandering or poo poo

what other people are attempting to do.

345

Everyone's intentions are pure.

346

But there's only so much mindshare.

347

There's only so much time.

348

There's only so much money to

invest in certain projects.

349

I got to fight to legitimize

what it is that I'm suggesting.

350

And I do think that being competitive

and as a former seller, that

351

has served me immeasurably well.

352

Because I think I bring that, where

I started in sales, that tenacity

353

to enablement, because if I'm not

fighting that hard for my cabinet seat

354

with whatever executive I'm trying

to maintain my sort of position with,

355

there's a dozen people behind me

that will absolutely eat my lunch.

356

Erich Starrett: Couldn't agree more.

357

I love the analogy right

down to the sausage making,

358

Danny Wasserman: Yes.

359

All of the sausage making is consensual.

360

No HR violations were committed

in making enablement strategy.

361

Erich Starrett: Right?

362

So some of the things you shared about

what got us here and what's going on

363

in the present, arguably, and a lot

of camps that won't get us there is.

364

The status quo.

365

Proposing the same things that repeat

themselves over and over again.

366

Do you have any present

day recommendations?

367

And then, we'll get to the future on

how some of these folks can maybe,

368

drop some knowledge bombs on how

maybe they can mix it up a little

369

bit and get outside of the box.

370

Danny Wasserman: The status quo is

warm, it's fuzzy, it's familiar.

371

Not to accuse anyone of being a one

trick pony, I think that it's only

372

natural psychologically that we would

feel shackled whether we realize it

373

or not, to what's worked in the past.

374

I'm guilty of that, right?

375

As the, sort of, sales methodology guy at

Tableau, I rolled out Corporate Visions,

376

and, I love them, but you talk about

what worked historically in enablement.

377

They have phenomenal thespians

who facilitate their content and

378

these aren't slouches either.

379

They're brilliant people.

380

There's a lot of intelligence in how

you bring that content to life and

381

it can all withstand the pushback and

the scrutiny and the skepticism of the

382

most cynical and grizzled of sellers.

383

So they've got a great product and that

worked really well when we first got

384

a taste of it and the viral nature in

which it spread was largely based and

385

predicated on the success of how they

brought that content to life, and how

386

it was able to go from a pilot of 40

people to eventually over three years,

387

taking that to 1600 people globally

was again how we brought that to life.

388

So then transitioning to gong

and sort of saying, we have

389

this awesome thing that we did.

390

Let's apply it and drop it in here, right?

391

There was a lot of, well, who the hell

are you new guy who just got to Gong?

392

You have no idea what our DNA makeup is.

393

You have no idea what's

worked in the past.

394

On what basis or grounds can

you make that suggestion?

395

There was a lot of, you know, outsider

looking in, hypothesizing, we think we've

396

got your silver bullet that you need.

397

There wasn't a lot of, I would say,

welcomed reception to that initially.

398

So if I was going to rest on my

laurels and just sort of force

399

CVI down Gong's throat, it would

not have been a tasty meal.

400

And I think what it took was evolving

when I got there to really analyzing their

401

status quo with their own technology to,

I think, not introduce a new theory that

402

their status quo was faltering, but put

numbers to it and then in a guerrilla

403

kind of way have pockets of people that

were pressure testing my hypothesis with

404

CVI's why change to create a measurable,

concrete, distinguishable Contrast,

405

which earned me the right to then go

and float this in front of the CRO.

406

That it wasn't a he said,

she said, hey, just trust me.

407

I've done this before, but it

was like, here's the numbers.

408

We have meaningful signals

from this pilot of CVI.

409

Are you willing to go all in and all

in with the understanding that Gong

410

will hold me and CVI accountable.

411

And I think that that's a really important

distinction, Erichh, that we also need

412

to really pay tribute to, which is Five,

ten years ago, CVI would come in with

413

their amazing thespian facilitators,

or Challenger would do the same, or

414

Miller Hyman, or Richardson, or whoever,

and you would pay a king's ransom to

415

have them roll it out, and then they

would vanish with no accountability.

416

And what's awesome is, yes, they are

all still that phenomenal and theatrical

417

and fantastic and facilitating, but

Gong, or whoever you're using for

418

your nut sales intelligence, Or your

conversation intelligence, but your

419

revenue intelligence should be what

actually holds them accountable if you're

420

signing a multi year contract with them.

421

If you're seeing that adoption

is faltering, why is that?

422

Is that because your people

just need to be reinforced?

423

Or are people actually using it,

they are adopting it, but it's

424

tanking your win rates, or it's

decelerating your sales cycles?

425

Shame on them, whichever

IP vendor you went with.

426

And now it can't be a, he said,

she said, you've got the numbers

427

from your revenue intelligence tech

stack to tell that to them to either

428

demand a discount or even a refund.

429

Erich Starrett: So as we shift to the

future, it sounds like you see a big

430

opportunity for this culmination of

where the enablement profession meets

431

technology, which I've heard these two

letters, a, I, a lot recently what,

432

what does that future look like to you?

433

Danny Wasserman: Yeah.

434

So I'm contending with that

in my own skillset right

435

now is how do I reckon with.

436

Is AI displacing me?

437

And that's a real, I'll

use the word, fear.

438

Erich Starrett: Yeah.

439

Danny Wasserman: I can distinctly

remember exactly where I'm sitting

440

when I hear Kyle Healy, who's the SVP

of Enablement at a insurance company.

441

So Kyle, if you're listening,

thanks again for this.

442

I quote you all the time.

443

He said, When we think about AI's

place in our profession, do you

444

want to embrace that technology

like Iron Man, or do you want to

445

attempt to resist it like Terminator?

446

And we all know how that ended.

447

And where I'm going is I cornered a

function with an enablement very quickly

448

as a former seller that had everything

to do with how do you whip through

449

an account plan research process with

both surgical precision and efficiency,

450

because those can be really paradoxical.

451

And I came up with my own methodology

that I've trained hundreds,

452

not thousands of sellers on.

453

How to do that at scale.

454

And yeah, it's not, I would

say, in any way revolutionary.

455

It's going to all the usual

suspects of 10Ks and LinkedIn and

456

whatnot, but I've done it enough

times to know that it holds water.

457

And yet, AI is very quickly making

that methodology obsolete because you

458

can go to Databugger or Finlistics.

459

Or LinkedIn sales navigator has the

account IQ now that gives you a baseline

460

understanding of coming up with what is

the point of view, the distillate, the

461

synthesis from your account plan research.

462

A lot of job security and competency

that I brought was all tied

463

up in me teaching this course.

464

For years and I need to get to

a place where I'm not trying to

465

bury my head in the sand from all

these tools that are coming up

466

automatically with points of views.

467

I need to figure out where do

those fall short and how can my

468

human oversight supplement and

compliment what they provide.

469

I'm not irrelevant.

470

I'm not obsolete.

471

But if I refuse to actually study

what's out there to know then, how to

472

tune with the human oversight or the

finesse, the last mile of that journey.

473

Then yeah, I think I've already forfeited.

474

Because sooner or later, they're

just gonna get better and better.

475

If I'm not staying current with what's out

there, then my one trick pony status quo

476

of today will make me a victim tomorrow,

477

Erich Starrett: Danny, your pony

has a million, three tricks.

478

What's this one trick stuff, but

I love, I love what you shared.

479

And one of the kind of hashtags that

has evolved in my mind is AI curious,

480

human enthusiast, and it's, it's

along lines of what you just shared.

481

I would argue there's no cloning Danny.

482

That's for sure.

483

And I see such a great opportunity

as I hear you saying to shift the

484

administrivia to the AI, but lean into

your given gifting and let that shine.

485

Be it in the spotlight or be it

synthesizing the synthesis, right?

486

There still is that human Element.

487

So maybe share on a final note,

wherever you'd like to land the plane.

488

What do you see through that vein?

489

What is your encouragement

for this listening audience?

490

If you, my friends want to be part of

the elevation of sales enablement with

491

all of the additional tool set you have.

492

And if you also want to be in the

room where it happens, what's next?

493

Danny Wasserman: Man.

494

Oh, what's a another

episode right there, dude?

495

Erich Starrett: Well, let's do it!

496

Here's the trailer.

497

Danny Wasserman: exactly.

498

I think that where my head goes,

sort of, if you want to be in the

499

room and you're excited about where

we're elevating collectively as a

500

profession, elevating the notion of

enablement, I want to leave people with

501

this idea that whether it's in sales.

502

Or whether it's in CS or it's in

enablement, you cannot trivialize

503

or overstate the importance of the

intersection between hospitality

504

and the world of business.

505

And I think this is sort of a,

perhaps curve ball that I'm throwing

506

you, but stick with me here.

507

One of the like virtuoso, I

would say guiding voices in my

508

entire career, is Danny Meyer.

509

Danny Meyer if you don't know the name

is ordinarily thought to be the most

510

successful American restaurateur in

our country's history and his first

511

restaurant in New York City was Union

512

on to open dozens of restaurants most of

which Have when he first cut his teeth

513

Anchored more into the fine dining space.

514

And if you looked at the top

10 restaurants in New York City

515

each year, you would ordinarily

see at least a handful that were

516

within Danny's restaurant group.

517

But what really made him a, at

this point now, billionaire is

518

that he also started Shake Shack.

519

So we all know that as a global brand,

but that's not where he started.

520

Why think about referencing

Danny with where this is going

521

is it was so counterintuitive.

522

I like that word a lot because I

think that it's those counterintuitive

523

moments and enablement.

524

I can remember counterintuitive lessons

or parables that CVI would tell you that

525

whoa, oh my God, that's so illuminating.

526

Danny looked at how hospitality was run

that generally at that point in time in

527

history, it placed employees at the lowest

rung on the ladder for prioritization,

528

and it put investors and then customers

and then vendors ahead of them.

529

He said, that's bull!

530

We should prioritize our employees first,

and then everything else will follow that.

531

If our employees feel loved and feel

valued, then not to again, quote,

532

trickle down economics, but then.

533

Sort of this virtuous enlightened

hospitality will unfold.

534

And where I'm trying to land the plane

is that in enablement, I do believe

535

that this is a service business.

536

And you could make the argument,

but sales and customer success,

537

and like ops, it's all service.

538

Sure, but genuinely what

enablement provides is service.

539

And I think if you feel that

passionately, if you feel that

540

authentically and genuinely, the

beneficiaries of what it is that

541

you're providing will also sense that.

542

That it's not lip service, it's

not insincere, but also you will

543

not allow or tolerate yourself

to serve a mediocre product.

544

And I think that there's a

lot of mediocrity out there.

545

And you could say, Oh man, why

would I ever want to join that?

546

Or you could say, if that's the

baseline in the bar, there are lots

547

of us that are trying to elevate.

548

And that's not an accusation.

549

. Like I just think that historically

we haven't been given the tools or

550

the mindset or the legitimacy to

actually want to take huge pride

551

in what it is that we're doing.

552

And again, I think that that's

probably where I want to land.

553

Do you feel what Danny refers to

in his book, setting the table?

554

In addition to having your IQ, your

intellectual quotient, do you have what

555

he calls HQ and hospitality quotient?

556

You talk about the unexpected, never

in the tea leaves that I see as part of

557

this job, that my affinity for hosting

A dinner party would then translate to

558

hosting an off site and what that has

done That's not in the conventional job

559

description of enablement, but because

we're in the service business That has

560

also elevated me to being in the room

and that those skills that maybe you

561

trivialize All of a sudden are like whoa,

but actually That is a very relevant,

562

applicable skillset that comes in this

whole mishmash that is enablement as well.

563

So Erich, I don't know if that's where

you want to go, but that's where at

564

least attempted to crash the plane.

565

Erich Starrett: I, that, that

plane is flying higher than ever.

566

I , thank you so much, Danny.

567

I know you're crazy busy.

568

Good luck on your world tour.

569

You're about to jump back in on, and

thank you for all that you've done and

570

continue to do to elevate the profession

and to share your passion and your

571

service, like you were just sharing.

572

It does not surprise me at all that you

have a penchant for throwing a dinner

573

party and I'd love to be at one, one day.

574

I'll even hop on one of those planes.

575

So thanks again for your time, Danny.

576

Danny Wasserman: This was great.

577

Thanks, Erich!

578

Erich

579

Erich Starrett: Awesome.

580

My pleasure, brother.