Showpad CPO Louis Jonckheere says the launch of the firm’s unified Sales Enablement Platform will help one of the least-supported in the enterprise to offer “coaching at scale” with training tools, easier administration and more.
The Chicago-based firm’s release comes only nine months after it spent $50 million to acquire LearnCore, a provider of coaching and training software for sales managers. Among other features, Showpad is promising a single console view of sales enablement materials, as well as the ability to upload consistent content in one location.
According to Jonckheere, sales organizations are increasingly realizing that training their reps in one system and providing them with content to close deals in another system just isn’t efficient. Sales training and coaching needs to be closely tied to the individual interactions sellers are having, he said, and tracking these within disparate systems is becoming unmanageable.
“We’re preventing admins from doing twice the work,” Jonckheere told B2B News Network.
Although many sales teams would appreciate the idea of having one platform versus multiple solutions, the reality is that many firms already have a few point products in place today. As Showpad CPO, however, Jonckheere said bringing both content and coaching capabilities are part of one platform means the firm will be able to deliver smarter artificial intelligence to drive recommendations and next best actions that make sellers more effective.
That said, “we will integrate as well with the training solutions they have today,” Jonckheere added, including CRM, CMS/DAM, LMS, Marketing Automation systems and other essential technologies that sales and marketing teams use to win and retain customers.
The release of Showpad’s Sales Enablement Platform included a testimonial from Michael Hoy, director of sales at product experience software firm Pendo, who said it would offer greater efficiencies. “We can reduce the number of tools our reps need to use,” Hoy was quoted in the release.
Showpad’s Manager Hub, meanwhile, will surface and identify the greatest areas of need within a sales manager’s team, enabling them to spend time with those that need it most and turn mid-performers into stars, Jonckheere said.
“Engaged sales managers equal successful sales teams, (but) sales managers are already stretched thin by the many demands on their time,” he said. “Salespeople learn the most from their managers and peers. Better Coaching. It’s as simple as that.”
