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Sales organizations across industries have ridden the roller coaster that is the "good times" and... the "not so good times" over the last 5 years. We've seen everything from a global pandemmy to the rapid onset of AI. Let's not forget the collapse of SVB and significant slow down of IPOs that fell in between all of that. 🎢🎢🎢
As 🤖 AI advances and market conditions fluctuate, efficiency is back in focus over growth at all costs. In today’s environment, where effectiveness is king, consistent coaching with a proven framework and support for frontline managers is essential.
This shift is why companies across the Fortune 500 have come to us at Ambition, saying:
"We need a way to drive measurable performance improvement from our revenue teams."
Zoom, for example, faced a major transformation challenge in adapting after the unprecedented growth of the 'Zoom Boom.'
Here’s a look at how they launched a focused performance coaching program to support a high-level revenue initiative—and how you can put these strategies to work, too 👷♂️
The Challenge: Managing Explosive Growth with Inexperienced Teams
Zoom’s rapid growth led to a sudden influx of both new sales reps and frontline managers, many of whom were inexperienced in traditional sales techniques. In response, Zoom’s leadership needed a structured approach to develop skills across the team while transitioning from a single product focus to a multi-product sales strategy and go from securing net new business as the focus to expanding the user base. 💡
Building a Solution: Comprehensive Training and Tools
To tackle these challenges, Zoom partnered with SRG and Ambition.
Combining SRG’s high-impact sales manager training with Ambition’s coaching and analytics platform, they focused weekly coaching on five key pillars for frontline sales managers:
- Performance management
- Accountability in coaching
- Pipeline building
- Sales leadership
- Recruiting.
Through a three-day workshop, frontline managers were introduced to a consistent coaching framework that would be deployed automatically with Ambition and could be tracked for accountability, ongoing reinforcement, and customized support.
Customized, Consistent Coaching Across Global Teams
Understanding the diversity of roles and regions within Zoom, the training was carefully tailored to each audience segment, from Account Executives (AEs) to Customer Success Managers (CSMs), and adapted to various geographical regions. As part of the implementation, Zoom created an internal “high-impact sales manager” resource hub, ensuring all managers had ongoing access to training materials, tools, and on-demand videos that could be linked, referenced, and tasked out as action items inside Ambition. 💁♀️
Operationalizing Coaching with Ambition’s Platform
To ensure coaching consistency and visibility, Zoom utilized Ambition’s platform to track coaching activities, providing managers and leaders with tools to measure progress and identify areas for improvement. This platform allowed sales leaders to see metrics on coaching completion rates, track specific goals, and even analyze "heat maps" that showed skill gaps across the organization.
Data-Driven Impact and Sustainable Change
The results of this initiative were impressive. Zoom reported over 30,000 check-ins completed and over 3,000 action items assigned within Ambition’s platform, indicating active engagement in performance based coaching sessions. This structured approach helped the team achieve a 57% reduction in untouched leads, showing tangible business impact (AKA 💸)
AI-Enhanced Coaching: The Future of Zoom’s Sales Enablement
Zoom’s commitment to coaching data also positions them to benefit from AI-driven insights. As Ambition introduces AI capabilities, Zoom plans to leverage its vast repository of coaching interactions to provide personalized suggestions for future coaching sessions. This AI-powered approach aims to deepen the impact of coaching by guiding managers on specific focus areas based on historical data.
Key Takeaways:
- 💸 Tying Coaching to Revenue Initiatives is Critical: Zoom’s senior leadership not only endorsed the program but actively participated in the initial training sessions, setting an example and ensuring alignment across teams. The coaching and training were built to expand the business goal of expansion of user base and product lines.
- 🧵 Tailor Training to Each Audience: Zoom’s enablement team took the time to adapt content for different roles and regions, enhancing its relevance and adoption.
- 📈 Track and Measure Coaching Consistently: With Ambition’s platform, Zoom could monitor coaching activities at scale, ensuring accountability and making improvements based on real-time data.
- 🔮 Future-Proof with AI: By capturing detailed coaching data, Zoom is setting the stage for AI-driven coaching insights, which will further personalize and improve the effectiveness of the sales coaching.
Zoom’s journey is a powerful example of how coaching to top line inititives requires not only a strong framework but also the tools to measure, refine, and sustain growth. By investing in frontline managers, Zoom created a ripple effect, fostering a culture of continuous improvement that aligns with its larger sales objectives.
