I got SICK AND TIRED of hearing "I just got off a call and the rep wasn't doing the training from 2 weeks ago. WTF!?" So.......
I worked with Whitney Sieck, CPTD® and we created this framework.
It revolutionized my approach to enablement effort and allowed me to set proper expectations on what a training would result in from a behavior perspective.
Here's how it works
Plot the capability (how good you want the rep to be) against the cognitive load (how big the change is).
Here's how to assess Capability (x-axis)
- Aware → A rep is "in the know" (take a quiz, etc).
- Competency → A rep displays ability to show desired outcome internally (role play, etc).
- Mastery → A rep needs to shows understanding and execution by showing "in the wild" examples of excellence (call recordings, etc).
Here's how to assess Cognitive Load (y-axis)
- Low → Minor tweak to an existing system that requires few mental calories to change (e.g. update to a CPQ workflow).
- Mid → Area used regularly requires some thinking and effort to put into practice (e.g. a new process for engaging ProServe and updated pricing).
- High → Foundational shift in something you use daily and requires intense rewiring of habits (e.g. launching a new product to sell to existing customers).
Plot Points
The plot point creates an "effort value" to quantify how much of a team's capacity the program will consume.
We determined a rep could put in 16 points of "effort value" per quarter.
More than that is shoving more food into the mouth of a rep than they can chew and digest.
You can do:
- 1 🟠 and 1 🔴 = 16.
- 1 🔴, 1 🟡, 1 🔵, and 1 🟢 = 16.
You cannot do:
- 1 🟠 and 2 🔴 = 23 > 16.
- 3 🟡, 1 🔵, and 3 🟢 = 21 > 16.
Why is this so effective?
Not only does it control capacity/bandwidth, it clearly communicates:
- How good reps will be after the program → If you only plot to Aware, then nobody can expect a rep to be able to do anything beyond saying, "Yes, I heard about that and get it." Whereas, if you plot Mastery, we can expect a rep to be doing it 80%+ of the way we trained in front of customers.
- How extensive the program needs to be to support the desired level of outcome → If you have High cognitive load and Mastery level of capability, then you need to build out a 12 week program that helps reps adopt the change in a meaningful way. Low cognitive load and Aware can be a simple video shared via Slack.
Hope this helps you as we are all doing more with less!
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