WiSE: You are one of the top influencers in the enablement industry, tell us about one of your favorite projects you worked on.  

Crystal:  I was approached by a sales leader I had worked with in the past, and he had a “protege” interested in enablement. At that same time, another amazing woman reached out to me to learn more about enablement. The three of us banded together and have weekly sessions to chat about enablement and whatever else crosses our plate. We started to create content together that could help other people looking to get into enablement or were new to their role and started sharing on Linkedin! It’s been such a rewarding experience for me, and I’ve made two fabulous friends in the process.  

W: You recently took on a new role as  Director, Global Revenue Enablement at UserZoom, tell us about some of the projects you've recently launched and the impact they have on the organization. 

CN:  At UserZoom, we are working on two major projects at the moment. SKO 2023 and a Competency Framework. The thing about both is when done incorrectly, they will be isolated and will eventually drop off the map. I live for these types of projects because they involve building what comes before and what comes after for each to be effective. 

For example, with the competency framework, in addition to identifying competencies, you must also look at your framework for coaching. How are sales leaders going to coach to these competencies? Second, you must look at the metric each competency will impact. How will we measure that improvements to these competencies equal an increase in revenue? 

It’s a balancing act because, as an enabler, you must focus and build on the complexity, but the delivery must be tight and digestible. It’s certainly a challenge, but one that I am thirsty and excited for! 

W: Tell us about  your favorite part of enablement and what excites you about the role.

CN: I sometimes joke that the enablement role was created for people like me. The data-loving chameleons that have this insatiable need to create, inspire, and coach the greatest group of professionals in the world. We are the generals, rolling up our sleeves to orchestrate our ground troops to realize and believe in what they can become... and the greatest realization is when they see it... they see it all boils down to the customer and creating an unforgettable experience. 

W: What have you found to be the most challenging part of sales, and how did holding a former sales role help you overcome this challenge?

CN:  Throughout my career, my biggest challenge was always change management and not getting the right buy-in from sales leaders. This took me much longer than it should have, considering I am a former AE, but it’s critically important to put aside your agenda and focus on the leader you are trying to engage. 

I started asking myself, “Why should this matter to them?”, “How will this initiative/program impact their targets/metrics?”, “How is this going to help make them look good?” 

Alignment and establishing communication cadences are absolute musts when working with other leaders too. I simply put back on my seller cap, and it worked like a charm! 

W: What have been some of your contributing factors to your enablement success?  

CN:  At my core, I love collaboration and coaching. I experience true joy from lifting others up to achieve their goals and successes. I have a love of sales and its people, but I’m also competitive, structured, process driven, and an optimistic realist. All of these things, I believe, have contributed to my success. 

If you're a woman in enablement and would like to be interviewed for the site,

 email WiSEGlobalContact@gmail.com with the subject line, 'Interview'