No matter how big or small your organization is, rolling out any tool can feel daunting.
What’s your best piece of tactical advice for fellow Program Managers rolling out Gong at their organization?
Share it in the comments below!
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From the perspective of an SDR organization, getting the buy-in and trust of the front-line managers is essential to a smooth roll-out. We went from zero call recording to implementing Gong; as you can imagine, this was a significant cultural change. That initial buy-in from the front-line managers made for little pushback from our SDR team. Within weeks our SDRs were asking to share calls across teams and immediately seeing the tool's value.
My best advice is to get a clear understanding of internal technical needs that align with requirements from the Gong side. Gong documentation is top notch on its integration with modern telecom apps and CRMs but if you are trying to integrate with older tools, you’ll need to make sure all of your internal resources can handle the customizations. Data pulls, mapping, application build are very complicated with Genesys Engage on prem.
I believe with any new technology initiative, the rush to see bottom line impacts, return on investment or “quick wins” is an underlying pressure that can cause adverse side effects. From poor tactical strategy to low adoption and eventually mistrust in people, partners or the tech itself. Truly scoping out the right mvp and rollout plan and taking the required time to technically implement and strategically configure the tool, will yield much greater returns in the long term but also in the short term.
Executive buy in for Gong is crucial to a successful roll out and adoption! With the Sales leaders pushing their teams to use Gong in their calls, the features and insights the team can gain is invaluable.
Hosting office hours and creating documentation for the teams to reference is also extremely beneficial. We want people to utilize the tool efficiently and effectively.
As a Program Manager or technical lead, learning the ins and outs of the tool is crucial before roll out for confidence in how the system works and to be able to troubleshoot any issues or questions that may arise.
The key advice for a successful rollout is to engage your Gong representative with a barrage of questions - and then follow up with even more inquiries! Looking back, I really wish I had the opportunity to complete the program manager course before diving into the implementation process. I encountered a stumbling block with the available articles, as they either felt outdated or failed to cater to newcomers like me, leaving many crucial aspects unexplained.
While our team was already on board with the idea, what hindered our rollout and launch was the system not performing as expected.
I'm optimistic that obtaining the necessary qualifications will equip me with the comprehensive knowledge I should have had from the start. My goal is to lead my team with confidence and reignite their enthusiasm for the product.
+1
My best advice is to start by immersing yourself in the solution. Listen to calls, create and test trackers, and experiment/familiarize with every tool and feature to get comfortable. Write down your questions (or questions anticipated from your team) and try your best to troubleshoot them. By doing this, you’ll create a full-circle, self-directed training process that will position you as an SME once the solution is rolled out to the team.
- Hype it up!
- Executive Buy in is key.
- Make it fun
- Continuous learning
I’ve found that getting the team to feel involved in the decision to implement Gong, and then get them to see value quickly has helped get adoption from the entire team. Bear in mind this is a small team of 5. The way I did this was to:
- Summaries the key ways we envisioned it to make their job easier, and ask if they agreed
- Compared other solutions, and discussed these with the team
- Then on launch, showed them how it would save them time (email writing and not taking)
- Quickly gave feedback on calls (and asked for feedback on my calls)
- Set up a rota for reviewing each others calls
My best piece of advice is to write the “why” story first. So many companies utilize so many things in their tech stack, so you want to be careful that this is not seen as “just another tool”. Hype this up way ahead of time by painting the picture of “if we could only know...” “what if we could see...” and then you hit them with the GUESS WHAT? Here comes a game changer for you!
Overall, don’t go into this in a rush. Build the why behind it and then let them unwrap the gift.
Understanding the “why” is essential to rollout. This allows program managers the opportunity to tailor to specific needs.
We’ve had Gong at my organization for a few years now, but one thing that I remember from when we were first rolling it out is that sales reps thought that the tool was invasive. They were nervous about having all of their calls and meetings recorded, and felt like they would be more heavily scrutinized for every little thing that they did during a call with a prospect or customer. My best advice for tackling this issue would be to frame Gong’s role in your organization as a tool for self-review, coaching, reviewing and actioning deals, and surfacing the voice of the customer.
Rather than thinking about Gong like it’s Big Brother watching their every move, sales reps should use Gong to learn more about themselves, their sales process, and what they could change to perform to their fullest potential.
Frontline managers should use Gong to stay up-to-date with each of their sales reps and identify coachable moments that can be tackled in near-real-time instead of days or weeks later. Gong is an excellent tool for managers to use during one-on-ones with their reps to review pipeline, strategize, and update CRM data as needed.
The organization as a whole should use Gong to surface the voice of the customer wherever possible. Build alerts to get real-time information to the teams that need it. If a customer shares product feedback on a call, the Product team should hear about it. If a customer has issues with pricing, that discussion can be reviewed in a deal desk. If customers have critical feedback or even praise, call snippets should be shared during team/company meetings.
Framing Gong properly will go a long way in ensuring that your sales reps, Revenue leadership, and your organization as a whole adopt and utilize Gong to its fullest potential.
Exec/leader buy-in before roll-out. Make sure they understand the value that Gong brings, first. Then leverage them during your enablement/onboarding to drill-home how it will help users and the organization as a whole.
My best advice would be regarding alignment with the C-level prior to rollout. If you can combine top-level buy-in with the WIIFM for the end-users you will have a much higher chance of adoption!
+1
The best advice I can provide is to have a detailed implementation plan (especially comms) and ensure you have a vocal supporter from Executive Leadership.
One of the largest impacts for end user buy-in, is having actionable data and insight from the start. Creating and iterating on both Smart and Keyword Trackers helped our team to communicate and demonstrate value from the start.
We’ve had Gong at my organization for a few years now, but one thing that I remember from when we were first rolling it out is that sales reps thought that the tool was invasive. They were nervous about having all of their calls and meetings recorded, and felt like they would be more heavily scrutinized for every little thing that they did during a call with a prospect or customer. My best advice for tackling this issue would be to frame Gong’s role in your organization as a tool for self-review, coaching, reviewing and actioning deals, and surfacing the voice of the customer.
Rather than thinking about Gong like it’s Big Brother watching their every move, sales reps should use Gong to learn more about themselves, their sales process, and what they could change to perform to their fullest potential.
Frontline managers should use Gong to stay up-to-date with each of their sales reps and identify coachable moments that can be tackled in near-real-time instead of days or weeks later. Gong is an excellent tool for managers to use during one-on-ones with their reps to review pipeline, strategize, and update CRM data as needed.
The organization as a whole should use Gong to surface the voice of the customer wherever possible. Build alerts to get real-time information to the teams that need it. If a customer shares product feedback on a call, the Product team should hear about it. If a customer has issues with pricing, that discussion can be reviewed in a deal desk. If customers have critical feedback or even praise, call snippets should be shared during team/company meetings.
Framing Gong properly will go a long way in ensuring that your sales reps, Revenue leadership, and your organization as a whole adopt and utilize Gong to its fullest potential.
Thanks for this advice!
We’re rolling out and one of the main concerns is “the tool is invasive”. I’ll use your advice to reassure some reps
There are many factors that determine whether or not a rollout will be successful. I find the greatest of these to be emphasizing the “Why” behind this exciting new technology. Clearly define the objectives for implementing Gong within the organization, whether it’s improving call coaching, sales processes, or customer insights. It’s also critical to get feedback from the end-users before the implementation even begins. What do they want to get out of it? What pain points can we address and alleviate with Gong? Engaging these key stakeholders earlier on in the process creates a greater sense of ownership and facilitates easier adoption.
We have not rolled Gong out yet, but we are really focused on a few items.
- Leveraging reps and managers that used Gong in the pilot to present their wins and best practices.
- Getting stakeholder buy-in at every step and making sure they see the vision and impact that Gong will have. Then using them to communicate this value to reps.
- Maintaining momentum after launch by providing office hours and providing custom training to make them super relevant to their day to days.
- Establishing a system for maintenance/governance to make sure that trackers, libraries, deal boards, etc. stay relevant to the team.
+1
The best advice that I have for rolling out Gong, or any new software, is to lead with the positives and with enthusiasm. Try to anticipate and preempt any concerns that the users might have, and build excitement by letting everyone know how it will work to make their jobs easier and more effective.
The best advice I can give to just know and learn Gong yourself and be prepared to answer as many questions as possible. And if there is anyone on the team who has previously used it, get them to help you with your rollout, especially if they had a great experience with the product. They can provide their own experience, tips and tricks as to why it was great to use in their prior organization.
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