I think the the best piece of advice I can give - as many have already been outlined above - is pragmatism. For tech admins, the benefits of something like Gong are abundantly clear - but for those not necessarily in this world, most of the time it can be seen as just another cost on an annual budget. What I've always tried to do is KISS - keep it simple, stupid - and presenting my stakeholders with the most concise cost/benefit analysis and how it affects their team or department specifically. Numbers (ROI, productivity increase estimations, etc) go a long way, as well.

The best advice for getting stakeholder buy-in is to have a demo meeting with frontline managers. Gong is a very powerful tool, and I am very excited about introducing its functionalities to my team. There is a lot of valuable insight that Gong provides, but it usually would take a lot of time to provide that information. It saves time, so we would be able to focus on things that require more attention. The goal is to get the frontline managers on board and show them how much Gong can be valuable to our team. 

• Solve real problems. Understand the pains of each of the stakeholder and show how Gong can address those.
• Use data. For a new Gong implementation, data from how other orgs have been successful is great. Once it's up and running, using your own data is key. Highlight successes of the top performing reps, or show what behaviours lead to more closed-won deals.
• Reinforcement from leadership. Our CEO and CRO have both spoken to our commercial team on the importance of tools such as Gong to level up performance and make us competitive with leading organisations.

New to Gong, but best advice for getting Stakeholder buy-in for new tools/tech is:
Start with what’s in it for them!

• Why this new tool is vital to their business
• How it aligns with and supports reaching their overall business goals and objectives
• What is at stake if they don’t get on board!

Then, ask them what’s in the way and why they *wouldn’t* want to adopt the new tool, and answer those concerns. :)

When rolling out any tool, ensuring you have data available to share with stakeholders will be important. Anytime a stakeholder needs to make a decision, a data driven decision will be important vs just how you feel this new product will help the business. Work with the vendor if you don’t have specific data points or understanding on how that would work.

Provide a current state and future state assessment. What will this product do for the company?

Showing how any current systems are not providing data and how a new system will be able to provide actionable insights will be important.

Stakeholder buy-in for any tool is crucial to the success of the implementation and adoption. I highly recommend that you do some of the following:
1. Identify the stakeholders -Once you identify make sure to include people from this group as champions or influencers for other stakeholders. Have them involved in discovery, demos, implementation discussions, etc. 
2. Understand their needs or what they would like the tool to accomplish -Make sure to have a diverse group to ensure you are understanding needs across different roles, different departments, etc. 
3. Highlight the benefits they will receive directly or indirectly
4. Address any concerns related to rolling out a new tool -make sure this is done before you begin implementing to ensure a smoother implementation and adoption. 
5. Provide training and support -- this is probably the most important because even if you get buy-in from the stakeholder they will not actually adopt the tool fully unless they understand how to use it. 

Lastly, make sure that you gather evidence of the ROI benefits from stakeholders and use all of this information to create a compelling presentation, so your team can effectively demonstrate the value of the sales tool to both the stakeholders and the executive team. It’s crucial to emphasize how the tool alights with the company’s goals and objectives, and how it can positively impact key metrics and outcomes for the stakeholders.  

 

I’ve found the best way to get stakeholder support is creating a regular cadence and channel to share updates and best practices. My stakeholders know they can expect certain monthly Gong reporting from me, as well as a monthly announcement to them and their reps. This communication is consistent and gets them excited about Gong, gives them a platform to ask questions, and exposes them to the ideas of others in how they use Gong to their advantage.

We will have a ‘demo roadshow’ where each week an account executive will select a recording they want to share and review with the team. We’ll all review the recording before our next team meeting and talk about the suggestions we noted on the recording inside of the platform. Our reps have found it helpful to get advice from not only managers but also seasoned sales reps on their demos

A lot of people are averse to change, so having a long runway time from requirements to implementation and getting feedback along the way will help a lot here. In addition, we’ll want to have conversations, demos, and workshop sessions with users and senior leadership to get to get their support for the tool. 

For gaining stakeholder buy-in, my unconventional advice revolves around hosting a "Role Reversal Day." This approach involves inviting stakeholders to step into the shoes of the decision-makers and experience firsthand the challenges and complexities they face on a daily basis. By immersing stakeholders in decision-making scenarios and allowing them to make crucial choices, they gain a deeper understanding of the intricacies involved in strategic planning and the considerations required for successful outcomes.

During Role Reversal Day, stakeholders would have the opportunity to collaborate with different teams, participate in problem-solving exercises, and engage in open discussions to exchange perspectives. This immersive experience fosters empathy and encourages stakeholders to view the organization from a different lens, thereby enhancing their understanding of the decision-making processes and the rationale behind them.

Additionally, conducting interactive workshops where stakeholders can actively contribute their insights, ideas, and expertise can further strengthen their engagement and sense of ownership. By providing them with a platform to voice their opinions and actively contribute to the decision-making process, stakeholders feel valued, empowered, and motivated to support the organization's goals.

Role Reversal Day challenges the traditional approach to stakeholder engagement by immersing them in a hands-on experience that promotes empathy, collaboration, and active participation. This unique perspective cultivates a stronger sense of buy-in, as stakeholders develop a deeper appreciation for the complexities of decision-making and actively align their interests with the organization's objectives.

Someone mentioned that getting the frontline managers onboard is key - 10000% agree with that sentiment. Frontline managers is where software implementation can live or die, and getting them involved in the rollout process early and often will ensure that they are on board with the change and can be your change agents on the floor.

Here are some other thoughts to use along with that focus:

 

• Clearly communicate the benefits of the new software, tailored to each stakeholder group.
• Address concerns and risks, providing transparent explanations and mitigation strategies.
• Offer demonstrations and trials to provide a hands-on experience.
• Build a coalition of champions who can advocate for the software.
• Develop a comprehensive implementation plan with clear timelines and milestones.
• Provide training and ongoing support to ensure stakeholder confidence and competence.
• Measure and communicate the success of the implementation through key performance indicators (KPIs).

Love everyone’s thoughts on this topic - will look to incorporate those in our rollout

I think getting to their “What’s in it for me” is a big step to ensure overall buy-in and adoption. 

Identifying what is important for the stakeholders, WHY that is important to them, what happens if said outcome doesn’t come to fruition - and why that also matters. 

Once you get WIIFM for all stakeholders, you now have a north star to trek towards alignment! 

In terms of buy-in, from my experience, it’s extremely important to always answer, “the why”. As many of the users above me have posted, you need to explain to your stakeholders “why” there is a roll-out of this particular tool/process.

 “Why” should they be disrupting their existing processes? 

“Why” should they spend hours away from their day-to-day responsibilities to learn a new tool? 

It goes on and on. 

Depending on the tenure of the employee, you’ll have to be crafty when answering the “why” as employees who are green behind the ears can be easier to sell to as they haven’t adopted to the existing process. Therefore, it’s important to be malleable and creative when rolling out your new tool/processes. You’ll find the roll-out to be much easier and your results will only skyrocket! 

Depending on the type of stakeholder (exec level, manager, etc.), it’s important to frame the value of the tool based on what KPIs they care about and how it aligns to and impacts company/business initiatives. Explain why they should care (So what?), what’s in it for them, what are the risks for not implementing, and the overall impact to the business.

It’s also important to present a rollout plan, show them that you’ve done the research/planning and have a process in place order to instill confidence that rolling out this new tool will be smooth, successful, and yield adoption.

In my experience, start with your executive sponsor. They can be your most influential champion and can provide an assist with teams/individuals down the ladder. I’ve seen a lot of success with this person recording a “hype video” ahead of the rollout to get people excited, verbalize expectations, and what’s in it for them.

Next I’d go to the front-line managers. These are the people that will mobilize and hold accountable the end users of the tool being rolled out.

Get their buy-in by explaining the “WIIFM” for them specifically, then help to educate them on the “WIIFM” for their reps. Have them verbalize this to their teams, multiple times if necessary. 

Love the idea of an “A-Team” as well to do a proof of concept or a pilot to be able to show success of other people at the company to stakeholders. This way, it resonates big time because the success came from the inside at their own org.

Show and Give examples/use cases. 
My audience is Salespeople. I find that quantifying the benefits of gong will go a long way to drive engagement. Provide success stories and walkthroughs to show that using this will give them an advantage. 

The best way to get Stakeholder buy-in is to bring each decision maker along the journey. 
From the start, understanding the needs of each stake-holder is key as you will frequently be referencing why Gong helps each decision maker with their needs. I also try to invite all decision makers to all meetings so they feel as if they are actively contributing to the process. In doing so, you also begin to understand which ones are eager to adopt and which ones are not. With the ones who are eager to adopt, refined messaging towards their goals and follow up are needed, while for the skeptics, I recommend 1 on 1 interactions and additional opportunities to walk-them through Gong. For me, I found myself relating Gong a lot to modern day smart products (like Alexa, google home, etc.), to metaphorically touch on how those at first were uncomfortable for folks, but now are widely used and relied upon by many. Ultimately though, getting buy-in from the top early on is important, and ensuring they are excited about the product is the most important.

I have found including stakeholders early and keeping them up-to-date with (high-level!) progress and timelines gets their buy in. Also including eith er a message from the executive sponsor or even having the sponsor join the beginning of a meeting sets the right tone too

Simple three pronged approach covering basic change management and make sure to ensure support from exec sponsorship as well as “what’s in it for me” enablement for front line reps.

Focus on “What’s in it for me” (enablement for reps)

• Add in policy i.e. if call on Gong, no need to record notes to SFDC
• Show how much easier forecasting and follow up is with Gong (provide training, process documentation, and simple looms)
• Create incentives for adoption

Crawl/Walk/Run

• Pilot with Power Users
• Build momentum and get strong Exec Sponsorship plus buy-in from front line managers and make it easy for reps
• Add reporting to main dashboard;

Organizational Enthusiasm = Effective Change Management

• Prompt leadership to review/share calls and snippets
• Share positive feedback and accolades far and wide
• Encourage collaboration between sales & product/marketing/ops teams centered on voice of the customer

Andrew Kappel

Principal | Benchmark Signal Consulting

A​ndrew@BenchmarkSignalConsulting.com

m: +1 978 790 1533

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkappel/

I think it’s important to remember stakeholder buy-in is a never-ending task.  Of course, it gets easier overtime if you put the work in initially, but the “what have you done for me lately” mentally will eventually creep up, there is a song about it for a reason.

Like most things, buy-in is tethered to value.  What am I getting out if this perceived pain? The answer varies depending on the level of your audience.  The everyday user will see new tech as just something else they have to manage keeping them from focusing on their job.  Upper management see it as an expensive that has to have an ROI. Your job to is help stakeholders at every level realize the value of the exchange, because however you slice it there is a price to paid for the new tech whether time or money.

I would suggest you find a champion(s) from each group and drive undeniable value for them to the point where they are the envy of everyone else.  Once the rest of the team is seeing your champions results, convincing them to board the train is easier.

Just my $.02.

My best stakeholder engagement happens when two conditions are met:

1. They know exactly what I need from them in their role as stakeholder
2. They see the value of the initiative

The more I need from them, the more I need to paint a picture of how the initiative and their support will benefit the company and their teams. If they are going to be an active champion, they need to understand what we are achieving and how it works so that they are convinced and are able to articulate it to others. I want my stakeholders to know what their support should look like so that they are effectively cascading information and modeling the change to the organization.

For me, I always ensure that the WIIFM is defined for the stakeholder(s). What’s in it for me. The ‘me’ refers to the stakeholder.

Everyone wants to know how your tool/process/change will impact them personally. Stakeholders are no different. So ensure that their personal objective is captured in your regular one on one discussions. Even if your change will save time, increase sales, reduce costs, improve operations, or bring about world peace. Find a way to make that change directly connected to the stakeholder’s personal goals/objectives. This way there’s a direct link to the proposed change, and how it will impact the stakeholder.

Spend time with leadership to find a small-pocket of users that are excited about the concept of Gong.  Bring them on early and often into demos, expose them to webinars and Gong University.  We know that solid adoption is a 360 degree focus. Yes, it requires buy-in from leaders, BUT it also requires support from peers and direct reports.  If you have these superusers built out from the start, it’s more likely that the end-user will actually ask question, try new things, and seek advice from their peers...ESPECIALLY if they see them selling more. 

The best way to gain Stakeholder buy-in is to show how the tool solves a problem for the field and the business. Also, tying in the business impact enabling this tool will provide i.e. improve discovery

1. Think about the people who will be affected by your project or decision and make a list of all of them. Then prioritize them based on their level of influence and interest.
2. Once you know who your stakeholders are, take the time to understand their needs and concerns. What do they hope to achieve? What are they worried about? The more you understand their perspective, the better equipped you will be to address their concerns and get their buy-in.
3. Be transparent and honest with them. Be upfront about the challenges and risks involved in your project or decision, and be honest about your own limitations.
4. . Be ready to compromise in order to get the support of the majority.
5. Then connect with me on LinkedIn  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/call-me-al/