Not long after we publicly announced our mission, vision, and values, team members around the world met online and in person to help shape and articulate our company’s culture. All in all, we hosted 16 in-person and virtual culture labs at seven different offices with 500 Seismic employees. 

How we created Culture Labs

When we started the project, we realized that culture best manifests itself when it is passed along in stories. We thought about the history of storytelling and the experience of sitting around a fire to share lessons learned or incredible feats. Those feelings, emotions, and learning moments are what we sought to replicate among fellow team members. 

We hosted our first culture lab earlier this year in May. At each of our sessions, we started by talking about our mission, “We ignite growth.” We had a leader tell a story about what igniting growth meant for them – whether it was related to their personal growth or how they’ve contributed to growing Seismic.

After our leaders shared their stories, we took a moment to ask our attendees what each of our company values means to them: 

• We are inclusive
• We are vulnerable
• We seek to understand
• We strive for excellence
• We champion the customer
• We celebrate success

Then we divided into groups so that our participants could share their own stories. Each group was given questions to spur discussion around each value, what it means to them, and how they demonstrate that value to others. Groups then reported their highlights and stories, creating even more chances to hear and learn from peers. This resulted in a beautiful manifestation of our culture, lived out loud. And in doing so, we began to solidify our values and shape them through the employee experiences that make Seismic unique and special.    

We also wanted these conversations to extend beyond Culture Labs. During our monthly all-hands meetings, we carved out time for one individual to share their own story about a Seismic value. I recall one story in particular, about vulnerability, that was incredibly impactful. The story shifted the tone of the meeting and throughout that day, in other meetings, our colleagues continued to discuss the story, as well as what being vulnerable meant to them and how it shows up in the workplace. 

That was our goal – to create meaningful experiences that would encourage our employees to take the words in our values and make them their own. 

Building an enduring culture of One Seismic

When we introduced culture labs, it was a way to empower our employees to take our values and connect them to their own experiences and play an active role in our journey. Rather than having culture be something that’s driven by a top-down approach, our people and their stories are a driving force to the culture we’re building at Seismic.

From a talent perspective, we wanted to find a way to operationalize culture – in how we make decisions and communicate with one another. This intentional effort really helps solidify our commitment to how we show up and work together internally and externally. 

If you’d like to learn more about the Seismic culture, or if you’re interested in helping us innovate, you’re in luck! We’re hiring. If you’d like to see how you can ignite growth with us, check out our latest openings. 

The post 2022 Recap: How we’re building a culture of One Seismic appeared first on Seismic.

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to make this happen, and I’m excited to share another update – this time to Seismic’s mission, vision, and values.

In the time since we founded Seismic, we’ve always had a great people and powerful company culture. Our employees are passionate about their work, and the way we treat each other and our customers has driven our company’s success and growth. Without our people and the culture they created, we wouldn’t be the company we are today.  

It’s worked pretty darn well so far… so why did we decide to update our mission, vision, and values? Several factors went into the decision. First, as we continue to grow – in headcount and geography – we want to be intentional about creating alignment among our people and cultivating culture across the globe. Second, there is an undeniable and irreversible trend toward a flexible workplace. The old ways, heavily dependent on face-to-face interactions, have evolved. We need to be more proactive, thoughtful, and deliberate in how we engage our people no matter where they work. 

Lastly, in the past year, I had the unique opportunity to experience how impactful mission, vision, and values can be on culture through the acquisition of Lessonly. Max Yoder, Conner Burt, and the team made this more than “words on the wall” and, instead, how their business operated. It really drove how the entire Lessonly team made decisions, recruited, and worked – so powerful.

With that background, I am excited to share Seismic’s mission, vision, and values. 

Mission: We ignite growth. 

Our mission is our reason for being and it encapsulates what we’re trying to accomplish as a company. A lot of thought, debate, and consideration went into selecting these three words. We ultimately selected we because our mission isn’t just one person or a faceless organization — it’s all of us together. Ignite is a dynamic word that has a cause and effect. And growth spans personal and professional; individual, team, and business; as well as revenue.

Vision: We empower teams to grow and win.

Our vision is a clear, specific picture of what we want to accomplish as we strive toward our mission. We chose the word empower because we hope to give agency, power, and capability to every person our product touches. And we don’t just want individuals to grow – we also want to ensure that teams improve and perform together. And finally, we want to prioritize winning. To win is to find shared success and camaraderie, as well as deepen our trusted partnerships with our customers and their customers. 

Values: We ignite growth by empowering teams to grow and win.

Our values emerge from our mission and vision, as well as the behaviors we already saw within our organization and knew we wanted to prioritize in order to help us become even better. They define what we stand for and how we act as a company, both internally and with our customers. Each of our values builds upon one another and tells the story of who we are:

• We are inclusive
• We are vulnerable
• We seek to understand
• We strive for excellence
• We champion the customer
• We celebrate success 

When these values come together, we ignite growth in ourselves, our customers, and the enablement industry. 

What this all means

When we launched Seismic, the industry was trying to understand what enablement was.  Customers felt the pain of too many pitch decks, lagging rep productivity, or off-brand messaging but they struggled to solve it with disparate tools and teams. Our first years were spent largely on education.

Wow, has that changed! Today’s most successful companies have elevated enablement to a strategic priority with an equal seat at the go-to-market table. Sales enablement programs have grown 343% over the past five years and CEOs routinely cite enablement as a key factor in the success (or failure) of hitting growth targets. 

We are proud of the role that we played in driving that change!

Enablement helps organizations ignite growth and it is my hope that by sharing our mission, vision, and values we will give our customers a glimpse into how we’ll work with them, how we will champion their needs, and ask the hard questions that help them to achieve excellence. 

I couldn’t be more excited about the future of Seismic and the enablement industry. Thank you for joining us on this journey!

The post Building a culture of One Seismic appeared first on Seismic.

the Seismic Enablement Cloud

Rebrand for a reason

Marketers love a rebrand, but this new look isn’t just for show. We’re rolling out an exciting, new brand identity because Seismic is in an exciting, new season. Over the past decade, we pioneered the category of enablement software, launched a wave of new products, completed multiple acquisitions, served thousands of companies, and expanded across the globe — all with the same trusty logo. Thanks to the partnership of our amazing customers, we’re lucky to be an industry-leading company on a tremendous growth path. Now with the launch of the world’s first enablement cloud and our new company mission, it’s time for a brand identity and story that reflects all that energy and possibility.

Our executive and marketing teams landed on three simple words that we want to be true about the next iteration of Seismic’s brand:

Dynamic in that our customers and employees are vibrant, moving, growing, and thriving. Approachable in that we’re humans helping humans, not a faceless corporation. Confident in that we lead our category and work with thousands of amazing customers and partners. 

Six months of hard work later, these guiding principles have led us to the brand we launch today. Without further ado…

Meet the Seismic Stack

Our new logomark is affectionately dubbed the Seismic Stack. The shapes — referencing a screen, a presentation, or a slide — honor our history in content management. They come together dynamically like tectonic plates, and the two trapezoids hold an “S” in the negative space. The overall shape has an upward, growing angle that you’ll see mirrored across the entire visual identity. The wordmark was based on Azo Sans and, like the rest of the logo, was thoughtfully crafted by our friends at barrettSF. We’re ecstatic about the simplicity and energy that this logo will bring to our global brand.

Brighter days ahead

All that orange in our closets isn’t going away. We brightened the Seismic orange to our new primary color Dawn, and partnered it with a rich purple (Dusk) and a soft blue (Cloud). But the secondary and tertiary colors are where the fun comes out to play. It’s out with the fifty shades of beige that have served us well, and in with four bright new colors that show up across the brand to bring energy and playfulness.

Wave hello to real people

One complaint we heard from customers and employees alike was that we used too much stock photography. So we said goodbye to it. 99% of the photography across the brand is our own, thoughtfully shot by our Design Manager, Jessica Sturgeon. Now you might spot your favorite Seismic employee on the site or in a microapp. We’re real people selling to real people, so look for our real faces across the brand.

Clear is kind

Brand isn’t just about visual identity. We wanted our voice and tone to be dynamic, confident, and approachable, too. We want to write simply and clearly, without relying too much on tech jargon. That led us to a new voice and tone, summarized in four key principles:

• Write to an inexperienced you. 
• Be the guide, not the hero. 
• Keep it tight and be bright. 
• Channel moxie, not macho. 

You can dive into these principles more in our brand guidelines. But as you read what we write across all our marketing, we hope it feels like the same Seismic hundreds of enterprises trust, but also a little bit more like talking to a friend. 

Welcome to the Aftershock

Rebranding is great…but the people want SWAG! So we decided to shake things up with our own e-commerce brand. Meet Aftershock. This online store is available to anyone — from employees to customers to earthquake enthusiasts. In addition to a rotating seasonal lineup, you’ll find plenty of everyday Seismic swag and more than a few shocking puns along the way. Keep an eye open for future creative collabs, too.

We celebrate success

Many people shared their time and talents to bring this brand refresh to life. One of our new company values is “We celebrate success,” so allow me a few lines to live that out and celebrate a few members of the Seismic community who contributed to this project:

• The customers who gave hours and hours of helpful feedback
• Doug Winter and the Seismic executive team for their time, insight, and trust
• Kyle Lacy, SVP of Marketing, who was the champion and visionary for the new brand
• Our agency partners at barrettSF who supported us throughout the journey
• The Brand and Web & Content teams who brought the new identity to life in so many creative ways
• And last but not least, Bridget Conrad and Helen Gardner, who guided this project from start to finish. There are few better brand marketers in the business.

Brand is how you feel

We hope you’re as excited about the new look for Seismic as we are; that it’s true to where Seismic has been and aspirational about where we’re going next. But new logos and colors and tone don’t make a brand. 

A brand is how we live out our values.

A brand is how we partner with our customers. 

A brand is how we enable revenue growth for their companies.

A brand is how our employees talk about our culture.

A brand is every little interaction with Seismic. 

A brand is how you feel. 

We’re grateful for all those teammates, customers, partners, and community members who have made Seismic feel so special over the last ten years. We can’t wait to see what excitement and feeling the next decade will bring.

P.S. How do you feel? If you have thoughts, feedback, or questions about our brand, the new identity, the Seismic Enablement Cloud, or what we should work on next — we’d love to hear from you. Drop us a note at design@seismic.com. 

The post How we’re shaking up our brand in 2022 appeared first on Seismic.

If your training plan hasn’t been updated this year, then it’s probably time to blow off the dust and give it a refresh. Here are a few reasons why it might be time to revisit and refresh your current employee training plan template:

• Your training is generic or outdated. 
• Your employees’ skill set has evolved.
• Your organization has new products, services, or processes. 
• Your training plan doesn’t include skill application or practice.
• Your training efforts aren’t measured for performance. 

So, how can leaders revamp their training program to create something that employees really enjoy? We’ve found that spectacular workplace training plan templates include five crucial details. Let’s dive in and take a closer look at each one. 

1. Specific training paths for different roles 

When it comes to building a great employee training plan, remember that it needs to serve every employee and each specific role. A static and generic training plan that’s exactly the same for everyone—from customer service agents to sales reps—just won’t cut it. While there are a few training topics that every team member needs to know regardless of their department, the majority of training should relate specifically to each job role, task, and responsibilities. 

Great employee training focuses on one role at a time to ensure employees get exactly what they need to be successful at their specific job. Simplify the process by looking at one role within a team. So for example, if you’re designing training for your sales team, create a training plan for your senior account executives or commercial sales reps, instead lumping everyone into one training path. This laser focus will provide a clearer path to a productive training plan for each and every team member. 

2. Core knowledge 

Learning new skills and processes is the top goal of every great training program. We’ve found that really great training plan examples identify core functions of each employees’ job, rather than focusing on every single piece of information that their role might require them to know. Ask yourself, “What is the info that they really need to know?” This reduces the likelihood of overwhelming employees with too much training and information at once. It’s also helpful to bundle essential skills or work knowledge into a larger topic. Doing so makes it easier to create, manage, and deliver training. And, it’s easier for employees to comprehend and retain it all. The simpler your individual employee training plan template is, the better employee performance will be. 

3. The right training at the right time

Once you’ve identified the core functions of each role, it’s time to figure out how and when each employee should receive training that addresses that function. We’re all familiar with the phrase, “Learn to walk before you run,” and that’s a pretty great analogy to remember when it comes to creating your new employee training plan template. All too often, organizations throw a plethora of training materials to new hires all at once. That’s a horrible experience. Instead, figure out what information and skills employees should learn during their first, second, or even third week of onboarding training. What knowledge do they need to understand on day one that future training materials will build off of at a later time? For example, it doesn’t make sense to ask a new sales rep to deliver a demo without knowing enough information about your product or service first. 

Remember, training isn’t a one-and-done event, so it’s also critical to consider how you’ll deliver both onboarding and continuous training to your employees. Does a blended approach make sense for a specific topic, or will you rely on online training software so employees can access self-paced training when it’s right for them? We’ve found that the best learning and development plan for employees considers the needs and preferences of their employees to deliver the training in their moment-of-need. 

4. Practice and feedback

The goal of training is to empower employees to apply newly gained skills and knowledge in their day-to-day roles. That’s why we strongly encourage including ongoing opportunities for employees to practice skills, refine their craft, and receive ongoing feedback. Our favorite workplace training templates identify what skills need ongoing practice, how often managers should review specific skills, and how teams can provide feedback and coaching for continuous improvement and growth. To do this, identify a few items for employees to regularly revisit and rehearse so training doesn’t go in one ear and out the other. Practice, repetition, and feedback make training stick and improve overall performance. 

5. Clear objectives and goals  

A truly successful training program results in improved individual and team performance. If your organizations’ training plan template fails to include key objectives and goals for your training program, that’s a problem. Clear objectives and training goals will make it easier to evaluate your training performance to see if it’s working or not. We recommend creating business outcomes (such as scheduling a certain number of demos or achieving an average call time for resolution) and learning metrics (lessons completed, quiz scores, and employee feedback). Detailed insights are essential to determine your return on learning. It also helps you identify the strengths and gaps of your current training program so you can continue to refine and improve it over time. 

Revamping your training plan is no small task. So we made it simple for you. Our newly updated free training plan template helps leaders like you create detailed training plans for your team.

Turn your training plan into business results

We work with hundreds of teams to develop their employee training plans. Our training software translates crucial work knowledge from your training plan into lessons that accelerate productivity and lead to growth. Get a demo today.

The post 5 important elements of a great employee training plan appeared first on Seismic.

No matter what your size, keeping these 5 P’s in mind when communicating change will help, especially when scale is adding to the stress: Plan, Produce, Publish, Promote, Practice.

Plan

Before any communication is delivered, it should be thought out. Typically, the more people involved in communication, the more thought required. Use these questions to put together your communication plan:

• Why is this communication required?
• Who needs to understand this change?
• What needs to be communicated for the change to take hold?
• How should this message be communicated (tone)?
• Where does this need to be published?
• When does this need to be known and understood by the team?

Produce

After a communication plan has been created, it’s time to fulfill it. Producing the communication includes creating the content and making sure it is in a format that everyone involved can digest. Use these questions to guide your production process:

• Who is responsible for creating the content?
• What forms of media should be used to communicate this change?
• What tools do we need to create this content?
• What tone should be used and how transparent should we be?
• When does the content have to be completed to be delivered on time?

Publish

After the message has been created, it must then be shared with those who need to understand it. Use these questions to make sure you publish your message in the most effective way:

• Who will deliver the message to the company?
• Who needs to receive the communication?
• Where will we communicate the message? In person? Electronically? Snail mail?
• When does this message need to be communicated?
• What tools can we use to publish our message so that we can track engagement?

Promote

After a message is delivered to an audience, it’s important to reinforce it to make sure it is assimilated. Use these questions to help push past the first point of delivery.

• Who will be focusing on promoting this after it has been published?
• When does it make sense to re-share this content?
• How can we leverage other forms of media and tools to remind stakeholders of this change?
• How can we continue to communicate this change to team members over time?
• How many times does this need to be communicated?

Practice

The next, final, and longest phase of communicating change is the daily, weekly, yearly process of walking the walk of your new changes. This phase takes patience and determination to be successful. Use these questions to keep the change momentum going and follow through:

• How do we make sure this change takes root and becomes the new normal?
• How can we act out this new change and lead by example?
• How can we measure the success of this change and who is most on board with it?
• Who can act as change advocates for us, inspiring others to embrace the change?
• When will we decide the change has been adopted and stop actively promoting it?

And always remember this last thing: ask for feedback from your peers frequently after the change to get perspective from others on how things are going. Follow these steps, and you’re on your way to communicating change effectively, no matter what your size.

Lessonly is a powerfully simple training and coaching software that solves many of your communication concerns. Schedule a demo with our team today to learn more.

The post The 5 P’s of communicating change at scale appeared first on Seismic.

Since arriving, she has listened to the stories and experiences of Seismic executives, team leaders, and employees. These conversations, conducted as “listening sessions” help form the foundation of her strategy for building an inclusive culture. 

In this post, we’ll chat with Donna to learn more about listening sessions, and share tips for building a more inclusive workplace. 

TS: Tell me about your first several months as the VP of Global Inclusion at Seismic.

DD: My first several months at Seismic have been focused on building relationships, analyzing data, and conducting listening sessions with our employees about their experiences at Seismic. 

I’ve been working on a bottom-up, top-down inclusion approach that involves all of our employees as stakeholders. It starts with getting insights and recommendations from our employees and engaging our leadership team in inclusive culture strategic planning. 

When we think about being successful in attracting, recruiting, and retaining a diverse workforce, creating a culture of inclusion is critically important to employee experience. 

TS: What have you learned as you’ve met with Seismic’s leadership, management, and employees?

DD: As I’ve met with Seismic executive managers, and employees, I’ve learned that our executive team is vulnerable, authentic, and transparent about what they know and what they don’t know about DEI.  They are 100% committed, individually and as a team, to continually creating a culture of inclusion. 

They are absolutely committed to the process, what we’re doing, and what we want to accomplish. They want DEI to be part of the culture and values of the company and they’re always asking what they can do to help.

Managers and team leaders are interested in building their inclusive leadership competencies so that they can fully engage and lead diverse teams. As we attract and recruit more diverse employees into our workforce, it’s important for our leaders to leverage these inclusive leadership competencies to optimize performance and build strong teams.  

TS: Since joining Seismic, you’ve hosted “listening sessions” with different underrepresented communities. Will you explain what a listening session is?

DD: A listening session is similar to a focus group. It’s a facilitated discussion with a group in order to gather information about people’s unique experiences. Listening sessions are designed to learn what we can do better as a company, identify gaps, and take recommendations from employees regarding our initiatives around diversity, equity, and inclusion.

TS: What communities have you and the DEI Council been able to connect with during listening sessions?

DD: I’ve conducted listening sessions with Black, Latinx, International employees, people with disabilities, women, LGBTQIA+, and AAPI groups. It was important to drill down into specific demographics to get feedback on challenges and insights on their unique workplace experience. These communities’ insights provided us with the opportunity to create an equitable plan in seeking ways to elevate the employee experience.

TS: What are you looking for as you host listening sessions?

DD: I’m looking for specific things like common themes that arise from the discussion. We discuss these themes in our executive meetings. It was important to drill down into specific demographics to get feedback on challenges and insights on their unique workplace experience. These communities’ insights provided us with the opportunity to create an equitable plan in seeking ways to elevate the employee experience. They also help us create a strategy based on the top areas where we need to focus in order to make us a better company for all. 

TS: How does giving voice to employees help shape DEI in organizations like Seismic?

It gives employees opportunities to express their ideas, concerns, and perspectives with authenticity, and without fear of social or workplace consequences. That means employees have the ability to influence decisions at work through their feedback. Giving a voice to your employees helps shape company culture and values which are critically important to hiring and retaining talent. 

When employees feel like their voices are heard, it represents inclusion at the highest level.  

It shows that our company cares about the things employees care about. 

TS: Why should other organizations include listening sessions as part of their DEI strategy?

DD: In order to attract, recruit and retain your talent, organizations should create listening sessions as a part of their overall business strategy. Employee feedback should go beyond an engagement survey. You need to build trust with employees by having an engaging dialogue about their unique experiences. Employee experiences are not “one size fits all.” Listening sessions support the overall goal of the organization and give employees an opportunity to be authentic and transparent about their experiences. These sessions focus on listening, learning, and understanding.

Seismic is committed to building an equitable and inclusive culture. If you’d like to join us on this journey, check out our careers page. 

The post The importance of listening to diverse employee experiences appeared first on Seismic.

However, the simple fact is that employees are far more likely to learn valuable information through their peers—or someone who already has a good grasp of what the business organization is about. When there is less emphasis on training, formal training modules, and focusing the concentration on an exchange of knowledge, both the employees and the employers will begin to see benefits from more comprehensive training and company knowledge. Peers can be an excellent resource for support and company knowledge, which makes peer-to-peer training an excellent tool to help new employees, as well as their peers, develop professionally.

What exactly is peer-to-peer training?

Peer-to-peer training is similar to the buddy system in that it involves people training their colleagues. Peer-to-peer training can be utilized for a range of reasons, such as new hires who need to learn about the business from the ground up or a team that is deficient in a particular area. Someone who is knowledgeable in that area is chosen by a project manager to train others in crucial areas of the business. In many cases, traditional peer-to-peer training is done via presentations where the speaker facilitates open discussions on the topic at hand and encourages others to ask questions or voice their thoughts on the subject.

Benefits of peer-to-peer training

Peer-to-peer training is a great way for employees to learn information in a non-threatening way. This form of training is one of the most ideal ways for employees to learn from one another. Some of the primary benefits of peer-to-peer training include:

• Team building: Through peer-to-peer training, all team members are able to come together without the pressures of daily routines. Although they are not “working” in the usual sense, they’re still providing value to their work. This type of training allows everyone to learn as a group. Those who are not quite as motivated receive the help of their peers who can encourage motivation. And peer-to-peer training is a great way to transfer skills from knowledgeable and experienced team members to others who are less skilled.
• Development: One of the best benefits of peer-to-peer training is that it allows for both personal and professional development. It truly improves the expertise of all team members concerned. Learning important information from peers who are more knowledgeable and experienced provides encouragement for others, especially junior staff members. And people are more likely to respond positively when they are given information from others who are on or near the same level of the business as they are. It’s an opportunity to ask questions without the fear of being ridiculed or dismissed, because they realize their peers have been in the same situation and can understand their concerns.
• Easy to organize: Peer-to-peer training is quick and easy to organize. There is typically no need to request additional funding for a project, no need for formal approvals, and no need to seek head office signatures. Project managers can quickly select the people who are the most fitting for peer-to-peer training and, as the need arises, with minimal effort and cost, peer training can begin.
• Share best practices: There are nearly 66 million baby boomers and 90 million millennials in the workplace. This means that there’s a wide variety of knowledge and expertise on every team. Peer-to-peer learning in the workplace gives everyone the chance to share and learn best practices across their team so that everyone can do better work.
• Scale training: A great peer-to-peer training model is also an efficient way to scale training efforts. Instead of relying on only one or two trainers to train team members, companies can tap into the power and knowledge of other employees to deliver great training. 

Clearly, there are a wide range of benefits with peer-to-peer training. It’s an opportunity for those who are more experienced and more knowledgeable in certain areas to pass on their information to their peers. Peer-to-peer training allows people to learn in a non-judgmental and informal situation, which has been shown to be beneficial for all involved.

Examples of peer training

Peer-to-peer training in the workplace can take many forms. Nearly any team can use some type of peer training based on their employees’ current skill sets and needs. Below are just a few of our favorite peer-to-peer training examples.

1. One-on-one peer-to-peer training in sales: Our team leans heavily into peer training and coaching. One way we do this is through real-life practice scenarios. Our sales reps record scenarios such as delivering a demo or navigating a difficult conversation regarding a contract and then share it with team members for instant feedback. 
2. Peer training with a small sales group: Our sales team also meets on a weekly basis to review recent sales interactions. Then, as a group, we break them down, identify what went well, and candidly discuss areas for improvement.
3. Peer learning and customer service: Peer-to-peer training is just as effective for customer service reps as it is for sales reps. We’ve seen the best support reps practice responding to help tickets, chat interactions, and even emails and then send them on to their teammates for review. This gives them the chance to apply key skills like active listening and empathy, and then receive direct feedback on their level of performance.

How to encourage peer learning

Sure, peer-to-peer training may sound like a no brainer. But despite numerous benefits, companies are still pretty reluctant to adopt a peer-to-peer training program. In fact, many organizations lack any type of peer training in their training efforts. The good news is that anyone can implement peer-to-peer learning in business with these five tips.

1. Show the benefits of peer learning: This step is really important. Explain why and how it’s beneficial to everyone involved. It’s also best to get executive team buy-in.
2. Create a process: Every great peer training program includes an efficient and simple process. Be sure to train every employee on peer-to-peer learning best practices. The best processes also establish and encourage a safe environment of trust and transparency.
3. Identify subject matter experts: Peer-to-peer training is only as good as the training content. We suggest identifying and enabling subject matter experts across your team to create and deliver your peer training.
4. Focus on real-world situations: We’ve found that the best way to hone your skills through peer training is with real-world scenarios. When teammates know that the exercise is a common task or situation that they’ll have to deal with in the future, they’re more likely to engage with the content and apply what they learn.
5. Gather feedback: Once your team starts engaging with your peer training program, it’s time to review how the program is going. Create a review process to manage quality control, participation, engagement, and satisfaction.

Improve training with Seismic Learning (formerly Lessonly by Seismic)

Our powerfully simple training software makes it easy for sales and service teams to learn, practice and perform like never before. See how teams use the Practice feature as part of their peer to peer training program here.

The post Improve your culture with peer-to-peer training appeared first on Seismic.

We all get nervous for the first day on the job.

Here are a few ideas to help you put together an orientation packet for new hires to help them settle in just a little bit easier.

Before we get there though, what exactly is a new hire packet? It’s simply the information you give every new employee when they come on board. Creating one will help streamline your onboarding process, answering your new hires’ most important questions about what it means to work at your organization.

New hire packet checklist:

1. Letter

A hand-written welcome letter is a nice touch to help your new hire feel welcome. If you need some inspiration, check out our employee announcement templates.

2. Employee handbook

No hiring packet would be complete without an employee handbook. Use your handbook to introduce your employee to processes, practices, and behaviors that are expected at your company. If you don’t have one already, check out our employee handbook template to get one started.

3. New employee forms

New hire forms that pretty much every new employee in the United States must fill out are the new employee tax forms, with the most common being the W-2. Obviously, keeping in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States is critical, so make sure you include the tax paperwork for new employees when you are creating your new employee forms checklist in the builder above.

I-9 Form

The I-9 form is commonly found in a packet of forms for new employees. According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services department, the I-9 is used to verify the identity and authorization of anyone attempting to gain employment in the United States. Interestingly, this includes both citizens and non-citizens. Because of this, sometimes, the I-9 form is referred to as the “employment form.” If you are required to submit this form, be sure to include it in your employee orientation programs.

Direct Deposit Form

Most employees prefer their paycheck to be submitted to their bank account automatically through a direct deposit service, and many companies now require this. In order to set up direct deposit, a direct deposit form, along with a canceled check (to prove ownership of the bank account), must be provided. If this is something your new employees are required to do, or simply want to, make sure to include it in your new employee form template in the builder above.

If all of those employee hire forms are too much for you to keep track of when hiring a new employee, just add the new employee forms checklist to your new hire checklist and you will have a much more comprehensive new hire orientation presentation.

4. Compensation and benefits information

Beyond getting a direct deposit set up, learning about company benefits might be the second most important topic on new hires’ minds. While it’s important to convey this information on a new employee’s first day, it might be equally important to ensure that benefits information is easily accessible at any point. After all, there are many life events that qualify for re-enrollment.

5. Emergency contact information form

If something severe were to happen to your new hire, it’s critical to make their emergency contacts aware. Be sure to include this contact form in the process so that if the unimaginable does happen, you’ve got an action plan in place—before you need it.

6. Company directory

The most important part of any company culture is the people. Be sure to both introduce your new hire to people they will be working with and provide a directory of people with contact information. For larger companies, it’s typically only necessary to share a departmental list, while smaller companies may want to include their entire company.

These new hire packet samples can be used to put together your very own new hire packet template to help onboard new employees better.

The post New hire welcome packet ideas appeared first on Seismic.

But it also represents an enormous opportunity. If you can find a way to meet the needs of today’s buyers and ensure they are greeted with an experience that provides value at every touchpoint, then you will win new customers much more often than you lose.

Seismic’s mission has always been to enable our customers to engage their buyers through content with purpose. Content with purpose is that which provides real value to its intended audience. Content with purpose results in better conversations between buyers and sellers. Content with purpose allows marketers to prove their impact to the business at large.

With this in mind, I am incredibly excited to announce that Seismic has acquired Percolate, the leading campaign orchestration and content management platform. The result will be a combined offering that enables marketers to have full control and oversight of how their content impacts the entire buyer landscape and allows them to meet the needs of buyers today through content with purpose.

By combining Seismic’s industry leading sales enablement and asset management functionality with Percolate’s content orchestration and campaign planning tools, marketers will have comprehensive control and agility to efficiently align the most compelling and personalized content wherever and whenever the customer interacts with their brand. The unification of two essential pillars in the marketing technology stack will also offer the necessary data for marketers to make full-scale, intelligent improvements to their entire content investment.

While the offering will provide significant new capabilities to our customers, I am just as excited about what it means in having the Percolate team join our own. Seismic now grows to 800 employees strong, with Percolate bringing nearly ten years of experience in working with customers to optimize their content strategy. Seismic and Percolate customers will have by far more content expertise and experience available to them than what can be offered by other vendors in the space. The collective knowledge of the Seismic and Percolate communities will help lead the way in sales and marketing content for the foreseeable future.

Yes, the buyer’s journey seems to grow more complex daily. But what continues to inspire me is how our customers consistently meet the challenge. In speaking with the Percolate team, it became immediately apparent that that’s what gets them excited to come to work every day as well. Together, our companies and our offering will be able to provide so much more to our customers who continue to break barriers in sales and marketing.

It’s an exciting new chapter for all of us, and I can’t wait to get started!

About Percolate

Percolate is an Orchestration Hub that gives marketers the power to control all aspects of the marketing lifecycle. Percolate offers solutions to introduce visibility into the marketing process, improve coordination of work, and effectively build marketing campaigns and content. The world’s largest enterprises — including Mazda, IWG, Robert Bosch, and Rockwell Automation — use Percolate to create a coordinated customer experience, reduce production costs, and understand marketing impact.

To learn more, visit Percolate or watch this video below.

The post Seismic and Percolate: Delivering Content with Purpose appeared first on Seismic.

Why is this? After all, a proposal is essentially the vehicle for a vendor’s total offerings, and if executed ineffectively, it can render an entire sales process null up to the proposal submission. Your product or offering could truly be the right choice for a buyer, but if your proposal doesn’t convey value or clearly articulate competitive differentiation, you may lose business.

There are many ways that proposal generation can be improved, and it all starts with content management. Below are four challenges associated with proposal and RFP generation, and how they can be tackled with the right content management and collaboration strategies.

Challenge #1: Efficiently crafting a customized story

There are a few components to this first challenge. The obvious one is creating a thoughtful, personalized and unique proposal without compromising turnaround time. RFPs and proposals are often on strict deadlines, and you never know how many your proposal director or team will have at a time. “RFPs are like snowflakes; no two ever seem to be the same, and I’m amazed that I’m still getting questions I haven’t been asked before,” Seismic’s Proposal Director, Marnie Bingham, explains. “For most RFPs, I spend time finding answers I have on file, tweaking them for the current purpose, drafting new answers, and enlisting sellers and subject matter experts across the organization to contribute information. And then of course there’s organizing and formatting everything in accordance with RFP specifications, and getting the right people to sign off on everything.” This process is time-consuming and in most cases quite tedious, but having the right content management tool can help you store, locate and reuse questions. Of course not every RFP will contain the same questions, but the more proposals you complete, the more questions you’ll be able to pull from. (Bonus points if this response management and storage is done automatically!)

Challenge #2: Empowering sellers to take on proposals independently

Most organizations have a proposal team, or at least an individual dedicated to the completion of proposals. But this doesn’t mean the sales team can’t help, too. Salespeople can speed up the entire proposal generation process using Seismic’s LiveDocs technology, which pulls together the bones of the proposal story quickly and easily. The sales rep can choose from cover letter options that have been pre-approved by the marketing or proposal teams, pull in CRM data (such as customer name, address, date, and more), and can even apply CPQ data for pricing. This eliminates all number crunching, copying and pasting, and empowers salespeople to get proposals to a good place in minutes. Reps can also use Seismic’s latest WorkSpace functionality to share the proposal draft with other team members, who can make suggestions and comments, all before involving the proposal team.

Challenge #3: Sifting through all existing RFPs and proposals for appropriate responses

Most proposal teams have a file folder of all completed and submitted RFPs, and spend a ton of time using the CTRL+F function to locate proper answers. This is time-consuming and risky, considering answers may be outdated, or for a specific buyer, vertical, use case or industry and may not be appropriate for the current proposal. As touched upon in the first challenge, having a knowledge base of existing RFP questions is imperative to efficiently and thoughtfully crafting a proposal. Seismic’s Word plugin helps Marnie find answers from the knowledge base, insert text, images, and charts into a proposal in a matter of seconds. “I just format everything with the usual tools in Word; I never have to leave,” she explains. Questions are managed by the proposal team, so you’re sure to always use the right responses in the right places—quickly and effectively.

Challenge #4: Rounding up subject matter experts to provide the best responses 

The best RFPs incorporate knowledge from individuals across the entire vendor organization. With Seismic, proposal teams and individuals can add questions from proposals to the knowledge base and assign them out to subject matter experts within the organization. That person is notified of the request, he or she submits the answer, and it’s automatically updated in the proposal document. Collaboration is imperative for proposals, and WorkSpace ensures that the right people are involved at the right times to get the best quality RFP out the door in no time.

None of these challenges can be addressed without a proper content management system and strategy in place. Silos must be broken down, sales, marketing and proposal teams must be centered on collaboration and efficient workflows, and companies must be dedicated to diligently managing content (including RFPs and response knowledge bases). Once vital content management needs are met, the proposal process can be revolutionized and companies can reap the benefits of shorter sales cycles, higher win rates, and more closed deals.

Interested in hearing more from Marnie Bingham, Seismic’s Proposal Director? See the full interview about her proposal process and best practices below!

The post 4 Major Challenges of Proposal and RFP Generation appeared first on Seismic.