Thinking small leads to big results
SUCCESS STORY HELPING SELLERS SELL
Thinking small leads to big results
Accelerating sales at SAP in less than 10 minutes a day
10.3%
Reduction in average time to complete successful presales opportunities
3.8 to 4.26
Increase in average self-assessment rating (on 5-point scale) on confidence and competence
97%
Net promoter score: How likely would you be to recommend this to a peer or colleague?
It quickly became clear to us that the teams of presales managers who went through the 1st90 program were working more efficiently to drive efficiencies in the business, thus improving the bottom line for the company.
– Umesh Sita, Director, Global Presales Leadership Development at SAP
Micro-learning delivers a macro-sized payoff to help new managers at SAP achieve faster time-to-performance
I open 1st90 every morning when I wake up. It only takes a few minutes, and every topic provides practical knowledge and experience sharing. I don’t need to struggle to find time in the day.
– Guohui, SAP Presales Manager, China
SAP is the world’s largest provider of enterprise application software, with more than 105,000 employees in 140-plus countries generating €27.34 billion annually. A full 77% of the world’s transaction revenue touches an SAP system at some point in its journey. Given SAP’s massive global standing, you might think the company does everything on a macro level.
However, when SAP was looking for a way to quickly provide new presales managers with foundational leadership skills, they realized that the organization’s size was getting in the way. New, inexperienced presales managers were waiting months to attend one of SAP’s Presales Leadership Academies, resulting in lost confidence and missed opportunities to build and practice effective leadership skills. When SAP turned to Advantage Performance Group, its long-time learning solutions partner, for help, Advantage provided the software giant with an important bit of advice – think small.
Micro-learning in the flow of work to accelerate sales at SAP
Advantage collaborated with thought leader partner 1st90 and SAP to customize the 1st90 mobile micro-learning platform to help get new managers performing quickly in their leadership roles. The 1st90 app provides 5-10 minutes of daily learning along with customized SAP job aids that help new managers apply the learning with their teams in the flow of their daily and weekly work.
South American SAP Presales Manager Jesus found the experience to be enriching. “The steps provided an excellent way to learn on a daily basis. All the videos, links, and stories shared in the app are very illustrative. I especially liked the last part of each step where I could share my thoughts with other participants and see their comments, allowing me to learn from different points of view, cultures, and countries.”
Newly promoted managers are able to begin the 1st90 micro-learning journey on their first day on the job, without having to wait for cohorts to be created or class space to become available. As the program rolled out for the first time in early 2020, many countries were beginning global pandemic lockdowns and facing significant disruptions and cancellation of learning programs. Since 1st90 micro-learning can take place anywhere, at any time – autonomously and asynchronously – learning was able to continue without interruption.
Mike, an SAP presales manager in Europe, found that the 1st90 app helped build personal awareness and confidence in a time of great disruption. “In less than 15 minutes of training a day, the app helped me become more aware of who I am as a manager, what I can improve, and how I can be there for my team in challenging virtual times.”
Besides the daily micro-learning being so interesting, the platform provided fun competition and engaged me through gamification.
– - Propheta, SAP Presales Manager, South America
Increased confidence and application of learning improves time-to-performance
Starting with the first cohort of participants, SAP initiated a success case study, including surveys and in-depth interviews with participants, and captured details on the measurable benefits of the 1st90 implementation. In addition to providing high net promoter (4.7) and satisfaction (4.3) scores, 88% of participants reported that 1st90 helped them produce measurable, concrete results. One participant shared that, “The 1st90 micro-learning methodology actually changed my behavior. A new habit was created for me.”
When SAP analyzed the impact of the training on one region’s pipeline, they discovered that the time investment on successful deals per presales expert decreased 10.3% to 3.63 hours per opportunity, down from a regional average of 4.05 hours per opportunity per expert over a three-month period. According to Umesh Sita, director of Global Presales Leadership Development at SAP, “It quickly became clear to us that the teams of presales managers who went through the 1st90 program were working more efficiently to drive efficiencies in the business, thus improving the bottom line for the company.”
Since creation of the initial platform, hundreds of new SAP presales managers have completed the program. In fact, the program was so successful that Brandon Hall Group awarded Advantage Performance Group, 1st90, and SAP a silver Excellence in Technology Award for Best Advance in Mobile Learning Technology.
Thinking small really can lead to big results.
Practice Area: Helping Sellers Sell
Tagged with: 1st90 • just in time learning • SAP • time-to-performance
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