2015 was a great year for Qstream. With 3x growth in new enterprise customers and successful delivery of more than 50 million Qstream challenges, we’ve had a front-row seat to how companies are improving sales performance across a number of industries.

As we approach the end of another busy year, there’s no better time to reflect on the past 12 months and what we've learned. Specifically, what are the great sales teams and innovative sales enablement professionals we work with doing to improve performance in a measurable way? Based on our experience, here are five key lessons we learned from our exceptional customers in 2015.

1. Top sales teams understand that sales analytics is more than just CRM data.

CRM systems have become critical tools for measuring sales process and productivity, but they consistently fall short when it comes to managing and monitoring the core capabilities of your reps. An informed sales enablement strategy requires data that is both activity-based and knowledge/skills-based. When viewed in tandem with sales opportunity metrics, this gives managers the real-time insights to assess behavior as well as actual capabilities. High-performing sales teams are using Qstream to collect and view real-time analytics that drive both short-term productivity and long-term development. And because Qstream can integrate with most CRMs, including Salesforce.com, viewing the data and executing the required actions is easier than ever.

2. Engagement and adoption are important. Really important.

The list of sales enablement platforms and applications continued to grow at a record pace in 2015, and enterprises now have more options than ever when it comes to investment. But the axiom still holds true: the best tool for your team is the one they will actually use. Qstream customers are consistently seeing engagement levels above 94% for a few simple reasons:

• Just three minutes a day is at all it takes to complete their challenges. And the repetition itself becomes addictive—reps look forward to it!
• Built-in game mechanics and dynamic leaderboards make it fun and competitive. Reps keep coming back to see how they're doing against their peers, and even their managers.
• Good content! Reps value Qstream because they see the content as highly relevant to their jobs every day.

3. Meet your reps where they are.

Most enterprise sales teams have an array of sub-teams contained within them, including BDRs, inside sales or account managers, and field-based reps. Each of these groups operate in unique environments, and have unique access preferences when it comes to consuming content. Your field reps may prefer accessing their Qstream challenges on the mobile app, while BDRs who are more likely to be HQ-based may prefer accessing content on their laptop browser. Other reps may elect to use the Salesforce.com interface, since they spend most of their time there anyway.

The right choice is to make all of these options available to your sales force. Don’t assume that one modality fits all -- let them choose the one that’s right for them, even if that changes from day to day. For time-pressed reps, flexibility and ease of use is key. And because Qstream easily syncs across all devices and browsers, your reps will always stay on track.

4. Your company’s strategic objectives and your sales enablement goals are really the same thing.

Do you know what your company’s strategic objectives are when it comes to sales and revenue performance? If you don’t, then how can you set your goals for sales enablement, and understand whether or not you achieved them? The reality is that these are inextricably linked and should be the basis for your critical KPIs.

High-performing organizations are not only aligning these goals and using Qstream to manage and measure their progress, many are also asking – and answering -- very specific business questions based on Qstream data insights. (For example: Why are sales of our new product failing to meet target? What are the core competencies of our top sales people, and how does the rest of our team stack up when measured against these same skills? Do our reps understand the new brand messaging framework rolled out at kick-off?) By addressing the business goals and challenges management cares about most, our customers are delivering significant value to the business, and acquiring additional resources along the way to expand their programs even further.

5. Sales onboarding is a persistent challenge for almost everyone. But there is a better way.

Accelerating the speed and effectiveness of sales on-boarding was a common need of both existing customers and prospects in 2015. And not just in the traditional sense. Many of our customers in highly dynamic markets are now concerned with “reboarding” their team months down the road (in response to a new market competitor, for example, the release of a new product, or following a strategic merger or acquisition.)

With help from Qstream, our customers were able to establish a baseline, and then, following completion of their company’s new hire “boot camp, ” execute a measurable reinforcement strategy for reps that bolsters retention of key product and competitive messaging. Add to this the benefits of coaching insights mapped to individual skill and knowledge gaps, and now managers have a complete picture of how to accelerate time to first deal and ensure new hires are ready to bring value to every client interaction.

As you look forward to 2016 and consider new approaches to achieving your own sales enablement goals, I hope you’ll check out our Resources section, get inspired, and then contact us to start your own success story in the new year.