Melissa Madian has the responsibility at the Oracle Sales Academy to develop the people, process, and skills of the sales organization so they can do their jobs well while growing personally and professionally. Often referred to as a “Marketing Nerd,” she is passionate about modern marketing, and is a specialist in lead management and revenue performance management. When she's not enabling sales teams on neat things like the “challenger sale” and social selling, she's encouraging her cat—a little furball of cattitude—to annoy her husband.
What does a typical day in your life looks like?
There isn’t anything “typical” about my day! I try to balance researching industry trends in selling, sales enablement and marketing with reaching out to the sales organization for input and best practices, while organizing new training programs for our selling organization.
What are the top three projects you are working on at the moment?
I developed a new eight-week onboarding program for 500 college new hires into sales roles—combining modern learning, interactivity, selling sprints, and social selling all into one best-in-class program to help them succeed in their new jobs at Oracle. I am also developing a key account director enablement program, which is designed to refocus our major account owners on collaborative selling and providing an awesome customer experience.
What is an area within sales enablement where you particularly shine?
My specialty is in sales onboarding: getting people up and running quickly in their new sales role while maintaining a positive, collaborative selling culture.
If you could have three wishes granted to make your job easier, what would they be?
I just need one wish: for organizations to be more willing to accept change and creativity!
How did you get started in your career? Since then, how has your career evolved?
I graduated as a mechanical engineer and started my career as a sales engineer. I’ve carried a quota as a salesperson and a national account manager. I’ve even implemented ERP systems at manufacturing plants and done coding! My passion is in helping people to discover their inner potential and succeed, which is what got me into sales enablement.
What is one of the greatest lessons you have learned from your career journey?
Do not be afraid to take risks, and even fail; as you learn from failure as much as you learn from successes. Take on more than your job requires!
How have you seen the sales enablement function change in the last 10 years?
Selling is no longer about a guy named Herb Tarlek in a plaid sport coat trying to sell you something to make a number. It’s about helping customers buy in order to make them successful. It’s a profession that requires constant learning and growth, in order to understand the customer and provide value and insight to them.
What are you most excited about in the profession today?
It’s still an emerging space, and it is always exciting to be part of something new. We’re creating trends and changing the way folks think about sales.
How do you stay current in the field?
I consume a LOT of research, articles, papers, blog posts. I just finished The Challenger Sale by Matt Dixon and Brent Adamson. I’m also a fan of CEB’s research and Corporate Visions messaging. I also follow industry leaders on Twitter and LinkedIn. I join and follow LinkedIn Groups on sales enablement. You can follow me on Twitter @MelissaMadian to see who I follow! Who do you look to for guidance and support?
My peers, my sales reps, and the new hires. There is a lot I can learn from them and they have a unique viewpoint.
What advice would you give a young sales enablement professional?
Take risks, be creative, try different things. You won’t know if it works unless you try!
Would you like to post a question to the community?
If you could change one thing about how you do onboarding, what would it be and why?
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