Evolves Enablement to Power Global Travel

Navigating Through the Pandemic Chaos

Sales enablement at Expedia began six months before the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, sales content was scattered across multiple platforms, creating inefficiencies and inconsistencies. Sales teams struggled to find relevant materials, and communication from various departments overwhelmed sellers.

“Enablement was in its infancy,” said Ernst-Jan de Planque, Director of Sales Enablement at Expedia. “We needed to control the chaos and create a single source of truth for our teams.”

When COVID-19 brought global travel to a standstill, Expedia faced an existential challenge. The company had to pivot from being a booking platform to managing cancellations, refunds, and vouchers, all while downsizing staff by 30%.

“The pandemic wasn’t just a disruption—it was a complete upheaval,” Ernst recalled. “We had to quickly implement a system to support our teams and partners through this chaos.”

Key challenges included:

• Disrupted business model: Shifting to refunds and cancellations required daily updates to sales teams. 
• Content fragmentation: Sales materials were disorganized, making it difficult for sellers to deliver consistent messages. 
• Staff reductions: Fewer resources strained the team’s ability to respond to the crisis effectively. 

Faced with fragmented content and inconsistent communication, Expedia partnered with Seismic to create a unified platform for its sales teams. The first step was to migrate over 6,000 assets into Seismic, consolidating resources and eliminating inefficiencies.

“Seismic helped us transform chaos into clarity,” said Beth Potter, Senior Manager of Sales Enablement. “We brought everything into one place, giving our teams the confidence to navigate an unprecedented situation.”

Seismic Pages became the backbone of this transformation, serving as dedicated hubs for sellers to access sales collateral, policy updates, and training materials. These hubs drastically reduced the time sellers spent searching for resources, allowing them to focus on building client relationships.

To streamline communication, Expedia launched a weekly Sales Digest through Seismic’s NewsCenter. This digest curated updates and shielded sellers from information overload while reinforcing engagement with the platform.

“NewsCenter became our bread and butter,” Ernst noted. “It provided clarity during the chaos, ensuring sellers had everything they needed to support partners and travelers effectively.” 

Personalizing Buyer Engagement

Expedia elevated buyer engagement through Seismic’s personalization tools. LiveDocs enabled sellers to create tailored, data-driven presentations in minutes, incorporating real-time insights and localized content for global markets.

“Our sellers no longer spend hours building presentations—they can now sharpen their stories and focus on what matters,” Ernst explained.

Additionally, Microapps provided interactive experiences, allowing sellers to deliver dynamic, immersive content that resonated with clients and strengthened relationships.

Empowering Sellers with Seismic Learning

As the partnership with Seismic deepened, Expedia integrated Seismic Learning to provide continuous training and development for its sales teams.

Custom learning paths tailored content to the needs of different seller segments, ensuring new hires accessed foundational materials while seasoned sellers explored advanced topics. This segmentation prevented overload and kept teams focused.

Driving Insights and Continuous Improvement

Seismic LiveInsights provided Expedia with valuable data to refine its enablement strategy. By tracking content usage and engagement, the team optimized resources and ensured alignment with business objectives.

“Seismic isn’t just a tool—it’s a partner,” Ernst said. “It’s helped us navigate crisis, capitalize on growth, and position ourselves for future success.”