Personalized Coaching Fueled by Data and Seismic
To evolve beyond traditional training, Expedia began using conversational intelligence tools alongside Seismic to generate insight into real sales behaviors. That data powered coaching plans tailored to each rep’s needs.
“We weren’t just sending out tips,” said Ernst-Jan de Planque, Senior Director, Sales Enablement. “We were pinpointing what top performers did well and guiding others to do the same. If someone wasn’t doing demos, and the data showed demos were correlated with higher win rates, we coached toward that.”
The coaching programs were delivered through Seismic and tailored to each individual. Teams that piloted the approach saw a 13% increase in opportunity win rates. Word spread fast.
“Other teams started asking when they could get it,” Ernst said. “That’s when we knew we had something scalable. It wasn’t enablement pushing, our sellers were pulling.”
Operational Efficiency Through LiveDocs
One major barrier to seller productivity was meeting prep. Reps often spent hours assembling decks from disparate reports and tools. With Seismic LiveDocs, that changed.
“Our advertising team was spending three to four hours building a single presentation,” said Ernst. “Now, they generate it in minutes. We saved over 1,800 hours, and more importantly, gave them time back to actually sell.”
A Structured Rhythm for Sales Plays and Communication
To coordinate launches and avoid overwhelming the field, the enablement team introduced a quarterly planning model. Field enablement leads met with sales leaders in advance to align on focus areas, and used Seismic to manage the rollout.
“We built out calendars in Seismic for every team,” said Beth. “That let us control the timing of initiatives and gave us leverage when stakeholders asked to launch something new mid-quarter.”
One key campaign focused on an underperforming product. Rather than just publish a course, the team deployed a cross-functional enablement play that included:
- A kick-off video from leadership published via Seismic NewsCenter
- Targeted learning paths in Seismic Learning
- Personalized sales coaching
- Curated pitch content and playbooks
“You could see the revenue move within a week of the message launching,” said Beth. “That one video, timed right, made a bigger impact than any deck.”
Segmenting Content for Diverse Seller Profiles
Expedia’s sellers span a wide range of roles—from new grads handling high volumes of hotel accounts to seasoned strategic managers overseeing multimillion-dollar partnerships. A one-size-fits-all approach wasn’t sustainable.
“We use different tone, length, and format depending on the audience,” Beth explained. “For high-volume teams, we use short-form, animated content. For strategic teams, we go deep. Seismic gives us the flexibility to serve both in the same platform.”
