Podcast 107: How Can AI Enable Partners Outside the LMS?

EPISODE 107: Using AI to Enable Partners Outside the LMS

Brett Strauss, President, NetExam

Artificial intelligence continues to redefine every corner of the modern enterprise, and partner education programs are no exception. But what kind of AI capabilities are making the biggest impact? What advances should we expect in the future? And what does this mean for classic learning systems?

For questions like this, I often turn to customer and channel enablement pioneer, Brett Strauss, Founder of NetExam, and now President of Pifini.ai.

Brett always blends big-picture tech vision with practical business insights. And lots of news is coming from his company lately. So, join us as we dig deeper into fascinating new ways to enable partners on this episode of the  Talented Learning Show…

USING AI TO ENABLE PARTNERS OUTSIDE THE LMS — KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The need for strong partner enablement is massive. Consider this: An estimated 75% of global B2B transactions come through indirect sales channels. And certified partners generate 6x more revenue than their untrained counterparts.

• Despite its upside potential, educating partners is a notoriously difficult process. In the past, learning management systems served as the backbone of channel training. But now, AI is opening highly innovative ways to enable partners outside the LMS.

• With a growing suite of advanced AI-native tools that work alongside an LMS, companies like Pifini.ai are making partner enablement much faster, easier, and more effective.

USING AI TO ENABLE PARTNERS OUTSIDE THE LMS — Q&A HIGHLIGHTS

Welcome back, Brett. Let’s start with the obvious. You recently changed your company name. Why?

Well, we completed a rebrand that should have happened 20 years ago. In 1998, NetExam was a brilliant URL for LMS company. But by 2005, the word “net” was passe, and everyone assumed we were an exam company. So, it became difficult to market our product under the NetExam name.

Then, several years ago, we pivoted and dove headfirst into AI. We’ve always been dedicated to extended enterprise learning, helping organizations educate customers, partners, and resellers. So, we started building new AI tools for these groups that didn’t fit into our LMS.

And now our charter is much broader than learning management. We call it channel and customer enablement. So, it was time for a rebrand, and we chose the name Pifini.ai.

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Before the rise of AI, channel and customer enablement models seemed to be stalling. Why?

Honestly, the channel training environment changed when Cornerstone and Docebo started fighting for market share and giving away their products for free.

Large, publicly traded companies can absorb those tiny hits. But we’re a self-funded, bootstrapped business. And those competitive moves put financial pressure on some of our contracts.

In some situations, it felt like the LMS industry was becoming a race to the bottom on price. So, we decided to sell more than just an LMS platform. And we started building a number of complementary products that work outside the LMS to help partners sell better.

Interesting…

Of course, we also continued to improve our LMS. We’ve added AI content creation and other cool capabilities. But now we’re concentrating on tools that help train people outside of the LMS, when classic training doesn’t fit conveniently into a lesson or a course with an exam.

Instead of trying to train partner teams and hoping they remember everything after they complete a course, these tools fit right into everyone’s daily selling process.

And for customer enablement, we’ve built a community environment where people can easily share information and help one another.

So, we’re building a variety of complementary AI-driven tools that live outside of the LMS and fit into customer and partner workflows.

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What are some examples of these partner enablement tools?

For instance, with role-playing tools, you can create scenarios and practice sales pitches. You’re not just asking people to watch a video of their pitch. It’s actually a dynamic interaction with an AI avatar.

So, let’s say a rep is delivering a pitch next Friday. You can help them get ready by sending a prep email based on notes from all your previous meetings. This way, they’ll know in advance all the key points to cover.

Nice…

And our most powerful tool is the live sales call copilot. It’s a live AI agent that sits on a call like the one we’re on right now. A little window pops up on your screen. It feeds you relevant information and suggests things to say that will help close the deal.

This copilot listens to everything you and your potential buyer say. It’s a real-time assistant that helps move the conversation forward. So, it’s like having a sales expert whispering in your ear, helping you close a deal.

That’s much better than just hoping some sales training you completed 3 months ago will stay fresh in your mind.

No doubt…

Because, keep in mind, a partner isn’t just doing your training. They’re also training on your competitors’ products.

There’s only so much information a channel salesperson can hold in their head. So, instead of trying to rely on training alone, why not provide tools that help people close an opportunity at the point of need?

It’s still training. But you’re training partners in a different way.

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Excellent. So, how do you teach the live role-play bot to behave like a real client?

Well, you can educate the LLM on experiences your salespeople have had. Let’s say your company sells cloud services, so you often compete against AWS. Everyone tells you AWS is 40% cheaper. So, you seed the LLM with information like that to test individuals.

In other words, you train the avatar to object because your pricing is more expensive than a competitor’s. And this helps your sales team learn strong responses.

Mm hmm…

But here’s what is really cool — we can analyze and grade role-playing interactions, pinpoint strengths and weaknesses, and then build a customized training experience.

For instance, you discussed pricing, but you didn’t mention all the key points of value. Or you handled pricing questions well but forgot to ask for a follow-up meeting. We can pull all the shortcomings from a role-playing scenario into the LMS, and then create a one-time course that trains specifically on elements that will improve your role-play performance.

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I see…

Another way to improve role-playing outcomes is with input from multiple people. For instance, if 200 sales reps participate in a role-play scenario, the LLM in an agentic system can gain intelligence from those interactions.

In other words, the LLM analyzes successful and unsuccessful patterns. And as it learns from those interactions, the entire program improves.

Right.

You can even do this with the live sales call copilot. So, think about it. There’s a difference between a role-play scenario and a live sales call copilot. One is an avatar and the other is a real person.

Our avatar helps you practice, so you can safely make mistakes and learn from them. And we also provide a live environment where you’re talking directly with a customer. But the role-play software can also learn from your live interactions.

This means the LLM can review deals you’ve won and lost. It can analyze your interactions, assess what was said, and learn not just how to sell the product better, but how to help you specifically sell the product better.

How do you train the LLM to do that?

It’s a lot to fathom, because people sell in different ways. Some are fantastic at sharing facts and figures about a product. Others are great at building a personal connection with prospects and earning their trust.

That’s why it’s important to identify an individual’s strengths and help them hone those particular strengths.

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Do the grading and role-play coaching happen on an individual level or at the team level?

Both. It can tell an individual about their shortcomings. But first, you need to determine what a shortcoming is. That means you have to identify the goals of each call and interaction, right? And that may not apply across-the-board.

For example, if you say everyone must ask for a follow-up meeting, no matter what, it can be a recipe for failure. That’s because people sell differently.

Sure. And some sales cycles are long and complex, while others happen much faster. How does the software accommodate those variations? 

It’s about educating the LLM on what an opportunity is and what the expectations are.

If the copilot is on a call with you, does it also access data from outside your LLM? Does it pull information about a client from public sources?

It can. But we mostly use that kind of information in prep emails we send before a call. We try to control the copilot environment because a live information window is a lot to absorb when you’re talking with someone in real time. It’s like an expert constantly feeding you tips as you speak.

But the goal is to help you adjust the way you think as you manage sales opportunities. And over time, that subtle process should re-educate you on how to move through the sales cycle. So ideally, you’ll become a better salesperson.

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So, another big piece of your enablement toolkit involves communities. Where does that fit in?

Communities are a huge focus for customer enablement among companies we serve. I mean, their C-level executives are saying, “We want this out by Q1.” And by community, we mean an environment where customers can come together and learn from each other, from industry experts, and from general industry resources.

Think about all the helpful information that doesn’t fit into a course and an exam. That includes discussion boards, ask the experts, live Q&A sessions from the company, and so forth.

Got it. So, how are you leveraging AI to help organizations keep their training content fresh both inside the LMS and beyond? …

… For complete answers to this and other questions about how innovative AI tools help educate partners in the flow of work, listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, on Amazon, or right here on our site.

Watch This Podcast on YouTube

Learn More From Pifini/NetExam Leaders

TALENTED LEARNING SHOW PODCAST
EPISODE 91: AI in Channel Partner Training — with Brett Strauss
EPISODE 58: Inside Channel Training Systems — with Brett Strauss

CUSTOMER ED NUGGETS MINI-PODCAST
EPISODE 16: The Road Ahead for Customer Education — with Brett Strauss
EPISODE 9: Top Gen AI LMS Features — with Himansu Karunadasa
EPISODE 5: Top Customer Education ROI Metrics — with Brett Strauss
EPISODE 2: Critical LMS Integrations — with Brett Strauss

ARTICLES
How to Measure and Improve Partner Training ROI — by Himansu Karunadasa
Tips for Educating Dealer Franchises Online — by Brett Strauss

Find Out More About Pifini.ai

See my Hot Take Review of Pifini.ai on YouTube:

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