How Juniper Networks Reduced Content Search Time by 95%

Planning to Power Productivity Through Governance

When Juniper Networks found itself with a case of too many cooks in the kitchen, it knew it was time to act. Ninety different administrators, countless publishers, and no formalized governance philosophy meant there was no standardized approach to content across the business. “There was so much content that wasn’t labeled right, that lacked descriptions, and that had messy metadata,” began Ted Sayland, global enablement platforms leader at Juniper Networks. 

As a result, sellers struggled to find and use content. In turn, cross-functional teams found it difficult to align on standardized content and messaging usage. “Marketing and sales have to say the exact same thing,” added Jean England, chief marketing officer at Juniper Networks. “We have to build that trust.”

Good governance could resolve these issues, but the enablement team at Juniper Networks recognized that governance was rarely anyone’s first priority. The path forward, then, was two-fold: The team could invest in getting teams bought into and regularly completing governance tasks, or they could automate those tasks with AI. To provide an additional layer of support, they chose the latter.

As the team put pen to paper on their AI-led governance plan, they realized their efforts would directly impact future AI investments. “How do we use AI tools to be smarter about our content governance so that the AI feeding off that data is more trustworthy?” asked Sayland. Recognizing that a well-governed environment was a prerequisite for further AI innovation, the team jumped into action. Their goal was to leverage AI and integrations to create a well-governed environment that strategically served content up to sellers. Luckily, they already had the capabilities at their disposal to bring that vision to life. “We were very thankful that our platform came with these wonderful AI capabilities,” enthused Sayland. To fuel seller velocity with AI, Juniper Networks embraced Highspot Copilot as a core part of its enablement strategy. 

Streamlining Internal Operations With AI

As they got started, the team took a multi-pronged approach that targeted distinct moments in the seller experience. To standardize governance, they used Highspot Copilot to generate content descriptions and resolve metadata gaps — a granular change that tangibly improved the search experience. 

The impact only grew with the addition of Instant Answers, which allowed sellers to input questions as search terms. When they do, Copilot pulls together an answer, then suggests related content to back it up. “Instant Answers has had a tremendous impact,” enthused Sayland. With consistent metadata and Instant Answers streamlining every content search, sellers spent less time hunting for content and considerably more time engaging with it. As the user experience improves, so too does ongoing usage; since implementing Copilot, recurring usage of the platform has increased by 20%.

The team amplified that impact by integrating Highspot content into Salesforce. “Once we rolled out that just-in-time, integrated content into Salesforce, sellers immediately got it,” added Sayland. “The fact that Highspot put Instant Answers into Salesforce is a game-changer.” From within Salesforce, they promoted key content at specific opportunity stages, which allowed them to be more prescriptive about how and when sellers used strategically built marketing content. “We look very closely at how we build content for the top, middle, and bottom of the funnel,” explained England.

Linking tailored marketing content to the relevant opportunity stages was a game changer for sellers. Now, they had instant access to curated content recommendations and could put them into use from within their flow of work. “We were able to take our content to a whole new level,” noted Sayland. “We could put all of our content into sellers’ hands at the right time in the opportunity.” With Highspot’s AI capabilities and CRM integration, Juniper Networks achieved the impossible: It created an AI-infused environment that equips sellers to rigorously pursue opportunities at every stage of the sales process.

Instilling New Velocity Into Daily Workflows

From day one, Juniper Networks’ enablement team had a goal in mind. As they built an AI-powered content strategy from scratch, they benchmarked success as a 20% reduction in the time it takes to find content. Already, they’ve surpassed that goal. “We are at a 28% reduction,” shared Sayland. Across the board, sellers have regained an incredible amount of time. “We’ve had a 95% decrease in the [total] amount of time sellers spend searching for content,” enthused Sayland. “They’re no longer spending a minute or two searching for content. They’re spending maybe three to four seconds.” 

Much of this improvement can be attributed to the team’s strategic implementation of key AI capabilities. “We have rolled out some really amazing functionality of Highspot AI strictly around content,” concluded Sayland. “It has moved our needle tremendously for content.” At every stage in the sales process, sellers have recommended content at their fingertips — simultaneously decreasing the time spent searching for content and standardizing the stories told at key phases in the buyer’s journey. What began as a governance initiative has reimagined how Juniper Networks’ sellers work and infused new consistency and productivity into their workflows.