How Visa Hones Sales Pitches in 30 Minutes

Quarterly Launch Cadence Requires Robust Training

The team at Visa is laser-focused on ongoing education — so much so that they have their own university, which includes separate, role-specific colleges. “Visa University is our internal employee training arm,” began Niyati Parikh, global head of sales training at Visa. “The sales college is focused on enabling and driving successful sales through things like sales methodology, product training, and skills development.” Despite the strength of their existing processes, the team has placed new priority on continued skill development. It’s no wonder why: The rapid pace of innovation at Visa led to a quarterly launch cadence, which made it imperative for sellers to stay up-to-date and aware. 

Training would be key to keeping pace, but the team understood that it can often feel like a burden on sellers’ time. As such, they would need to design programs that kept sellers engaged and learning, quarter after quarter. “The number one challenge with training is time,” explained Christina Catron, senior sales instructional designer. “Time spent in training is time away from other tasks, so sellers often see training as a distraction rather than a tool. The number one thing we need to do is to make sure sellers feel training will have an immediate impact on their jobs.” Supplying valuable training to every seller was complicated by the scope of Visa’s sales force and the unique demands of sellers across a variety of regions and roles. “We have 4,000 sellers globally, across different regions and with different types of clients,” continued Catron. “It’s hard to scale personalized training.”

The team saw these challenges as an opportunity: Visa’s sales force was hungry to learn and excited to keep pace. All they would need to do was develop a strategy that served up learning in a way that was relevant to and easily consumed by sellers across the globe. As the team imagined how they might scale their approach, new innovation offered an answer. “This year, we’ve started to add AI to our arsenal,” added Parikh. “So, how do we leverage AI for practice and real-time feedback?” In partnership with Highspot, Visa embarked on a journey to answer that question — and do so in compliance with privacy and data security requirements.

AI Powers Self- and Manager-Led Coaching

Visa bolstered its existing training and coaching efforts using Highspot. While the team had much of their strategy already in place, they needed a way to keep sellers tightly aligned with product innovation. To build competence with product knowledge on a quarterly basis, the team reimagined their strategy. “We designed an accreditation program to guide reps to think through their specific client scenario through the sales lifecycle,” explained Catron. 

Assigned on a quarterly basis, this program reiterated learning alongside each new product launch. Using Highspot, the team incorporated the accreditation directly into reps’ workflow. Written and video practice questions, for instance, asked sellers to apply new product knowledge to their region, role, and stage in the sales lifecycle — a scalable means of supplying tailored, relevant learning. “Our vision for

end-user accreditation was to apply it to their own client account,” added Parikh. “Sellers take a concept, gain the knowledge, and then apply it to their specific scenario.”

Trusting Highspot’s ability to safeguard sellers’ and customers’ data, the team began their journey with AI, using the accreditation program to pave the way for a new approach to coaching. After submitting their responses, sellers used AI-powered Skill Feedback to generate real-time coaching based on enablement-built rubrics — a new avenue for self-led skill development. “AI allows reps to reach a point of confidence,” shared Parikh. “As part of our accreditation, reps practice and iterate, then submit a video to their leader, who is responsible for reviewing and providing a final score on a submission.”  

AI-powered coaching is a confidence-booster for sellers, but it’s also a time-saver for coaches. “The rubrics the team has created influence the AI,” noted Parikh. “If you generate feedback, it gives a broader subset of things to coach on than leaders might have thought of. It’s been a big win for enhancing the effectiveness of our coaches.” Coaches can now provide consistent feedback, ensuring that sellers are landing the quarterly launch message and doing so in compliance with industry regulatory bodies. With Highspot, Visa has accomplished what may very well be an industry first, creating a secure AI-powered coaching motion for scaling skill development across a global sales force.

Scaling Skill Development Across A Global Sales Force

From content and guidance to training and coaching, Visa’s sellers have the support they need to hit the ground running, quarter after quarter. With 60% well-governed content and a 17% increase in user engagement, they have the resources to take new product innovation to the field; with real-time coaching, they have the confidence to do so effectively. “We’ve seen really great results when using AI to give sellers a practice environment,” enthused Parikh. “I’ve been able to watch people practice live and see, over the course of 30 minutes, how they’ve enhanced, refined, and felt more confident about their pitches.” The quarterly program has delivered everything the team hoped it might. In as little as 30 minutes, sellers can hone their approach, perfecting their pitches without overburdening time-strapped coaches.

Skill Feedback has proven so valuable that sellers now leverage it to upskill independently. “We are seeing informal use cases pop up,” explained Parikh. “We’ve created a practice environment called the sales simulator, where sellers can go in and practice either written or video pitches.” Through formal training programs and informal, self-directed practice efforts, Visa has aligned its global sales force — a feat only possible with AI. “Where AI has become such a helpful tool is in scaling global training that is personalized and valuable to the seller,” concluded Catron.