Professional Portfolio

NICOLA BAIN

Driving Revenue Growth through Sales & Commercial Excellence, People, Process & AI

Commercial and Sales Transformation Leader with extensive experience in enterprise SaaS technology, including 20+ years in direct sales and 12+ years leading global revenue enablement. Proven track record of increasing pipeline, deal size and win-ratio. Experienced in developing and executing global programmes, influencing senior leadership and driving productivity and sales effectiveness through value-based selling, sales excellence, and AI functionality.

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Nicola Bain, Revenue Enablement Leader

STRATEGY · EXECUTION · RESULTS

My approach

Enablement aligned to commercial maturity.

Every business is at a different stage of commercial maturity. A one-size-fits-all approach to sales enablement doesn't work. The starting point is understanding where the organisation is today, identifying the gaps and prioritising initiatives that will have the greatest commercial impact.

My approach aligns enablement investment to business maturity, building the capabilities, behaviours and processes needed to improve sales effectiveness, accelerate growth and deliver measurable revenue outcomes.

The principle: Enablement isn't about activity. It's about business impact.

+50%

Increase in average deal size

Through ValueSelling methodology and deal coaching at Infovista.

$15K → $80K

Increase in average deal size

At Alteryx.

1.5× → 3×

Pipeline coverage growth

Through targeted sales plays and commercial execution at Alteryx.

$14M

Sales play pipeline impact

Through cross-functional sales plays at Ivanti (Q1 & Q2).

Leadership

My Leadership Philosophy — Strengths-Based Leadership

My leadership philosophy is grounded in Strengths-Based Leadership (Gallup). I have led and managed diverse, multidisciplinary enablement teams, including instructional designers, sales coaches, technical content creators and outsourced partners responsible for instructional design and event coordination. Everyone brings different strengths, experiences and perspectives, whether technical, analytical, strategic, a senior leader or a graduate starting their career. I believe diversity is key to creating an environment where collaboration sparks innovation.

I motivate, inspire and influence people within my teams and across the wider business, bringing them on the journey, encouraging them to challenge established ways of working, try new approaches and do things differently — which isn't always easy. I'm hands-on, lead by example, model accountability and the vulnerability to fail and learn. I'm not afraid to have difficult but meaningful conversations that build trust, challenge thinking, encourage growth and drive positive change.

Diverse Teams

Lead multidisciplinary teams and specialist partners

Strengths-Based

Recognise and leverage individual strengths

Collaboration

Build trust, shared purpose and collective ownership

Innovation & Change

Challenge thinking and inspire new approaches

Accountability

Lead by example, take ownership and learn from failure

Growth & Impact

Develop people, influence change and drive results

EXPERIENCE

Six Pillars: One Team.

Strategic Alignment & Leadership

  • Executive stakeholder engagement to establish shared priorities, accountability and strategic direction.
  • Aligning enablement strategy, programmes and execution with business strategy, commercial priorities and revenue targets.
  • Regional adaptation across AMER, EMEA and APJ, reflecting market maturity, customer needs and growth opportunities in emerging and established markets.
  • Uniter and cross-functional collaborator across Revenue Operations, Product Management, Marketing, Field Marketing, HR and Sales Leadership.
  • Prioritising resources and investment based on highest potential commercial impact.
  • Driving organisational change, leadership engagement and consistent execution across the business.

My Commercial Transformation Framework

Diagnose → Design → Align → Execute → Measure

Diagnose — Understand the Business

Engage executives, regional leaders and teams on the ground to assess commercial performance, customer needs, market opportunities, seller capabilities and execution gaps. Understand what's working, what's not, what's been tried before, what failed and why — identifying root causes rather than symptoms.

DATA

Data-Driven Strategy & Decision Making

One Source of Truth. Shared Intelligence. Better Decisions. Greater Business Impact.

Using data to challenge assumptions, guide strategic thinking and prioritise where to invest time, resources and effort.

Leading Indicators

(Seller Signals & Manager Coaching)

Provides managers with an actionable coaching dashboard, tracking prospecting activity, buyer engagement, pipeline generation, qualification quality, seller behaviours and tool adoption. Indicators include LinkedIn InMails sent and response rates, territory plan updates, contacts per opportunity, buyer personas engaged, event registrations and sales methodology adoption. Enables managers to identify performance gaps early, prioritise coaching and drive proactive interventions rather than relying solely on lagging revenue results.

  • InMails & response rates
  • Territory plan updates
  • Contacts per opportunity
  • Buyer personas engaged
  • Event registrations
  • Methodology adoption
That lead to

Lagging Indicators

Measuring pipeline conversion, win rates, average deal size, sales cycle length, quota attainment and revenue performance.

  • Pipeline conversion
  • Win rates
  • Average deal size
  • Sales cycle length
  • Quota attainment
  • Revenue performance

Territory & Account Intelligence

Using account segmentation, whitespace analysis, customer potential and intent data to prioritise new-logo acquisition and expansion opportunities.

Unified Performance Dashboards

Consolidating Salesforce, sales intelligence, marketing and enablement data into a single source of truth (Power BI) across Sales, Revenue Operations, Marketing and Leadership.

Strategic Prioritisation

Using insights to determine which markets, solutions, customer segments, sales plays and capability investments will deliver the greatest commercial impact.

Rhythm of the Business

Embedding data into leadership reviews, pipeline discussions, coaching and quarterly planning to drive consistent, informed decision-making.

Continuous Optimisation

Connecting activities and behaviours to business outcomes, identifying what works, what doesn't and where to adapt strategy and execution.

KEY PROGRAMMES

Transformation Success Stories

01 · AI & DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Sales Command Centre

From Fragmented Data to AI-Powered Sales Intelligence & Coaching

Unifying sales intelligence, automating administration and scaling opportunity coaching to improve seller productivity and manager effectiveness.

Read the case study (PDF)

02 · SALES METHODOLOGY TRANSFORMATION

ValueSelling

From Product-Led Selling to Customer Value & Commercial Discipline

Establishing a consistent sales language, improving discovery and qualification, and embedding value-based selling into everyday execution.

Read the case study (PDF)

03 · PIPELINE & REVENUE GROWTH

Quarterly Sales Plays

Expanding Across the Office of Finance

Moving beyond individual product opportunities to coordinated account expansion across finance functions, using market intelligence, targeted campaigns and blended learning.

Read the case study (PDF)

Other Initiatives

Customer Win Stories & Case Studies

Infovista | Sales Effectiveness & Customer Advocacy

Situation
Product-focused selling and limited reuse of customer success stories made it difficult for sellers to articulate business value, resulting in repetitive proof-of-concepts (POCs) and longer sales cycles.
Task
Capture and scale compelling customer stories to support value-based selling, build credibility and accelerate opportunities.
Action
Established a structured Customer Win Story programme, capturing customer business challenges, value drivers, solutions and measurable outcomes. Developed reusable case studies for sales coaching, prospecting, customer conversations and external marketing.
Result
Reduced POCs by 25%, helping shorten sales cycles and shift conversations from product capabilities to proven customer value.

Hiring & Recruiting Talent

Behavioural Interviewing & Talent Selection

Situation
Inconsistent recruitment approaches made it difficult to assess candidates objectively, particularly their mindset, behaviours and alignment with company values.
Task
Attract and select candidates with the right capabilities, attitude and potential to succeed.
Action
Designed a structured, values-based behavioural interviewing framework, with competency-based questions, assessment criteria and consistent evaluation across each recruitment stage.
Result
Early indications of stronger candidate suitability and improved time to first sale. Longer-term impact on performance and tenure retention is yet to be established.

Selling to C-Level Programme

Gartner | Infovista | Alteryx | Ivanti

Building the confidence and competence to engage CIOs, CISOs and C-suite executives.

Situation
Sellers were often more comfortable engaging technical and operational buyers, focusing on product capabilities rather than strategic business priorities. This limited access to executive decision-makers, deal value and the ability to position solutions as strategic investments.
Task
Develop sellers' confidence, competence and commercial acumen to engage C-level executives, understand their priorities and articulate business value rather than product features.
Action
Initially designed and led Gartner's global Selling to C-Level programme for 2,500 account executives, subsequently adapting and embedding executive-selling approaches at Infovista, Alteryx and Ivanti.
Result
At Gartner, contributed to a 3% increase in client retention and larger deal sizes.

CAREER

Career Highlights

Technology & SaaS | Value-Based Selling | Commercial GTM Strategy & Execution | Global Enablement & Leadership

Bringing together direct sales experience and global enablement leadership to translate commercial strategy into executable programmes, develop high-performing teams and deliver measurable revenue impact.

  1. June 2025 – Present

    Ivanti

    Revenue Enablement Partner, Americas

    Leading regional enablement through significant organisational change, aligning commercial strategy, sales leadership and AI-powered execution. Delivered quarterly sales plays generating $14M in pipeline across two quarters.

  2. November 2024 – May 2025

    Civica

    Director, Sales Performance | 6-month Contract

    Established sales leadership frameworks, performance indicators and coaching disciplines to strengthen commercial execution and management effectiveness.

  3. June 2021 – June 2024

    Alteryx

    Director, EMEA Revenue Enablement

    Led EMEA enablement transformation, contributing to Region of the Year, pipeline coverage growth from 1.5× to 3× and average deal size increasing from $15K to $80K.

  4. November 2016 – June 2021

    Infovista

    Director, Global Sales Enablement

    Built and led the global enablement function supporting 350 sellers. Introduced ValueSelling and scalable programmes, contributing to 50% larger deals and reducing onboarding ramp from 18 to 8 months.

  5. January 2012 – April 2016

    Gartner

    Global C-Level Enablement Specialist

    Designed and led the global Selling to C-Level programme for 2,500 account executives, strengthening executive engagement, commercial conversations and client retention.

  6. June 2006 – December 2011

    Gartner

    Business Development → Senior Account Executive

    Top-performing enterprise technology seller, recognised as #1 C-Level Sales Executive in EMEA for two consecutive years. Achieved Winners Circle four out of five years.

  7. Earlier Career

    Enterprise Technology & Channel Sales

    Direct Sales | Channel Account Management | Global Systems Integrators

    Built a foundation in enterprise technology sales, partner ecosystems, strategic account management and customer-facing commercial execution.

TOOLS

Tools & Platforms

Hands-on experience and familiarity across the revenue technology ecosystem.

Sales Enablement & Learning

  • HubSpot
  • Highspot
  • Seismic
  • SharePoint
  • Learning Management Systems
  • Channeltivity (Partner Management)

(SAP Concur and LMS functionality integrated into enablement platforms)

CRM & Revenue Forecasting

  • Salesforce
  • Clari

Sales Engagement & Conversation Intelligence

  • Gong
  • Salesloft
  • Microsoft Teams

Data, Intelligence & Analytics

  • Power BI
  • 6sense
  • LinkedIn Sales Navigator
  • ZoomInfo

In their words

What colleagues say.

Nicola led Global Sales Enablement at Infovista, working closely with me and the wider executive leadership team. She brought energy, accountability and a strong commercial focus, translating business priorities into programmes that made a tangible difference. From introducing ValueSelling across the organisation to leading our global Sales Kick-Offs, Nicola demonstrated the ability to engage stakeholders, challenge established thinking and execute complex initiatives. She was a trusted partner to the business, combining strategic thinking with a hands-on approach to getting things done.

Gonçalo Leitão

Former Chief Operating Officer, Infovista

At Alteryx, Nicola was pivotal in our turnaround of EMEA—taking us from underperforming to Region of the Year. Working across RevOps and Strategic Programmes, she brought sharp strategic focus, ruthless execution, and data-driven initiatives that accelerated pipeline and commercial effectiveness across both mature and emerging markets. Nicola simply knows how to align people and strategy to drive measurable revenue.

Jason Janicke

SVP EMEA & APJ, Alteryx

Nicola and I worked closely, along with sales leadership at Ivanti to translate commercial priorities into practical enablement programmes that supported pipeline growth and sales execution. She took the initiative in designing and executing quarterly sales plays, strengthening sales leader coaching and introducing more disciplined early-stage opportunity assessment and qualification. Nicola brought energy, accountability and a hands-on approach, challenging established ways of working while building strong relationships across the business. She understood the importance of engaging sales leaders to drive behavioural change and connecting enablement activities directly to commercial outcomes.

Daryle Burt

SVP Americas, Ivanti

INSIGHTS

Insights & Thought Leadership

Recent articles and perspectives on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn article

Sales Enablement: Measuring Behaviour vs Changing Behaviour

Read on LinkedIn
LinkedIn article

AI-Powered Sales Command Centre: From Intelligence to Action

Read on LinkedIn
LinkedIn article

Beyond Prompting: Why Critical Thinking Matters in AI

Read on LinkedIn
LinkedIn article

AI Can Augment Sales Coaching, But Can It Replace Human Judgement?

Read on LinkedIn

Contact

Let's build your revenue engine.

Based in central London. Open to enablement and commercial transformation leadership roles.

nicolaLbain@yahoo.co.uk +44 7894 003 186 LinkedIn