 When building a house, it's absolutely vital that your foundation is rock-solid — but in order to lay a rock-solid foundation, you have to dig deep. It's similar with your sales team. Your Sales Foundations define the core elements of your business. But if you want everyone on your team to have a clear idea of who you are, and what you stand for, you'll have to lead your team in some "digging exercises."
When laying your sales foundations, there are five key questions you need to answer. Or rather, five questions that you and your team need to answer together. Let's talk about them one by one, and see how you can get everyone on the same page. 1. What Problems Do You Solve? This usually isn't a difficult question to answer. But you need to make sure that there's alignment on this point before moving on to the next sales foundation question. Every company is in existence to solve a problem or fill a need. Which customer needs does your company fill? You could start the discussion by asking questions like:
Ask your team members to provide as many answers as they can. Then, compile those answers into a bulleted list. After that, organize the answers under different "umbrella" categories. For example, if you run an SaaS company, you may be able to segment the problems you solve into three areas:
2. What is Your Value Proposition? Every time you solve a problem, or fill a need, you also create value. Your value proposition is a clear statement of the value you can bring to the table when customers do business with you. In fact, as far as your customers are concerned, your value proposition represents the most important part of your company. Ask each member of your Improvement Team what they feel the company's value proposition is. Then, have them define any ambiguous terms that come up along the way. If there's any misalignment on the value proposition, keep digging until a consensus has been reached. Finally, suggest two brief summaries of your value proposition: one that's 25 words long, and another that's 100 words. The 25-word version should encapsulate your value proposition in a way that any salesperson can internalize and repeat to customers. The 100-word version should serve as the basis for just about all of your marketing messages moving forward. 3. What are Your Key Differentiators? It's true that there may be a hundred companies in your industry that basically provide the same product or service that you do. But none of them do it exactly like your company does. So the question is: What makes you unique? And then the million-dollar follow-up question should be: Why would someone buy from you instead of one of your competitors? You may need to start the discussion with your Improvement Team by asking: Why have customers bought from us in the past? Whatever answers you get, make sure that you're especially careful with your terminology here. For instance, one salesperson may consider a product "great" because it's extremely reliable. Whereas another sales rep looks at the same product and calls it "okay" because it's not cutting-edge. 4. What are Your Offerings? Now we're getting into the weeds a bit (but just a bit!) Your offerings are the specific products and services that your company provides to customers. They're the how of your value proposition. By asking this question, you don't want your team members to just list off the different offerings your company has. Instead, you want to connect those offerings to the needs, wants, and interests of your customers. As an example, think of a seafood restaurant. Imagine that the restaurant only offers flounder to its patrons. But most of them want shrimp. Even if it's the finest flounder in town, the restaurant's offerings don't match the preferences of its customers. In the same way, it's important to periodically revisit your offerings to make sure they really align with the needs and wants of your customers. You can use this three-step process to get some clarity and alignment on your offerings:
5. What Experience Can You Promise and Deliver to Customers? As the final "building block" for your Sales Foundations, you need to move beyond the "X's and O's" of concrete problem-solving and enter the realm of human interaction. Your customer experience promise defines the kind of experiences you want to create for your customers. In other words, how you want them to feel before, during, and after an interaction with your brand. Have your team members generate a list of keywords and phrases that they feel would best represent that "ideal experience" for the customer. Once you've compiled that list, whittle it down until you arrive at the top three or four concepts that everyone agrees most closely match your company, and are most integral to the value you deliver. Your Sales Foundations and Foundational Messaging Once you and your Improvement Team answer these five key questions, you'll be able to use them to shape your company's foundational messagin. In other words, the narrative that each sales rep should walk a customer through (in whole or in part) as they consider whether to buy from your brand. A coherent foundational message will sift out prospects from your pipeline who aren't really a good fit. They help your team to win over those leads that will yield the highest value. The bottom line? When your team knows who they are as a company, they'll be able to stay on message, deliver a consistent experience, and ultimately improve their performance. That's the power of rock-solid Sales Foundations. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.  As a sales manager, you want to be a friend to your team members. After all, you're all working towards the same goal. Effective sales leadership involves creating an atmosphere where your reps are comfortable coming to you with their questions and concerns.
On the other hand, you also have a job to do. Sometimes that job may involve having difficult discussions with your sales team, whether the topic is prospecting, closing sales, meeting quotas, or anything else. What can you do to maintain trust with your team when you have to address serious issues? Here are four tips that can help. 1. Put in the "Pre-Work" Trust is developed over time. That's why you should work on developing a measure of trust with each team member before a difficult topic comes up. In most cases, it only takes an extra minute or two to show some personal interest in your reps. If you schedule one-on-one time with your team members on a regular basis, they'll eventually grow comfortable with you. The result is a team that will gradually start sharing their thoughts and concerns with you as a friend, rather than an employee. 2. Distribute an Agenda Ahead of Time In terms of the actual discussion you need to have with your team, it's always a good idea to set expectations early on. With that in mind, think about distributing a meeting agenda well in advance. This will accomplish at least two important things:
3. Use the "Hat Trick" Sometimes feelings can get bruised if there's a perception that you've suddenly "gone cold" toward one of your team members. One way to navigate around this pitfall is to use the "hat trick." Here's how it works: Whenever you need to "get down to business" and tackle a serious issue, always precede your words and actions with a statement like: "I'm wearing my VP of Sales hat right now." That signals to your team that what you're about to say and do has nothing to do with your personal feelings toward them. You're simply doing your job, and addressing an important issue in a straightforward way. We humans have an amazing ability to compartmentalize our life, and our feelings. Using the "hat trick" can help your team to do that smoothly and without pain, even when your discussion is especially difficult. 4. Always Thank and Commend No matter how serious or difficult the subject of your meeting is, you can always find something to thank your team members for, and something to commend them on. Research shows that praise and commendation from managers is a top motivator for performance, even beating out financial incentives. The wonderful thing about giving thanks and commendation to someone else is that it won't cost you a dime. That being said, always start and end your difficult discussions with sincere expressions of gratitude for the work your team does, and appropriate commendation for their efforts. Giving your team a nice "commendation sandwich" (commendation on both ends and constructive feedback in the middle) is one of the best ways to maintain trust with them without pulling your punches. Sales Leadership is About Balance At the end of the day, some discussions are never going to be easy, no matter what. You must balance being a friend and a boss. However, if you put these four tips into action, you'll likely receive a positive response from your sales team. And, you'll help them to keep improving their sales performance, individually and as a group. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve your sales leadership, contact us or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.  Lead generation is critical for small and medium enterprises to enable them to grow their businesses. Increasing leads indicate growth in brand awareness and interest in your products or services. However, choosing a reliable lead generation tool is a challenging task.
Where to Start Your Sales Tech Tool Search The market is awash with various CRM tools that promise the best results, but they are not created equal. Picking a lead generation tool should not be a matter of trial and error. Instead, develop a strategy for lead generation. This means before you start the process of searching for sales tech tools, you must:
It's crucial to work on these factors before embarking on a search for the best tech tools. The next step is to identify the tools you need for each lead generation stage. For example, are you trying to create awareness about your products or services? Do you want to gain valuable data about the visitors to your site? Is your aim to make your leads more engaged with your business? Depending on what you want to achieve, there are various tools you can use at each level. In this guide, we classify them as foundational, research, and outreach tools. Let's delve into each category. Foundational Lead Generation Tools Having a customer relationship management tool is not just an application of technology, but a strategy to understand your customers more deeply. It helps you identify their needs and behaviors, enabling you to create stronger relationships with them. An effective CRM provides the significant benefit of allowing you to develop better relations with new customers, leading to:
Pipedrive One highly rated and effective CRM tool is Pipedrive. It comes with advanced features to help small businesses achieve efficient reporting. In addition to being a customer relationship management tool, it also works as an account-management tool. It can assist your business with the entire process of marketing and sales. Its ability to visualize the sales process from start to finish is one attractive feature that every small business should leverage in lead generation. The tool has a straightforward user interface that is simple to pick up compared to the time and expense other software require for onboarding. Its pricing model comes in three tiers, each with different provisions. Other CRMs we think are comparable include:
Research Tools in Lead Generation Market research is vital as it helps you enact improvements in your lead generation activities. It provides you with the information you need before implementing any business decision. However, acquiring the figures and facts you need is a different story altogether. This is where marketing tools come in to do all the work of collecting raw market data. They help you determine who is visiting your website and how long they stay on certain pages. This data helps you identify the information that appeals to them the most. Some recommendable market research tools in lead generation include: Sales Navigator This tool from LinkedIn is effective for lead generation. It features Google-like search for leads relevant to your business. It makes your lead generation work easier through the Lead Builder feature. Here, you can enter the criteria for your leads, like job titles and location. The title will create a list of all potential prospects, which you can save for later use. By integrating the tool with Salesforce, all the data will easily flow into your CRM for seamless access. You may also use specific keywords to find leads that are not obvious but who might be interested in your products. This information is valuable for creating personalized pitches for your prospects. LeadFeeder LeadFeeder is a B2B website tracking software that shows you the companies that are visiting your site. You'll also learn how they found you, including the search terms they used to get to your website and the pages they liked. It is a lead generation tool that also provides account-based marketing and sales intelligence capabilities rolled into one. The best part is that you can easily integrate it with other tools like:
Outreach Tools Outreach is one tricky part of lead generation, but you can achieve your business goals with ease when using the right tool. Most tools are designed for email outreach campaigns, but others can help with social media outreach. Here are a couple of examples. SalesLoft SalesLoft is a platform that creates an engine for your sales team to navigate the sales process and communicate with customers for ongoing success. The tool guides and automates the sales process by providing the insights your business needs for exceptional outcomes. SalesLoft is not a CRM or marketing tool, but is specifically designed for sales engagement. Use it to orchestrate mail, schedule meetings and calls with potential clients, and interact with them from anywhere. With this tool, you can automatically track and log your tasks and engagement data to your CRM. This way, the sales team can focus on selling, operation teams can focus on strategy, and managers can focus on coaching. Sumo This tool comes with a whole range of useful social media and traffic tools to help you improve your marketing strategy. One of the outstanding features is the social share function that allows visitors to your site to share your content to social media. The tool also keeps track of the number of shares. Final Thoughts on Lead Generation Having the right tech stack for lead generation can help your small business grow in leaps and bounds. Foundational, research, and outreach tools help you reach your prospective customers depending on where they are in their buyer journey. However, don't expect tech tools to fix all the deficiencies on your sales team. While they can greatly increase your efficiency, real sales success starts much deeper within an organization. Read one of our recent sales tip posts entitled: "Don't Believe in a Miracle Cure" to learn more about how to bring real change to your sales organization. If you'd like more insights on how you can improve the lead generation process, contact us or sign up for our newsletter for more valuable resources.  It's no secret that an organization has to enjoy alignment across all of its departments to really grow (or at least grow in a sustainable way). The problem is, it's common for departments, teams, sales managers, and even individual team members to be misaligned with one another.
In other words, they may have very different ideas about the value the company provides, the selling points that help to convert leads, and the typical journey that the ideal customer takes. Misalignment can be a major problem for any business. Think about it: If one of your reps is selling based on price, and another one is selling based on customer experience, then where does that leave brand consistency? How can you focus on the prospects with the highest potential value if your reps aren't even sure who they are? The point is, sales management involves working out any misalignment issues within your organization as soon as possible. It may not lead to immediate, explosive growth. But it will stabilize your processes and revenue stream. That is the foundation you need for your company to really take off. This is where the revenue equation comes into the picture. What is the Revenue Equation? If we were to express the revenue equation as a mathematical formula, it would look like this: Sales Foundations + Sales Design + Sales Infrastructure = Revenue Stabilization and Growth When those three key elements on the left side of the equation are completely aligned across the entire organization, the inevitable result is stabilization, and ultimately growth. The question for sales managers is: Do you understand the revenue equation for your company? And if you do, how about the rest of your team? We've talked about these three elements in this recent blog post, but let's just remind ourselves what each component involves:
For sales managers, defining these three elements is the easy part. The trick is, making sure everyone on your sales team (and within your organization) is on the same page when it comes to these "pieces of the puzzle." If each sales rep has a different idea about what your company is all about, then many of them are selling for an imaginary company — the one that exists in their mind, not in reality. Understanding the Revenue Equation is Vital to Sales Management In practical terms, the main issue is how to get everyone on the same page. If you're the Change Agent, then you'll need to lay the groundwork for the Improvement Team to achieve that desired alignment. That means you'll have to dig in and ask some probing questions. Throughout this entire process, you'll also need to be guided by the three key qualities of the Change Agent: Hold the Vision Remember, the ultimate objective of your meetings with the Improvement Team is to work out any alignment issues. This is critical to stabilize and grow revenue. You can't forget that — and you can't let your team forget it, either. Think of it like a family road trip. You need to figure out where you're going (not just the main destination, but any "sub-destinations" along the way). How will you get there? What's expected of each family member? In the same way, with each meeting you need to be upfront and intentional about the main goal (your destination), as well as any "stepping-stone goals" along the way. Of course, sales managers also need to be clear about how you're going to get there, and what's expected of each team member. Consistently Cultivate Trust Depending on the dynamics of your company, you may need to do some pre-work before your team members start opening up to you. Create opportunities for them to express their true thoughts and opinions. This may mean multiple introductory meetings at the start, several one-on-one sessions, and even meetings without the team's direct supervisor (just to give the participants some space, and with the supervisor's approval). Here's another thing to keep in mind: Sometimes team members, in the middle of a meeting, will experience what we'll call a "tangential epiphany" — a really great insight that has nothing to do with the topic at hand. It's important to handle those occasions with care. You don't want to derail the meeting. But you also want to demonstrate your respect for the team member's contribution. The best way for sales managers to deal with that situation is to put the participant's idea "in the parking lot." Set aside time to loop back around to it at the end of the meeting. Alternatively, you could have a quick one-on-one with the team member afterwards to flesh out his or her idea. That's a great way to build trust, and gain more insight into your company's Revenue Equation at the same time. (In fact, sometimes those "tangential epiphanies" are the most valuable insights that come out of a meeting!) Seek to Understand Once sales managers have established a baseline level of trust, and everyone in the meeting knows why they're there, you can really dig into the details of your company's alignment issues. You can easily identify which areas need attention by simply having each participant rank, on a scale of 1 to 10, each of the following components is within your organization. The ranking should be done based on how well-defined each component is in the mind of each sales team member. 1. Sales Foundations
2. Sales Design
3. Sales Infrastructure
After you get those preliminary scores, you can explore the discrepancies and areas of confusion you find on a deeper level. Effort Pays Off It takes some effort, and it definitely takes some commitment, to work through this process. But the light at the end of the tunnel is a deeper understanding of where misalignment exists, and the beginnings of a game plan to fix those issues. If you and your team really understand the organization's Revenue Equation, you'll be able to work together to refine it, stabilize it, and eventually use it to improve your sales performance. Gain more insights and effective sales leadership techniques for your SMB by signing up for our newsletter. Contact us directly, or explore our website for other valuable resources and webinars.  If your sales team is having alignment issues, one of the first places you need to look is at your sales foundations. You can't build a long-lasting house without a solid foundation. The same is true of sales success. You can't generate sustainable growth without first identifying and solidifying your company's sales foundations.
What are Sales Foundations? Sales Foundations revolve around core elements of your business. What is your company all about? What does it have to offer? How is it different from the competition? For instance, your sales foundations will typically include:
Of course, you don't want to arbitrarily define your sales foundations without any feedback from your key stakeholders. At the same time, you don't want each of your sales reps to guess at what those foundations are, either. Instead, you want everyone to agree on what those foundations actually are, and really buy into them as the starting point for growth. How Sales Success is Optimized At this point, you may be wondering: "Why would I really need to define my company's sales foundations? As long as our reps are doing their jobs, does it really matter whether they're onboard or not?" There's no denying that your team can earn some wins, big and small, without having clearly defined foundations for your sales process. The problem is, without those sales foundations in place, you'll never be able to make those wins systematic. Sales success will be left to chance. For instance, take a sales rep who closes a huge deal with one of your accounts. You're elated! You want to use the rep's experience as training for the rest of your team. But then you realize: You don't really know why the rep was successful. In fact, the rep can't figure it out, either! Here are just a few of the questions that might come up:
You see, things can get real confusing, real fast when you don't have firmly established sales foundations to lean on. Without defining what made sales success possible, it's difficult to repeat that success. On the other hand, when you do have those sales foundations in place, then you'll know exactly why your reps are successful - or at least which areas they can improve in. Your well-defined foundations enable you to build a clear framework for your sales process, and make major wins repeatable, instead of one-off occurrences. Create a Cohesive Identity Bottom line? When you define your sales foundations, you give your team a cohesive identity that they can tap into for each customer interaction. And when you know exactly who you are and what you have to offer, it's much easier to win over the customers that you want for your business. Gain more insights and effective sales leadership techniques for your SMB by signing up for our newsletter. Contact us directly, or explore our website for other valuable resources and webinars.  Successful sales reps work across diverse industries, pursue different performance metrics, and have various selling styles. However, there are certain things they all share. One common denominator is training. Continuous, relevant education that keeps them at the top of their game, and up-to-date on the latest trends in their market is critical to success.
Of course, as a sales manager you want to give your team the tools for success — which often includes a guided training or "up-skilling" program. But what if you could turn your sales reps into their own teachers? What if each individual sales rep could regularly tap into the collective knowledge of the entire team? When your reps are oriented toward collaboration and continual self-improvement, then your entire team's performance will enjoy a significant boost. How to Make It Happen It may not take a huge amount of investment to transform your reps into self-educating superstars. Once you establish a consistent framework in which your team members can learn from one another, they'll be able to "fill in the blanks." Here's one idea: Develop a worksheet that your sales team has to complete on a quarterly basis. Empower them to proactively manage it — you don't want to be standing over their shoulder, urging them to fill it out. Assign a different rep to take the lead each quarter. Any insights gleaned from this exercise can be distilled into actionable lessons. Then, they can be distributed throughout the team (either in one-on-one feedback sessions, during team meetings, or both). Sample Sales Success Worksheet The worksheet you develop may include questions such as these:
Of course, you may need to curate the feedback gathered from this exercise in order to make it as beneficial to the team as possible. Still, the objective is to promote critical thinking and collaboration. You want your reps to think about what is and what is not working — and to feel comfortable enough to share their insights with you, and with one another. Why Is This Important? It's been said that "no man is an island." The same could be said of sales reps. Not only does an individual's performance affect the bottom line of the entire team (and the company). But the team as a whole, when managed properly, can contribute to improvement for each individual. Take this scenario as an example: A sales rep at Company X discovers that he can convert 10 percent more leads into customers by focusing on product quality rather than pricing. As his manager, you definitely wouldn't want him to keep that knowledge to himself. Instead, you would want your other sales reps to follow suit, and (hopefully) improve their performance as well. With a consistent process in place to share ideas and insights (i.e., to transform your reps into their own teachers), it would be that much easier to disseminate the knowledge of a single sales rep throughout your team — and your entire department. Avoid the "Silo Mentality" Many sales organizations are victims of the "silo mentality" — departments are in fierce competition with one another, and sales reps are more concerned about individual accolades than team success. You want to avoid that mindset at all costs. By empowering your reps to teach themselves and each other, you'll almost certainly see a higher ROI from your efforts. And what more could you ask for? Gain more insights and effective sales leadership techniques for your SMB by signing up for our newsletter. Contact us directly, or explore our website for other valuable resources and webinars.  One of the biggest roadblocks to improving your organization's sales performance is when the decision makers are not in alignment. Think of it like a road trip. If everyone in your family is on the same page about your destination (say, Denver to LA), then it's okay to have a little "back and forth." Which route should we take take? Which attractions do we want to see along the way? But if half of your family wants to go to LA and the other half to Seattle, then you really only have three options:
In the same way, if the decision makers at your company have completely different "destinations" in mind for the business (i.e. different goals, visions, or missions), then one side will have to come around to the other side's way of thinking. Otherwise, your company will stagnate or (gulp) split apart. The bottom line? Your decision makers absolutely must be aligned if positive change is to be affected. What it Looks Like When Decision Makers Aren't Aligned Misalignment among decision makers can manifest with several symptoms. Here are just a few of the trouble signs to look for.
Obviously, this is not a comprehensive list. But it paints a picture of what misalignment can look like. When decision makers are not aligned, the change process can become slow and frustrating. It gets bogged down in arguments, or even evolves into a power struggle. How to Get Your Decision Makers on the Same Page Clearly, you have to get your decision makers on the same page before bringing other team members into the change process. Let's talk about three ways to encourage unity of purpose and action within your company. 1. Create a Consensus If decision makers have different ideas about which direction the business should take, your first step towards alignment should be to develop consensus among the leadership team. Here's one important exercise that can help. Have all of your company's leaders sit down and write their individual answers to the following questions.
The point of this exercise isn't to quiz your decision makers. There is more than one correct answer for each question. In fact, everyone may give different answers — and that's okay! Your goal here is to create a common starting point. Once each decision maker understands where the others are coming from, you can generate a discussion about how to synthesize all those answers into a workable strategy that everyone can agree on. 2. Develop Clear Boundaries for Leadership Misalignment often occurs when there is confusion about who exactly should give the "final word" on implementing changes within the organization. Take two common examples:
If there's a lack of clarity on who makes final decisions for the company, then any proposed changes can easily fall to the wayside. That's why it's so important for the change agent to clearly define who is in charge, and then hold them accountable for their authority. When clear boundaries are set, progress can be made. 3. Balance Flexibility with Decisiveness Good leaders are flexible and responsive to suggestions — no doubt about it. However, that strength can easily become a weakness in the form of indecisiveness. For instance, a leader who's willing to share some of his power with others may hesitate to "pull the trigger" on a proposed plan of action without approval from all of his subordinates. While flexibility is good, decisiveness is also essential. The person who makes the final decision on any initiative for change must be the same person who keeps his/her leadership team focused on the ultimate objective - and also supports the change agent's efforts to do so. With a strong, decisive leader at the head of the improvement effort, needed changes can be made in a timely manner. Decision makers who place an emphasis on collaboration can bring a lot of value to the company — especially if they know when it's time to listen, and when it's time to act. Define the "Where" and the "How" and "When" Will Follow If you implement these three suggestions, you'll likely be able to get all of your decision makers on the same page. Once everyone has that same destination in mind (the where of your company), it becomes much easier to negotiate the how and when of getting there. Gain more insights and effective sales leadership techniques for your SMB by signing up for our newsletter. Contact us directly, or explore our website for other valuable resources and webinars.  Are you a sales leader who sees that your organization needs to undergo a deep-seated, positive change? If the answer is yes, then you need to make an important determination: Are you the right person to implement that change, or should you play a supporting role? In other words, are you the change agent or the champion?
Change Agent Vs. Champion In a previous blog, we talked about the main goal of a change agent — to affect powerful, lasting change within an organization. Change agents are more like guides than they are supervisors. Their job is to approach underlying issues and bottlenecks in the sales process with an open mind, like an investigative reporter approaches a "developing story. They must ask probing questions, listen to understand, and get buy-in from the entire team. Their sales leadership role is essential to making the organization's vision a reality. Change agents have a lot on their plate, right? However, a change agent's effectiveness is limited without the support of a champion. The champion is the sales leader who discerns the problem, and has the authority to assign a change agent. He then supports the change agent as he/she gets to work. The role of the champion is supportive in nature, but absolutely essential if you want the best outcome for your company. Which Sales Leadership Role is Yours? This is a key question to answer early on. After all, you don't want to spend the next several months in "shoes that don't fit!" Here are a few indications that you can take on the role of change agent.
If you can check all of these boxes, then you may be able to take on the role of the change agent. On the other hand, you might have a full plate already. Maybe the thought of carving out 10 extra hours a week seems like an insurmountable obstacle. Or perhaps you don't naturally have the personality or skill set that's required for an effective change agent. There's no shame in knowing your limits. If you conclude that it wouldn't be realistic for you to take on the duties of a change agent, then you can start the search for someone else to handle that responsibility. What Resources Will the Champion Provide to the Change Agent? If you are going to play the role of the champion, then there are two important resources you must provide the change agent (once you appoint him/her). 1. Ample Time to Work They say that "Rome wasn't built in one day." The same principle is true of organizational change. Your change agent is going to need enough time, over the course of several months, to identify areas of opportunity, explore options for change, and then implement those findings. A change agent's average time commitment is usually 10 hours per week. This includes meeting with the organization's Improvement Team on a regular basis. They also need time alone to process the results of those meetings and come up with potential solutions for your sales team. 2. A Reasonable Level of Authority A change agent also needs, well, a certain level of agency in order to handle their sales leadership role effectively. This will include the authority to call meetings, to pull your sales reps into those meetings, and to maintain confidential communication with team members. A change agent also needs the authority to assign employees individual (and even group) work to do. In fact, if you're going to be a truly supportive champion, you should even empower your change agent to hold you accountable for any work they need from you. How to Identify the Right Change Agent Any potential change agent you identify will need to possess 3 key qualities.
The question is, where you should look for that change agent? The natural fit may seem to be someone who's already in a sales leadership position in your company, either in sales or marketing. The obvious advantage of going that route is the person's pre-existing familiarity with your sales process, and any problem areas. Of course, that familiarity may be a double-edged sword. Perhaps your sales and marketing managers are too close to the problem. Or, there may be some internal friction that will hamper their effectiveness as change agents. If that's the case, then you can broaden the scope of your search to include leadership from different departments. For instance, maybe your VP of finance has the right skill set (and distance) to lead the conversation around positive change. (And if they need some help in that role, you can always assign an assistant to lend a hand.) Then again, what if every potential change agent in your organization is slammed with work, lacks the required skill set, or doesn't have the distance to successfully navigate volatile team dynamics? If that's the situation you're facing, then it may be best to bring someone in from the outside. As the champion, you'll have to make sure that this external change agent has the resources they need for success. At the same time, you may need to set up certain safeguards in order to trust them with private information. Effective Sales Leadership Results in Greater Performance Whichever route you decide to take, remember that regular, two-way communication between you and the change agent is vital. If you both are closely aligned towards your common sales goals, then you'll be able to make a lasting change within your organization. The result of an effective sales leadership strategy will be improved, sustainable sales performance. Gain more insights and effective sales leadership techniques for your SMB. Sign up for our newsletter. Contact us directly, or explore our website for other valuable resources and webinars.  Things are changing fast in the world of sales. One of the most significant changes brought about by the pandemic is the transition from in-person visits to virtual client sales meetings. Whether you handle your sales calls by phone or video conference, connecting with your customer in the same way that you did with in-person meetings is vital.
It is possible to build that same sense of excitement and personalized care in a virtual client sales meeting. Using new methods and simple techniques, you can create the same productive atmosphere. In fact, it's often the simple things that make the biggest difference. Try these practical tips to maintain a personal connection during virtual client sales meetings. 1. Prepare Yourself You wouldn't attend an in-person sales meeting without reviewing the customer's account and customizing your product/service offerings just for them. Maintain the same level of preparation for virtual client sales meetings. That includes reviewing personal notes. What do you know about their family, business history or any other general personal interest topics? Preparation also includes your tech tools. Don't assume your client knows how to use these tools. Not everyone has experience with Zoom or other forms of software. You would not want to make your customer feel inadequate. Give them the option of phone or video conference. Here's a list of top tech challenges I've noticed when scheduling virtual meetings. Review these, and be proactive about giving your clients a heads-up about potential challenges. The bottom line is, take the same amount of care in preparing for a virtual meeting as you would an in-person one. 2. Prepare Your Team If you're a sales manager, it's up to you to set your team up for success. Ensure they have the right tools to engage with clients online or over the phone. Do your reps have effective apps, laptops, tablets, Bluetooth devices, and most importantly, a solid internet connection? Do they have a tech resource if they need support for any of these tools? Don't forget the training! Some of your team members might not have used a video conferencing app before. Show them how powerful these tools can be. Provide training regarding both the technical aspects and basic etiquette. Also, remember that tools are not always tangible things. Tools also include support, such as role-playing sessions with managers or other team members, or brainstorming meetings to discuss specific techniques for unique clients. 3. Limit Distractions Yes, you have seen the viral videos of the cat interrupting an online meeting or someone's kid running through a screenshot. They make for funny YouTube clips, but you don't want those types of distractions when you're trying to duplicate the professional feel of an in-person meeting. Before your virtual client sales meeting begins, devise a way to block your meeting area from pets and ensure your kids understand the importance of not interrupting your meeting. It's essential that you focus on your meeting and minimize any possible distractions ahead of time. Turn off your mobile devices and other digital notifications to ensure your client feels like they have your undivided attention. 4. Break the Ice In the past, there was always a time at the beginning of the meeting when you broke the ice — a few minutes of casual conversation to get to know each other better and establish trust. Don't bypass this step just because the sales meeting is virtual. When you learn more about your customer's personal life, you can determine how it's affecting their business one. Ask about their family. Where are they from? How did they get into this business? Balance nosey with showing personal interest. 5. Be Aware of Your Background When you're having a virtual client sales meeting from your home, you may be showing your audience more than you want to. Before any online meetings, determine how much of your home and space the client can see. Clean and organize the space to give it a professional look. You don't want your client distracted by a stack of dirty dishes or a trophy from third grade. Consider choosing a room with a plain wall and placing your computer in front of it. Access More Resources Engaging your clients during virtual meetings is just one challenge to our new work dynamic. Keeping your sales team engaged while they work remotely is another hurdle. I just addressed that topic in this recent blog. Gain more insights on how to improve sales performance for your SMB, sign up for our newsletter. Contact us directly, or explore our website for other valuable resources and webinars.  In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic played a key role in workers leaving the office and working from home. According to Forbes, 74 percent of employers believe that working remotely is the future. Even more shocking, 97 percent of employees have no desire to return to the office full-time.
However, working remotely can be a challenge for sales teams, groups designed to thrive on each other's momentum. "Iron sharpens iron" is a proverb that definitely applies to sales reps. How can sales managers ensure their team will thrive in this new work environment? It's essential that you set your team up for success. Here are five ways to keep them connected, productive, and competitive while working remotely. 1. Nurture Your Team's Competitive Nature It is harder to foster a sense of competition in your sales team when each member is at home alone. However, salespeople are competitive by nature and need that dose of healthy competition to stay motivated. Get creative and find new ways to maintain momentum and recognize each person's successes. Single-out top performers in a team email, group chat, or during a weekly video conference. Consider celebrating each sale. This type of nurturing will make each of your team members strive harder to receive their own recognition. Read more about why ringing the figurative bell is critical to motivating your team and tips on how to do it effectively in this recent blog. 2. Provide the Right Tools for Working Remotely It's up to you to set your team up for success, and that means the right tools to get the job done. From laptops and tablets to apps and security programs, your team needs access to tools to continue selling from home. Not all the tools you offer your employees are tangible items, though. "Tools" also include access to coaching, managerial support, brainstorming sessions with other reps, and interaction through video chat. Create an open-door policy. Ensure your team feels comfortable coming to you when they need something to be more effective at their jobs, whether it's a tangible item or a listening ear. 3. Continue Training and Learning New Skills Training is a big motivator to go out and try new things in your sales routine. When your team works remotely, it's easier to let training slip off the schedule. It's essential that you continue training your staff and introducing new methods of making sales. Schedule training on a weekly or monthly basis during an online meeting. If you've had a member of your team experience success with a new technique, consider asking them to lead a training class on it. This builds goodwill and helps your team learn new selling methods. Many well-known sales training courses have shifted to a virtual environment. Offering formal training demonstrates an investment in your team. Identify training that your team would benefit the most from. 4. Define Your Expectations and Goals When you're in an office setting, it's easy to create a visual system that shows the team's goals and their current progress. Keep this trend going in the virtual environment. Define goals and how the team performed during the previous period at sales meetings. Many managers prefer to schedule a quick meeting early each week to build momentum and encourage the team to get tasks accomplished and sales closed. 5. Create a Water Cooler When you have a sales team that works in an office together, they have time to bond and learn to trust each other. They do this through basic socialization. The team discusses sports, family, hobbies, and other topics. In the past, you see this kind of talk going on around the water cooler, in the break room, or just in the hallway. Create a space for your team of remote workers to have this type of social interaction. There are a variety of apps that you can use to accomplish this. Slack, one of the most popular platforms, reports 12 million daily active users and 156,000 subscriber organizations. You could also hold a team lunch once a month. If in-person is not possible, meet online and share a meal. Help Your Team Flourish Keeping your remote sales team engaged is essential to its success. With a little planning and encouragement, your team will flourish. If you'd like more insights on how to improve sales performance for your SMB, sign up for our newsletter. Contact us directly, or explore our website for other valuable resources and webinars.  There's a quote from one writer that goes like this: "Don't chase success. Decide to make a difference and success will find you." Even though that concept could be applied to many aspects of life, let's look at it from the viewpoint of sales success in your organization.
It's true that everyone in the sales industry wants that "big win," that easy fix to their performance issues that makes everything fall neatly into place. There's nothing wrong with that feeling. It's only natural. Here's the thing, though. Chasing that big win is usually counterproductive. In real life, it almost always takes a series of small, deliberate actions to get to a place where your business is humming along. It takes cooperation and collaboration. It takes hard work and perseverance. It takes intentionality and planning. Here's another saying (or part of a saying) that makes the point well: Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny. What Sales Success Stories Have in Common The point is, business growth is the result of small, intentional actions and good habits. These form the foundation of your brand's values and reputation. And ultimately, they decide your organization's destiny. Sales success stories may be flashy, or dramatic, or even heartwarming. But if you dig a little deeper, you'll almost always find that all success stories have a few things in common: namely, 3 solid frameworks that enable a sales organization to perform at a high level. Let's talk about each one of these frameworks, and why they are so crucial to improved sales performance. Framework #1: The Revenue Equation The Revenue Equation framework is actually a combination of three critical factors that form the basis of your entire sales process. These three factors are:
When each of these factors are streamlined and optimized, the result will be revenue stabilization and growth. The question is, what do these elements involve, and how do they work together? Sales Foundations (Who Are You?) Your sales foundations are the values and characteristics that make your brand unique. Sales foundations include your company's reputation, your pricing strategy, and your unique selling proposition (USP). Think of Apple, Inc. as an example. They have a reputation as a leader in technological innovation. Their price points reflect their position as a premier brand, and one of their USPs is their commitment to personal privacy and security. As the name implies, your sales foundations form the basis of everything else you do within the sales process. That's why you absolutely must understand who you are as a company, and then play to those strengths. Sales Design (Who Do You Sell To?) Once your sales foundations have been firmly established, you need to understand who your target customers are. After all, you don't want to be "punching air" by targeting consumers that aren't likely to purchase from your business. This is where buyer personas come into the picture. Your marketing team (preferably with input from sales) needs to come up with a profile of your ideal customer — or even multiple profiles, depending on how specific your targeting is. With that buyer persona in hand, your sales reps will be in a better position to understand the thoughts, concerns, and desires of their leads, nurture them effectively, and eventually convert them into paying customers. Sales Infrastructure (How Will You Sell It?) Once you have a firm grasp on who you are, and who your ideal customer is, it's time to build your sales infrastructure. In other words, the processes that can bridge the gap between you and your consumers. Your infrastructure includes the systems and software programs you use to manage customer relationships, your clearly defined sales funnel, as well as your KPIs, metrics and quotas. When these three elements — sales foundations, sales design, and sales infrastructure — are all working properly, and are clearly aligned with one another, then your first framework (The Revenue Equation) is firmly in place. Framework #2: The Individual Performance Planner Your Revenue Equation is in place. Everyone on your team has collaborated to make it a reality. Now, you have to start shifting your focus from the big picture to the details. These details are comprehensive, from the Revenue Equation to the individual performance of your sales reps. This is where collaboration and open communication become even more critical. Within this framework, your first order of business is to discuss with each sales rep what his or her strengths and growth opportunities are. What short-term and long-term goals will the rep set inside (and possibly outside) of work? The outcome of these discussions will be condensed and solidified into their own Individual Performance Planner. Intentionality is key in this framework. You have to demonstrate how serious you are when it comes to supporting your team members, and helping them achieve their goals. At the same time, your reps have to buy into this process, and commit to being the best salespeople they can be. This give and take is the only way to achieve maximum value from the important (but still theoretical) Revenue Equation. Framework #3: The Revenue Planner This final framework is where you'll see the fruits of your labor. You have your Revenue Equation in place, and your team members onboard. Now you have the insights and the freedom to identify key growth opportunities within the sales process. Next, you'll develop a plan of action for each one. Over the first three months of the process, this will involve taking various actions. Consider adjusting discounts to featured products, doubling down on relationships with established customers, or refining your price points. Really, the sky's the limit. After achieving some quick wins, you'll want to stabilize your revenue in the following three months. Aim for continuous revenue growth in the months (and years) to follow. While the Revenue Planning stage is unique to each business, the framework it provides is useful across the board. Create Your Own Success Story Look deeply at sales success stories. Odds are you'll discern these three frameworks at work, in one way or another. Build your sales process around these frameworks. Then, your company will also enjoy quick wins and sustainable growth. If you'd like more insights on how to improve sales performance for your SMB, sign up for our newsletter. Contact us directly, or explore our website for other valuable resources and webinars.  Meetings are just a part of life for most sales managers. They have periodic meetings with senior management. They may occasionally meet with high-value clients. And, of course they hold regular sales meetings with their team.
Anything we do repeatedly eventually becomes a routine, and any routine can deteriorate into a rut. If you're a sales manager who's holding weekly (or perhaps daily) sales meetings, then the last thing you want to do is have those interactions with your team become part of a rut — e.g., time wasters or, even worse, finger-pointing disputes. With that in mind, here are three keys that will help you keep your sales meetings productive, uplifting, and motivating. Key #1: Understand Your Team as Individuals In order to have a productive sales meeting with your team as a whole, it's important to be mindful that each team member is unique. Personality, emotional makeup, communication style, goals, desires, concerns - all these factors differ from person to person. You must understand where each team member is coming from in order to communicate with them effectively. Think of this as "laying the foundation" for a great sales meeting. Schedule some one-on-one time with each team member throughout the week. Observe how they react to constructive feedback, and any stressful sales calls that may come their way. Note their strengths and growth opportunities. By building a "mental profile" of each team member ahead of time, you'll be able to generally predict how they'll behave in a meeting. Most importantly, you'll glean ways to help them grow as a sales rep within a group setting. Key #2: Set Clear Expectations At the beginning of each sales meeting, it's best to leave nothing to the imagination. Make the format, flow, and purpose of the meeting crystal clear to your team members. For example, everyone should know:
That last point is important. You don't want your meeting to turn into an interrogation session for underperforming sales reps. It's often best to give each sales rep some uninterrupted time to express his or her thoughts. This will enable your team members to be themselves without fear of censure. Which leads into our third key... Key #3: Establish a Judgment-Free Zone Last but not least, you want to make sure that all of your team members view the meeting as a "judgment-free zone." The purpose of a sales meeting should be to exchange ideas and information — never to lecture or criticize team members over performance. In fact, welcome the uncensored input of each team member. Their insights will help you to continually improve your sales process day after day. At times, keeping the meeting "judgment-free" may require that you bite your tongue. Even underperforming reps that legitimately need some constructive feedback should be made to feel respected during these meetings (and during future one-on-one sessions). The old saying "once bitten, twice shy" definitely applies in this case: You don't want to do anything that will scare your reps away from giving their honest, unfiltered opinions in a group setting. Use Sales Meetings to Boost Productivity There are challenges when it comes to preparing, coordinating, and leading sales meetings. However, if you implement the three keys discussed above, your team will enjoy productive, and even refreshing meetings. Use your sales meetings to motivate the team to try new things. Energize them to "get back to the trenches." Ultimately, your entire team's performance will improve, and your business will grow as a result. If you'd like more insights on how to improve sales meetings and sales performance in general for your SMB, sign up for our newsletter. Contact us directly, or explore our website for other valuable resources and webinars.  The sales industry often revolves around meeting metrics, making quotas, boosting the bottom line, and finding the latest top sales tip. It's a "production mindset" that has been ingrained within many salespeople for years and years. So it only makes sense that when an organization's sales process isn't working properly, management's instinctive reaction is, more often than not, to look for a quick fix — e.g., the proverbial "miracle cure."
If only it were that simple. The Myth of the Miracle Cure The reality is, very rarely can all of a company's growth-related problems be traced back to a single cause. Businesses have many moving parts. They are made up of many individual actors. Because of that complexity, the notion that "all of our problems can be fixed if we address this one issue" is typically exposed as faulty reasoning (sooner or later). Let's talk about a common scenario. Many organizations blame their sales problems on a lack of quality leads. That seems reasonable, right? If there aren't enough good leads coming in, then how can you expect to grow a business? As a result, these companies may try out new CRM systems, add extra incentives for reps that make their quotas, or look for that magic sales tip from an outside consultant. All of those actions are good. They will likely provide some benefits. But... what if the problem isn't really the number of leads? Why It Doesn't Work Imagine that Company X does what it takes to bring in more leads for their sales reps. To them, that's the "miracle cure" that will solve of all their problems. However, after several months their revenues haven't really increased. Why isn't the quick fix working? It could be any number of reasons. For instance:
What's the point of all this? Simply put, don't look for a quick fix. It's better to take a step back and probe for deep-seated issues that need to be addressed in order to move forward. Oversimplification = Underperformance It can be tempting to boil down all of a business' sales issues to one cause. After all, popular culture teaches us that if people can just fix that one, fatal flaw (Achilles' heel, Darth Vader's anger, Hamlet's indecision), then everything will be smooth sailing. The truth, of course, is usually far more complicated. The myth of the miracle cure has its roots in oversimplification. But let's not kid ourselves: It takes a lot more time and effort to address underlying performance issues than throwing money at a "quick fix" solution and hoping that things work out. Here's the key takeaway. Don't oversimplify your sales problems. Be willing to put in the work of analysis and research. Take time to figure out all the factors that could be contributing to your team's underperformance. Don't be quick to point the finger at any one thing, person, or department. Seek an outside perspective, if you need it. If you avoid the trap of the "miracle cure," then you'll be in a much better position to identify and address performance issues — and your business will benefit as a result. Get Actionable Sales Tips If you'd like more insights and sales tips on how to improve sales performance for your SMB, be sure to sign up for our newsletter, contact us directly, or explore our website for valuable resources and webinars.  As the sales leader of your company, you want to train, support, and nurture your reps to the best of your ability. Sales leadership is about implementing repeatable, effective sales processes to grow revenue. How can you make those goals a reality? What actions and mindsets should you proactively avoid?
In this article, let's specifically tackle that second question. We'll talk about three sales leadership pitfalls that you need to navigate around in order to really improve your team's performance. If you're staying far away from these situations, then give yourself a well-earned pat on the back. If you can relate to one (or more) of these scenarios, don't despair! After all, identifying the problem is the first step towards fixing it. Pitfall #1: The Spaghetti Thrower Have you ever thrown spaghetti noodles against the refrigerator? It's an old trick that lets you know when the noodles are cooked all the way through. If they're not done, they don't stick. If they are, they do. Some sales leaders are like spaghetti throwers. They keep trying out new solutions, and hope that, eventually, something will stick. They may cycle through one "growth activity" after another - mission statement writing, sales training and up-skilling, marketing collaboration sessions, team-building...you name it. The problem is, none of those solutions ever really "stick." None of them make a lasting impact in terms of performance or revenue. Here's the million-dollar question: Is the "spaghetti thrower syndrome" a solution issue, or a sales leadership issue? The reality of the sales industry is that there's no "secret sauce" to make the spaghetti stick to the fridge. Results don't magically appear overnight. A sales leader's impatience will cause his or her team to constantly change course, without any set destination in mind. Then, everyone in the company is going to think something major is broken — even if it isn't. The takeaway? Don't expect big wins immediately. Give any proposed solution some "breathing room" before moving on to the next big thing. Your team will certainly appreciate the increased stability — and will be more willing to make those changes that are actually needed. Pitfall #2: The Cinderella Story This is a scenario that may or may not be avoidable, depending on your company's particular circumstances. The basic premise is this. Your business (Cinderella) needs to grow sales ASAP. Otherwise, you'll lose your investors, partners, and maybe the company itself (translation: your carriage will turn into a pumpkin). A lot of startups find themselves in this time squeeze between rounds of investor funding. It's a great problem to have — if your sales team operates like a well-oiled machine, and you're closing sales left and right. If not, then you may feel like hitting the panic button. When faced with a "do-or-die" scenario like this, many leaders will go into desperation mode, and resort to sales tactics that aren't good for the brand, and don't really work. What's the solution to this problem? Basically, you need to take the time to analyze what your sales team is already doing that works. Then, optimize your process from there. Don't risk everything on a big, untested idea that could blow up in your face. Use what you have. Call in backup. When time is of the essence, make sure that you're not wasting any of your efforts. The takeaway? Don't panic when your sales team is under the gun. Optimize the parts of your process that are working; and get help for the parts that need improvement. Don't gamble on an unproven sales tactic. Build on the foundation you've already laid. Pitfall #3: The Runaway Train This is perhaps one of the more common sales leadership pitfalls that companies fall into. The sales team is bringing in revenue (i.e., the train is moving). But there's no unifying strategy to maximize the revenue stream (the train is a runaway). As a result, the company is overly reliant on "barn burner" sales once or twice a year, and leaves a lot of potential profit on the table. Oftentimes, the lure of a quick win is what makes this pitfall seem like an opportunity. For instance, think about a business that discounts its products to 50 percent off during an end-of-the-year sale. Sure, the sales team will be able to drive revenue hard over the course of that promotion — but at what cost? What about the leads that would have bought the product at full price the month before, but decide to wait for the sale instead? Or the customers that just bought the product, and then discover that it's half-price? The strategy may keep the company's lights on, but it simultaneously reduces the business' revenue stream and devalues the brand. Sales leaders that get stuck in this kind of rut may think there's no way to "stop the train." In many cases, though, the company isn't really on the brink of disaster. Maybe all that's needed to get the train back on track is a change of perspective. Ask yourself: "Instead of worrying about the next three months, what can we do to grow the business over the next year? Should we really sell based on price alone, or can we sell based on other factors, like quality or uniqueness?" The takeaway? You may need to take a step back and see if you and your sales team are stuck in a rut, and leaving growth opportunities on the table. Never devalue your brand or product without a good reason. Don't focus on quick wins to the exclusion of long-term revenue growth. Look further ahead than the next few months, and look for ways to improve sales performance in sustainable ways. Sales Leadership in a Nutshell There you have it: 3 sales leadership pitfalls that you should absolutely avoid to the extent possible. If you've fallen into any of these thinking patterns, then get to work on setting things right! You may be surprised at how impactful even small adjustments can be to your team's overall focus and performance. If you'd like more insights on how to improve sales performance for your SMB, be sure to sign up for our newsletter, contact us directly, or explore our website for valuable resources and webinars.  When you hear the term "change agent," what comes to your mind? Maybe you think of a motivational speaker that comes in with a stockpile of buzz-words and feel-good phrases, leading your employees in a "team-building exercise" involving a bed of fiery coals. Or maybe you think of a 30-year-old, wearing a power suit and perfectly coiffed hair whose only job is to beat up your sales reps for not closing to their full potential.
Here's the good news. Neither of those images represents what a change agent truly is. A change agent's main goal is to affect powerful, lasting change in the organization. That can't be done through a dictatorship. Rather, a change agent must have the right attitude and skill set to do the job properly. That means being open-minded and respecting everyone's seat at the table, without exception. Basically, a change agent must sincerely listen to each team member's input. In fact, he or she should welcome and actively seek such input. Only with the insights from and support of your entire team will you be able to effectively discover opportunities for improvement, align your teams and departments toward those newly discovered goals, and implement needed changes. Three Key Qualities of a Change Agent It's important to consider a change agent as a guide, rather than a boss. Think of the change agent as an "investigative reporter" rather than a "mechanic." The mechanic's job is to find the problem and fix it, even if it means disassembling the engine in the process. The reporter's job is to ask questions until they clearly understand the facts. Similarly, some business-minded people want to approach their sales department as a "machine" that needs fixing. However, it is almost always more helpful to approach organizational improvements as a "developing story," one that needs to be thoroughly investigated before any definite conclusions are reached. With that in mind, here are three key qualities that a change agent needs to display during the process of discovery, alignment, and implementation. 1. Seek to Understand A change agent must seek to understand, first and foremost. That means active listening, both to individuals and groups. It also means asking some penetrating questions. Language is a prime example of why deep understanding is so vital to organizational change. Take the word "partner" as an illustration. A lot of companies talk about "partnering with their customers" — but what does that really mean? To one sales rep that may mean 24/7 availability; to another it may just be an insubstantial buzz-word. Only by asking those probing questions, and really listening to the answers, can a change agent find and define common ground — a foundation from which the entire team can build together. One of the best questions that a change agent can ask is: "What's showing up for you?" It's open-ended enough that the other person can interpret it in different ways. At the same time, it invites honest feedback on the content and direction of the conversation. A simple question like that, used skillfully, can highlight different opinions between team members in a neutral way. It's a great step towards ensuring that everyone is on the same page moving forward. 2. Hold the Vision By seeking to understand where team members are coming from, the change agent can guide them as individuals and as a collective. The change agent directs them toward the ultimate destination — achieving the company's vision. Of course, any long journey comes with its share of "hiccups," a detour here, a traffic jam there, a delayed flight up ahead... you get the idea. When those hiccups do happen, the important thing is to stay focused on the goal. This is where a change agent can prove to be invaluable. The change agent has to hold all stakeholders accountable to the vision. If interdepartmental alignment is a clearly stated goal but communication is slipping, then the change agent may need to call management out on this issue. It's okay if team members or managers occasionally lose sight of the end goal. After all, the sales industry gets real busy, real quick. But when that happens, someone needs to right the ship and remind everyone of where they want to go. Usually, that someone is the change agent. 3. Consistently Build Trust When a company is struggling with misalignment, employees are going to experience some level of frustration, disappointment, and other negative feelings. In turn, those negative feelings are going to inhibit the company's "improvement team" from sharing potentially painful, but sorely needed insights with their managers and colleagues. This is where the change agent comes into the picture. He or she absolutely must create a safe space in which everyone can express themselves without fear of judgment or retribution. Maintaining confidentiality is a huge part of this — and it's an ongoing process, not a one-and-done task to check off the list. If a team member vents to the change agent, the rep's trust would be completely shattered if his or her manager comes by the next day and says: "I heard you were unhappy about this issue." Once that trust is lost, so is any hope the employee will contribute something that could lead to lasting change. Besides confidentiality, the change agent has to know the culture of the company — and even the personalities of the individual team members. Would people feel comfortable expressing themselves in a large group? Would smaller groups be better? Or would one-on-one breakout sessions be most appropriate? How the change agent structures team interactions will play a subtle but important role in whether all members of the team ultimately buy into a culture of trust and change. Why Does Your Sales Organization Need a Change Agent? The simple answer? Without the right person leading the charge, any changes you want to make will have less impact and a shorter lifespan, than they could have had otherwise. Of course, whether you yourself, a designated team member, or an outside expert should be your organization's change agent is a judgment call that you'll have to make. But when you give your change agent the freedom to understand, question, remind, and nurture, then your entire company will benefit as a result. If you'd like more insights on how to improve sales performance for your SMB, be sure to sign up for our newsletter, contact us directly, or explore our website for valuable resources and webinars. |
Meet Me
I’m Karl Becker and I help individuals and organizations improve how they sell. My focus is on clear, concise, actionable solutions.
In short, I'll show you how to increase performance and generate more revenue. This blog shares approaches, tools, and ideas that I have seen create success. If you’re interested in discussing anything, please reach out. Archives
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