Change Management in the Modern Era of Sales
Change management is the concept of change, and how to keep abreast of these changes. Many times, salespeople are slow to change their methods or don’t realize the necessity of adapting to the newness of the sales world. This can have a detrimental impact on success. Alan O’Neill, interviewed by John Golden, explores change management.
This expert sales interview covers change management topics, including:
- How to cope with change
- The three components of customer experience
- Why connection is key
- Concrete tips for change management
Coping with Change
The Sales world has gone through a transition over the last few years as a result of the impact of technology and social media, as well as buyers being more empowered. But salespeople sometimes are slow to change. “The amount of change, the volume of change, and the complexity of change is growing exponentially,” said O’Neill. Coping with these changes has become a challenge for sales organizations at all levels. But, particularly for salespeople, it’s a serious challenge.
The Three-Legged Stool:
O’Neill explains customer experience with a three-legged stool analogy. The stool legs are made up of product, people, and place. The product is simple, that is the product or service that you are selling. The place is the distribution or go to market channel. The third leg, people, is the most critical. This is the ability of salespeople to connect in this ever-changing world, regardless of the change. It puts more importance on traditional skills, such as one to one rapport building, listening, and other things to show a customer that you care. It also involves being very solution focused, and demonstrating to a customer that you want to understand their needs. “Old fashioned connectivity and listening trumps everything for me,” said O’Neill.
A Connection is Key:
Over the last number of years, because of these technology changes, it has become very simple to have “disconnected connectedness.” It’s easy to have all of these tools firing out emails, or using automated tools like dialers. These technologies may reach more people, but the salespeople take an attitude of, “let the technology do all of the work for me.” This creates a very disconnected relationship with prospects. These technologies are great, but you have to stand out. You have to make a connection with your customers. You can’t let technology take over. “Technology is another tool to help you scale up and help you reach places you wouldn’t have reached before,” said O’Neill. But at the end of the day, technology remains one of many tools.
Two Key Things to Embrace Change Management:
For salespeople to learn to embrace change and overcome resistance, they have to understand context. Having context and big picture is vital for any individual, it is especially crucial for those in the sales world. “I say this for salespeople and anyone in the organization,” said O’Neill. “People have to appreciate the context.” Once you understand the context and the big picture, you can move onto things like incentivizing. Salespeople need to know whats in it for them. “If the salespeople don’t believe that there’s something in it for them, regarding a win, or an opportunity, or learning, why should they embrace it?” said O’Neill. Knowing these two things will help.
Watch the expert sales interview, or check out Sales – The New Normal, to learn more about changes in the sales industry and how to keep up with them.
About our Host:
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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