As a sales manager, you have an obligation to your company to ensure that the sales strategy, process and compensation are aligned with the objectives of the business. It would be great if you could set those one time for life…that you would never need to adjust them. Yet, market conditions, the competition, the product line as well as the business objectives evolve. That means, to succeed, you need to make adjustments.
This leads to a word that salespeople dread. Change! They hate it. Even if the proposed change is beneficial to them, it still makes them uncomfortable. Salespeople are creatures of habit. They want to learn the game and master it. If you aren’t careful with how you handle change, you could find a mass exodus of your salespeople.
When it is time to implement change, you can’t communicate enough with your salespeople. One of the common mistakes sales managers make when communicating change is they present it through email. When you do that, you leave much to reader interpretation. And, it looks to your salespeople like you are being disingenuous…like you are hiding in your office.
For you to successfully implement change, you need to be out in front of your sales team. Talk with them. Look them in the eyes. Explain why change is a necessity.
Remind them…
"What made you UNIQUE yesterday, makes you a COMMODITY today, and EXTINCT tomorrow, unless you ADAPT to change.™”
See you next time on the Sales Management Minute.
