In a sales world so saturated with solutions, processes and methodologies, they all seem to be lacking one key - leadership. Why do 70% of all sales transformations fail? How do we ensure the success of transformations with cultural change and executive buy-in? Why is follow-through so lacking in many sales transformations and what hurdles does it create on the path to successful implementation? On this episode, Symmetrics Group managing partner and author, Warren Shiver shares on how his company is doing sales enablement differently, and what we can learn from the failures of sales transformation.
"In most business functions, technology is an enabler— not the solution in and of itself." -Warren Shiver
Sales transformations fail because people don’t consider that it’s a sale in and of itself. It’s critical to make our case, address the value prop and what’s in it for the members of the team. This is all work that needs to be done to get buy-in even before rolling out new training.
Leadership inspection, follow-up and follow-through on what we’re doing and saying is important to the success of a sales transformation. If those things aren’t there, and the leadership isn’t reinforcing the behavior, it won’t matter how good the product is.
Typically, the best adoption of sales enablement or sales tech is inside sales because you’re captive, you have to use it, you get great metrics out of it and managers are inspecting activity reports, win rates, close rates, and average time on time on the phone. It gives us great data and creates a great sales reinforcement loop.
The common trap sales consultants make is throwing methodologies, processes and intellectual property at sales transformation and enablement. Everyone is coming at the problem with be-all-end-all solutions that miss one fundamental mark that can make or break the whole process - leadership buy-in. It doesn’t matter what we use, if we’re thinking of the people in the business before the methodology, the project is more likely to succeed. By being process-agnostic and focusing on the organizational change aspect, we can start to see results, and that’s what sets a process apart from the rest.
Guest Bio-
Warren is the founder and managing partner of Symmetrics Group, which is dedicated to driving revenue improvements by transforming sales organizations. He is the coauthor of 7 Steps to Sales Force Transformation and The Multigenerational Sales Team: Harness the Power of New Perspectives to Sell More, Retain Top Talent, and Design a High Performing Workplace. He has more than 20 years of sales, management, and consulting experience for firms such as Accenture and OnTarget. Go to http://symmetricsgroup.com/ for more information or connect with Warren on LinkedIn.
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