3 Keys to making sales force accept new ways of working

We all know that majority of new initiatives will not get adopted.  There will be a lot of fan-fare initially and even the head office may support but the chance is that it will fizzle out. How can we avoid this from happening ?

You can have the best of the ideas but without someone to implement them, they are wasted. You need a right leader at the helm to get it implemented consistently in the field. 

After you have concluded that you have the right sales leaders, your next focus needs to be the process behind the initiatives. How does a sales leader ensure the initiatives get fully implemented? 

Keep It Simple  

Fill only the major gaps. Avoid the temptation of plugging as many holes as possible. Dont over-engineer it and keep it simple.  Reps are busy and probably already bogged down with too much administration.  Maximize their selling time. .
 
Bottom  Up, Not Top Down 

Involve the field when designing a new process and seek their input and validation. Oftentimes, a passive resistance dooms the new initiative.  Why?  Because you built it with a top-down approach.  It is best to take an iterative approach to design and roll out.  First assemble an ‘expert panel’ of reps that help design a field prototype.  This expert panel becomes a pilot team to battle test the new initiative.  The process is refined and iterated based on actual feedback. After the reps give their stamp of approval, the sales managers are involved.  They have to drive adoption and coach to the new process.  Therefore, you want their stamp of approval as well.  Assemble a pilot group of managers to field test the new initiative as well.  Refine and iterate based on their feedback.  You are now ready to roll out to the entire sales organization.This criteria goes back to the first item I mentioned in this blog – your sales leaders. They must be willing and able to attack these problems in an effective manner.
Hold Their Feet to The Fire 

Hold your sales managers accountable for the training and adoption. Whatever the new initiative, make your sales managers responsible for training the field on it.  This will ensure your managers own the new initiative.  It will also add credibility to it.  If the managers champion the new process, the reps will follow suit.

Do not let your roll out be a one-time event.  Develop a robust adoption plan.  Think months, not weeks. Your adoption plan should include:  Weekly ‘chatter’ posts to broadcast wins, challenges, and changes. Weekly deal review calls to assess current opportunities as they move through a new sales process. Weekly win-loss reviews to continue refining the new process. Bi-weekly managers calls to discuss findings, wins, challenges and changes. Biweekly review of key metrics and leading indicators
Adoption still not happening?  

Look for the FAIL Point. Most leaders misdiagnose the true problem.  Sometimes front-line sales leaders aren’t driving the initiative. But more commonly it’s not having the right leaders. Have you accessed them?  Do you know if your front-line sales leaders have the right core competencies?