Is Your Sales Force Resisting the Changing Marketplace?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The increased challenge of adapting sales to online business platforms has brought heightened urgency to sales teams to meet the needs of their customers in a way that is practical and relevant. As a change management keynote speaker, I teach organizations how to adapt and move through change as opposed to resisting it. The focus and mindset I employed to overcome my physical challenges after my accident later became crucial tools for success in my corporate career as a top sales agent in the insurance and financial services industry.<\/p>\n
Buyers are armed with more information than ever; decision making is usually a complex effort; sales platforms are often digital, and unless you\u2019re careful, your buyers will believe they know more about your product than you. Sales reps have never worked harder to make the sale. Experts agree that if the representative lacks product knowledge in the form of hard numbers, clear-cut advantages, and the sheer determination to make the sale, the sale won\u2019t get made.<\/p>\n
Along with adversity in the sales climate, sales teams realize they may not have the internal support they had in the past to close the deal. Sales reps are often on their own and many organizations are unable to keep up with the changing landscape. It is up to each salesperson to be their own strongest advocate.<\/p>\n
According to\u00a0McKinsey & Company,\u00a0in this period of expanding digital platforms and widespread use of online research by buyers, \u201cup to 70% of change programs fail to achieve their goals<\/strong>,<\/strong> largely due to employee resistance<\/em> and lack of management support.\u201d<\/p>\n In an article for Street Savvy Sales Leadership (July 13, 2018), several factors were listed that sales reps must be aware of when overcoming the adversity of change. The article makes it quite clear that \u201cchange management is here to stay.\u201d When confronted with sporadic or even continuous change, the sales reps who lack the mindset and the daily grit to ride out anything that comes their way can get left behind.<\/p>\n Business writer Paula Bauab for Heflo.com (August 14, 2018) stated: \u201cYou can expect that your sales team may be resistant to new processes, technology, team restructuring and leadership, but the right change management<\/em> can address their concerns. Even a reluctant sales team will likely get on board if they\u2019re involved in the brainstorming and decisions; they can see the benefits when the changes are made gradually.\u201d<\/p>\n At the end of the day, sales reps must<\/em> sell themselves on the premise that they can overcome any adversity confronting them.<\/p>\n While resistance to new sales processes, restructuring, and the way in which decisions are made may be one part of the equation for sales reps, the most important take-away is to not let that change define them. The most successful are those who navigate through and manage change and not let obstacles block their success.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Contact Scott Burrows, Change Management Keynote Speaker for Sales Organizations through this website or call us at: (520) 548-1169<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is Your Sales Force Resisting the Changing Marketplace? The increased challenge of adapting sales to online business platforms has brought heightened urgency to sales teams to meet the needs of their customers in a way that is practical and relevant. As a change management keynote speaker, I teach organizations how to adapt and move […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45,170,131,32],"tags":[328,329,309,330],"yoast_head":"\n