Everyone in the Sales Enablement space is telling us that we need to be more ‘consultative’, become ‘trusted advisors’, ‘coach’ not ‘tell’, we need AI, and either do more or less cold calling, etc.
I’m no different in that I try to help people discover that they need to do things differently, which inevitably involves change, and will have an impact. At this point, people often ask if there’s a shortcut to achieve the desired outcome without the associated pain.
In my view, the real challenge facing sales organisations has little to do with technology or process – it’s fundamentally about change. Let’s be honest, the moment someone mentions change, the discussion inevitably turns to models around the psychology of change. All too often, sales leaders tune out, shifting their focus back to the immediate task of delivering this year’s revenue.
However, change is necessary. Our challenge is how to motivate someone who is content with the current situation to commit to doing something different and realising the promised benefits. Isn’t this essentially what we, as a sales community, try to do with customers on their buying journey? The only difference here is that we want our people to buy into change, rather than a product or service.
I propose we have a serious discussion about “Selling Change from an Employee’s Perspective,” taking the same approach we use when selling from a buyer’s perspective. The underlying process doesn’t change, just the roles involved. It’s like the sequel to an action movie – same storyline, different setting.
Selling Change from an Employee’s Perspective
Let’s start with a hypothetical scenario: over 50% of leaders see no value in discussing what change should look like with their employees before starting a change program; they go straight to picking the solution.
The first two steps they take in isolation:
- They identify what they believe should change.
- They determine how they will implement that change.
Once decided, they tell employees:
- This is what you’re going to do to change.
- We will monitor you to ensure you’re changing.
Now let’s contrast that with a “Change from an Employee’s Perspective” approach:
- Let me help you discover why we need to do things differently. What are the risks of not changing and the opportunities if we do? We gain consensus that our current approach may not be sustainable going forward. aka. WHY Change
- If we agree change is needed, what should that change look like? Paint me a picture of exactly what we should be doing differently. We gain consensus on the desired future state. aka. Change to WHAT
- Let’s build a plan to implement the change, ensuring we have all the necessary elements so everyone knows what to do and can successfully execute it. aka. Change to WHO
- Let’s commit to consistently operating in this new way at all levels of the organisation. aka. COMMIT to change
As sales professionals, we should be well-positioned to “sell” change to our colleagues, since we already think about selling to customers.
What could this look like in practice? Let’s consider two scenarios:
Scenario 1: A tactical change – Driving Change through coaching.
We often discuss the value of coaching to develop our people, yet coaching frequently gets deprioritised for “deal coaching.” How could an “Employee’s Perspective” approach impact a coaching session?
- Start with feedback that allows the coachee to discover the impact of their current approach and why change is needed – Establish consensus on WHY Change is necessary.
- Have a discussion where they identify what they could do differently – they must own the “solution criteria” – gain consensus on change to WHAT.
- Build a developmental plan for how they will implement that change – Gain consensus on change to WHO.
- Gain commitment on when they will complete the plan – Secure buy-in to COMMIT to change.
This approach keeps the coachee at the center, using feedback and coaching to help them discover what they need to know, rather than being told. The coach guides the coachee through each step.
Scenario 2: A strategic change – Driving an organisation-wide transformation.
Now let’s look at what’s needed to change how an entire sales organisation operates:
- We need to get the organisation and individual salespeople to identify that change is required. We’re helping them realise what they didn’t know before – Establishing consensus on WHY change is necessary.
- We must ensure they understand what they need to do differently, providing the knowledge of the desired future state, even if it’s not yet practised – Aligning on change to WHAT.
- We must give them time and space to translate that new knowledge into action, putting training into practice. They should become able to execute the change, even if it still requires conscious effort – Developing consensus on who they need to become – change to WHO.
- We must support, reinforce, and coach so that the change becomes ingrained as business-as-usual. They have fully COMMITTED to change.
In both scenarios, we’re utilising the same principles behind customer-centric selling and the buying journey. We’re simply substituting the employee for the buyer, and the change process for the buying process. It’s still selling – who better to sell the change than the sales organisation itself?
Supporting your sales enablement initiatives with a change program
To successfully drive change, follow this approach:
- Follow your typical sales process to fully understand WHY you need to change before investing in technologies or initiatives. Establish solution criteria.
- Build a change program that helps your employees understand why they need to change, enables them to change, gives them space to adopt it, and reinforces the change through coaching.
Good luck with your change!
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