Welcome back to our blog series on the Eight Essentials for Scaling Sales Success. Last time, we talked about the importance of having a sales strategy to achieve success and quick tips for spreading that strategy through the organization. Now, our focus turns to the next essential step in the process of scaling sales success which is building buy in for the sales strategy.

How do ensure that your team will buy into the sales strategy?

Most salespeople have seen presentations on ‘new and different’ sales strategies. These are most frequently delivered at kickoff meetings with a hefty dose of ‘rah rah’. So, how do you make sure that your teams will actually buy into the strategy? Adopting a new strategy is not as straight forward as the chain of command in the military, where orders are given and then immediately followed without question.

Implementing a new strategy in a sales organization demands a process
  1. Get the sales team excited about the strategy. Everyone in the sales team needs to know how this new strategy will benefit them and the organization as a whole. Reinforce the positive short term and long term results that the new strategy will bring about with enthusiasm and confidence.
  2. Let them know what is expected of them. Once you’ve gotten the sales team motivated about the strategy, be upfront about what it will take to get there. Even something as simple as setting goals and due dates relative to implementing the new strategy can be extremely beneficial. Similarly, encourage your employees to communicate what they need from you as a sales leader to accomplish these goals.
  3. Seek commitment, not agreement. Anyone can agree to adopt a new strategy only to revert back to their old habits shortly thereafter. You need to convince your sales team to become invested in the new strategy and be willing to change their daily routines in order to achieve success.
  4. Reward those who commit to and utilize the strategy. Incentives are always a great way to produce results. This can also be true for the desired actions it takes to reach those results. Providing your sales team with incentives to adopt and champion the new strategy and rewarding them when implementation is complete is the final step in the process to ensure successful buy in for a new strategy.
To read more from the Scaling Sales Success series:

 

 

Building Buy In for the Sales Strategy is Essential 2 for Scaling Sales Success