Change management for the sales professional

“Challenging the Norms” was actually an evaluation requirement at one point in my career.  It was a formal requirement that we were supposed to frequently challenge the status quo.  I really enjoyed this requirement as it had the tendency to shake things up and get teams out of a rut.  Single-handedly, this requirement eliminated thousands of unnecessary tasks.  A team that was good at “challenging the norms” would always be on the lookout for tasks or processes that were no longer needed or not adding value.  One of the funniest moments at a meeting happened when we brought in a new manager, who asked, “Who are these Norms and why are we challenging them?”  We had “grown up” in our careers with this terminology and didn’t realize how strange that requirement sounded to a newcomer.  After a bit of laughter, we explained the thought process behind challenging the status quo.  In any business or life itself, we do things that over time become outdated, meaningless or unnecessary.  We continue to do them in business because “That’s the way we have always done it” or “It’s on the checklist of steps to do”.

If left unchecked, these unnecessary tasks can weigh down a business, process or person’s workload.  To challenge the status quo, we had to use what we thought of as “Thinking Outside the Box”, a much-overused term.  This is where the fun and employee engagement came in.  We could actually affect change in our work lives, which felt empowering.  We even had leadership development sessions on the subject.  We’d learn about the box or the penguins that had an iceberg melting or the mice that had their cheese moving or any number of change management parables.

So, why am I writing this story on a website dedicated to sales?  Certainly, it wouldn’t be difficult getting salespeople to change.  After all, we spend our entire lives trying to get customers to change their buying habits.  Think about it.  That’s what you do every day.  You sell change.  You go see a customer to get them to buy more of your product.  You go see prospects and ask them to change from their current supplier to you.  So, why then do we struggle with change ourselves.  Two words, “human nature”.  We are no different than anyone else.  We simply like it in our box.  We know what’s there.  We’re not sure about that area outside the box.  Maybe you even ventured once outside the box and had a bad experience.  Someone might have told you to “get back in your box”.

Here are a few tips for “thinking outside your territory”

1. You might not have all the answers:  I know, you’ve been in your territory for a long time and no one knows more about these customers than you.  Just take a minute and ask yourself, “what if my opinions are wrong?” or to soften the question for you, “What if my opinions are off target a bit, or they are false truths?”
2. You might be stubborn as opposed to being persistent: In sales, we do have to be persistent.  See 7 Lessons from the Founder.  We don’t take “No” for an answer unless we get told no and kicked off the farm.  Then, we do take “No”, but only for the moment.  We persist till we get that “Yes”.  While this is an admirable quality in selling, it’s not an admirable quality when it comes to our work practices.  Often, salespeople use this same quality to continue in unnecessary work activities.  “I always go see customer A on Tuesday” I have to run this weekly report for customer B” “I take forage samples and run rations every week for every dairy feed customer.”  These activities fill our schedule, make us feel like we are accomplishing something or feel useful.  Necessary?    However, ask yourself, am I holding on to these opinions to persist and be successful or am I being stubborn?  It’s a fine line sometimes and you can reach out for other opinions to give you perspective.
3. Now Get Back in your Box: Sounds counterproductive to everything I just said.  However, I recently went through the books on tape section of my library and found “Inside the Box” by Boyd and Goldberg.  One of their main ideas they propose is that most of the truly great innovations happened inside the box.  We don’t have to go to the Himalayas to uncover the truth of our lives.  We can figure it out right here in Springfield.  The idea of thinking “inside the box” is actually “outside the box” thinking in today’s business world of breakthrough “disrupter”.  Boyd and Goldberg peel back the layer on some of these disrupters and actually show us how these ideas were discovered inside the box.
4. Nourish the Rebels:  If you are ever lucky enough to get the great opportunity to lead a team, please keep this concept in mind.  A recent article I read on change management mentioned the idea of “Nourishing the Rebels”.  Challenging the norms or questioning the status quo can appear rebellious or counterculture or even like you are not supporting the team, even to us hippies- I mean baby boomers.  As a manager, you are in a unique position to establish the culture on your team.  You can push out your agenda and kill creativity by chastising or removing anyone who challenges the norm.  Or, you can encourage your team’s creativity by “nourishing the rebels” on your team.  If it gets too excessive, you are still the boss and you can tame it back if needed.  You can also pull out the veto card as needed.  But, do these sparingly or you will soon have a room full of people nodding in agreement with everything you say.

I’ll leave you with one final thought on change.  Change has been happening for millions of years and will happen for millions more.  Better to embrace the concept and stay relevant to your customers and your employer than – to quote another much-overused phrase, “become a dinosaur.”  And that’s coming from someone who had to be told, “Dad, you need to quit calling it a car phone.  It’s a cell phone.”

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