It's Not Unusual . . .
We hear regularly from sales heads about their concerns for changing from an unscripted sales approach to a prescriptive one. What they are really saying is they are not sure they can get their existing bag carriers to play along. They are talking to us, because on one hand they want to scale the business, but on the other hand, they are reluctant to implement changes to help them scale. Ultimately, they are concerned that their own ineffective change management may prevent them from being successful and that they could lose their most productive sales reps.
What You Might Have to Do
Often, it is not enough to simply preach to the bag carriers in place that they will make more money with a more prescriptive approach, as sales reps are notoriously change resistant (which is ironic, since they are asking their prospective customers to change every single day). In this context, you might choose to incrementally bring on new resources that are compliant with the new method (e.g. "Sales Engine") and allow everyone else to just watch. Alternatively, the executive leadership could serve as "benevolent dictators" in order to effect immediate and effective change. Operating with an effective sales methodology needs to be a "condition of employment" for the sales team if compliance (and success) is to follow.
What You Likely Will See
It is amazing what improved earnings can do to change people's minds and their willingness to try something different. In our own history, we followed the incremental path described above. When those incremental hires started making more sales (and, consequently, more money) than the legacy bag carriers (due to the prescriptive approach), there was a stampede to the new religion. Ultimately, the legacy sales reps' desire to succeed outweighed their resistance to change.
This Problem is Solvable
In the end, sales reps want to succeed and when they success happening around them, they want to emulate whatever is contributing to being more successful than them. If you would like us to help you get what you deserve for your company's enterprise software offering, please contact us at dave@moicpartners.com or chip@moicpartners.com
