How to adapt and change behavior in sales to achieve better results?
The needs and behavior of our customers are changing. Increased use of digital channels along with more complex sales processes have put pressure both on sales leaders to change ways of working as well as challenged the behavior of the sales reps. However, changing ways of working may be hard since sales reps are often spread out geographically, and are used to their role being flexible and therefore have established their “own way of selling”. Still, strong competition and the increasing demands from our customers set the bar high, and any sales force not able to reach this bar will face cost cutting and layoffs. Examples of this exist all around us; sales organizations who do not meet their numbers in todays’ booming market, simply haven’t got what it takes.
Hence sales organizations need to motivate sales reps and improve sale skills. Typically this is addressed by a single training session in sales technique, but that isn’t going to be enough to ensure a lasting change in the sales reps' behavior.
So how should a sales organization ensure sustainable changes of behavior in sales?
Earlier, sales organizations invested in a training event once or a few times per year to inspire and inject new ideas into how to sell. Sales coaching has also emerged as a new trend when developing sales with positive results, if applied well. However, it requires availability and skills from the sales managers, which few possess. Both training and coaching provide results, but when rarely applied it will not lead to a lasting change - a vitamin injection only last so long.
At Ascend we believe in applying a method that creates change of behavior on a regular basis, including skill development. We believe in a three-way approach to ensure lasting change of behavior.