Rachel Clapp Miller — December 20, 2016 Follow @ContentRachel
Taking on any change management initiative can be logistically overwhelming. With the time and investment of budget and resources, you need to ensure that your initiative is set up for success.
Doing the hard work up front will lead to a roll-out that’s set up for success. In this post, we’ve outlined some key areas that will help you demonstrate leadership and commitment around your initiative.
Demonstrate Active Involvement and Leadership
Success of your initiative is only possible with active involvement from top organizational leaders – from the very beginning. If you want your sales organization to embrace the new initiative, you need to actively demonstrate leadership and participation. You can’t show up at the kick-off, say a couple of motivational lines and leave the room. You need to be involved and demonstrate leadership through every aspect of the initiative. Otherwise, you give your reps and front-line managers too many excuses not to adopt the initiative.
Develop a Plan for Adoption
When it comes to sales adoption, it’s important to remember that a short list of factors determine the outcome of any change initiative. Leadership is in control of most of them. Remember these key factors:
- Assess past change initiatives. Their failure or success may affect how this initiative is perceived.
- Make sure the content is relevant. If the content is not relevant to the day-to-day job, adoption will be less likely.
- Be sure there is a clear plan to measure success and drive accountability for the initiative. Is there a process in place for inspecting and coaching on the new initiative?
Practical Content for the Sales Teams
Your sales initiative will be more successful if the content is practical for the sales teams. Think tip sheets, not complicated spreadsheets. If the content is easy to use, your sales team will use it immediately after training, when the chance for adoption is the highest. They’ll see results quicker and adoption will be easier because of the early success.
True sales transformation is achieved when there is an adoption mindset. Assessing where your organization stands, with reinforcing those behaviors, will help you create the priority and collaboration you need to make your next sales initiative a success.
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