How to shift your mindset from simply selling to driving change

Change management is a complex and continuous process. Leaders need to constantly communicate and sell the benefits of the new state, the vision and the expected outcomes. Explaining why the change process is worth it to the wider business relies on a mindset shift.

Following up from our last change management article, our Chief Growth Officer, Jodie Waddingham, will take you through a simple, yet effective, change management model to help you better understand the process from the perspective of a sales leader.

Sales leaders – are you achieving a sale or driving change?

Salespeople aren’t necessarily change managers, or vice versa—but the similarities in both need to be recognised, as the skillset in each of these disciplines is essential in driving business transformation.

Think about it in the context of winning new business—if you are successful in making a sale, the customer will need to change something as a result of the sale. They have signed an agreement as they wish to change.

The challenge most organisations face is that most salespeople don’t sell change. They fail to paint the picture of change, adoption and benefits realisation. And even worse, they don’t partner to achieve it.

James Fielding, Head of Sales Enablement, Grant Thornton

Managing complex change

From an emotional and psychological perspective, it is important to agree upon a shared vision of success to combat people’s natural resistance to change. I was exposed to Knoster’s Managing Complex Change model many years ago, which states that there are five key principles to consider when managing change: Vision, Skills, Incentives, Resources and Action Plan. All five principles need to be achieved for the change process to be considered effective.

As a sales leader, consider our take on Knoster’s model in your interactions with customers and prospects:

• Vision – Is the positive impact of your product or service apparent? Does your value proposition resonate across all levels of the organisation? 
• Skills – Do you have the right stakeholders, who have knowledge of the product or service’s value? How can they support your engagement with a customer or prospect?
• Incentives – Why should the customer change? Are incentives clearly defined? What is the ROI of investing in the product or service? Why should they own and act now and not delay?
• Resources – Are you speaking to the biggest advocate of the engagement (coach)? Are future project managers ready to embrace the product/service during the implementation process?
• Action Plan – Have you outlined the key next steps of the sale process clearly understood? Are you sharing accountability with the customer to maximise engagement?
  

When you believe in your product and are passionate about helping organisations transform to a better way of doing things, you are selling change. Effectively managing change plays an integral role in your organisation’s growth and success in a constantly shifting global environment. 

Want to learn more about how you can transform your business, not just your workflow? Schedule a time to speak with our team.