Categories: Sales Transformation
The sales industry loves a sports analogy. At Force Management, we use them all the time. Why?
The success of a sales organization is a team effort. There’s a playbook you have to understand, competition you have to study, practice, and of course, there’s execution, all culminating (when done well) in a victory. At the end of the day, it’s a lot of hard work ... just like sports.
As we move into football crunch time, there are a lot of pundits sharing their opinions. Everybody is a “Monday Morning Quarterback.” Everyone wants to rehash the game, talk about the play calling, make predictions about how they will do it different next time, etc …
(I went to NC State and well, I’ve done my fair share. Next year though … next year.)
Unlike what many sales organizations think though, when you’re undertaking a sales transformation initiative, the “Big Game” isn’t the training event, it’s what happens AFTER the event. That’s when all the planning comes together and you execute with your sales organization. But, unlike actual football, you want plenty of Monday Morning Quarterbacks calling the shots. After the initial delivery, you need a team of people inspecting, questioning reps and reinforcing effective behaviors.
At Force Management, we believe that true success with any sales transformation starts way before the training. One of our early success indicators in our own sales process is early buy-in with the senior leadership of a prospective company. We often ask ourselves, “Are they going to do what it takes to spearhead the initiative?” In other words, are they willing to put in the daily rigor, to reinforce the process, and to equip their front-line managers with the tools to be effective “Monday Morning Quarterbacks” for the sales team?
There needs to be a commitment from the leadership team to truly transform their organization versus an approach that just trains sellers on basic skills. Changing the processes to drive measurable results takes the full commitment of resources by the entire organization.
It takes a room full of Monday Morning Quarterbacks.
For any sales methodology to be successful, there has to be an immediacy of application. Everyone with the ability to impact the sales organization needs to be able to use the processes and tools the Monday after training. Otherwise, you lose momentum.
No one carries more of the weight of driving the initiative than the front-line managers. They have their fingers on the pulse of the sales organization. They’re the first-line of defense for correcting bad behaviors. I would venture to say that 90% of the success of any sales initiative is dependent on the front-line managers actively inspecting and reinforcing new behaviors.
They’re in daily contact with the sellers. Even though the new initiative has been spearheaded by the head of sales, the front-line managers are the ones who execute the game plan. They’re your Monday Morning Quarterbacks, and you need them to help you drive success. Here are three ways you can build a team of Monday Morning Quarterbacks in your next sales initiative.
1. Involve them from the start
With a customized sales initiative, the content should be “built by you, for you.” Because the content you develop is specifically tailored toward your organization, your front-line managers should provide input into its creation. Remember, you become emotionally connected to a change initiative, when you’re emotionally connected to the content. Involving front-line managers from the start provides this pivotal connection, and increases the immediacy of application after you roll it out to your reps. The content will be easily consumable for your sales organization because it was built by your internal leadership team.
2. Give them a role
It can be intimidating when you’re charged with leading a new initiative; the last thing you want to do is appear incompetent. You have to be able to speak from a position of authority. As a sales executive, enable your front-line managers to become experts in the content so they can effectively start coaching their teams both during and immediately after training. Your new sales initiative needs to happen with them, not to them. Whether it’s leading small groups, or providing feedback during role plays, make sure your front-line managers have a leadership role during the training.
3. Provide them with the playbook
Coaching mistakes can be all too common among even the most veteran sales leaders. Establishing a roadmap and cadence that helps your leaders manage, inspect and reinforce drives consistency. Management inspection processes are a critical component to the success of any sales initiative. Enable your front-line managers to lead their teams by providing the tools they need to coach to success.
Unless you want to bring your entire sales organization back for a training every other week, the only way you are going to maximize your sales transformation, and ensure its adoption and reinforcement, is to set your front-line managers up for success.
Enable your Monday Morning Quarterbacks.
On the Monday after training, they’re calling the plays.
Give them the tools necessary to move the ball down the field.
