Top management is the driving force when it comes to adopting strategy, new initiatives and overall effective sales transformation. In a study published in Harvard Business Review, researchers looked at more than 60,000 confidential responses to an employee satisfaction survey where employees answered questions related to change in their organizations.
When new strategy was adopted successfully, there was nothing more effective than reinforcement from top management. In fact, researchers said that top management has a “profound impact on how well employees grasp and support strategy.”
We couldn’t agree more. When it comes to adopting a sales initiative and reinforcing an effective strategy, sales leadership must take a key role in making the sales transformation a priority.
Here are two areas to pay attention to:
- Paint a compelling story that helps your sales team visualize the point in change and agree with it.
- As a leader, be a role model for the desired change and mobilize influencers and champions to drive change deep into the organization.
Our clients who have had the greatest success at true sales transformation were led by top-level executives who embraced and modeled these steps to create success in their sales organizations.
Driving change throughout the organization is more than just coaching your managers to reinforce. Researchers in the HBR study caution against this trickle-down approach. You should encourage and leverage your team managers, making sure they take the necessary steps within their level of the organization to lead the sales transformation as well. But remember, only top leaders can give strategic reinforcement the appropriate weight.
