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Selling Change

Guest post by: Paul Donehue

Article Overview: If we're to learn from history, then we must accept the fact that change - either in the form of innovation, continuous improvement or both - is a critical component of growth and ongoing success. But, truth be told, people tend to resist change; so, how might we, as managers or business owners best go about getting the team to accept it?

Selling Change

It's all new... the latest version! New and improved, updated; enhanced formula, just released! Hot off the press, the newest style! Less fat, more protein, superior quality, finer taste; easier to use, better, more comfortable, lower price...

At one time or another all of these phrases have been used to sell products or services, and they all promote the same thing - change. The marketplace must like change or marketers wouldn't flaunt it; change, therefore, must be good.

What's Good Can Be Bad - "If it ain't broke..."

But of course change is not always perceived as being good. In their daily quest for new customers, sales people constantly struggle to overcome buyers' comfort with the status-quo. In organizations of all types people tend to look with skepticism at new policies and procedures, and look with deep concern at new compensation plans or updated benefits programs; and people at all levels regularly cringe at the suggestion that there might be a different or better way to do their jobs!

In the day-to-day real world, change most often promotes uncertainty, doubt, fear, resentment or loss, and this is not news. The concept of "creative destruction" - an economic theory based on the premise that new ideas inevitably bring about the demise of older (more comfortable) ones - was popularized way back in the early nineteen hundreds by Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter.

Yet without change comes stagnation and potential loss. Current-day examples include Xerox in copiers or Polaroid in instant photography, each experiencing significant declines in market share and profits as competitors introduced new and improved, lower-cost alternatives.

The cassette tape replaced the eight-track, but was then outdone by the compact disc, which is now being undercut by MP3 players; and the list can go on.

Closer to Home - A Selling Mission

If we're to learn from these examples, then we must accept the fact that change - either in the form of innovation, continuous improvement or both - is a critical component of growth and ongoing success. Without innovation and change we run the risk of losing our competitive position, or worse. "Whatever made you successful in the past won't in the future," said the late Hewlett Packard CEO Lew Platt.

But if people tend to resist change as previously noted, how might managers or business owners best go about getting the team to accept it - to buy in? How can we help people more readily embrace improvement programs, try new protocols, accept new pricing models or generally believe in the up-side of change?

Simply stated, we must sell it.

Just like the sales and marketing experts who create the "new and improved" ad copy, slogans and selling presentations, we must sell the concept of change to our staff members and sales teams before trying to present or roll-out new policies, procedures, campaigns, programs or plans.

And just like any sales mission, this will require forethought and planning.

We might start by identifying how the team will benefit from a proposed change. What's in it for them? What are the consequences of not changing? What will it cost? What opportunities might we lose?

What's the competition doing?

The next step is to determine how to properly position a proposed change. Since we know there is a tendency toward defensiveness, it's important to make people understand that they are not the problem. In other words, a change in policy or approach need not mean that the team has been doing things the wrong way. Rather, it means the world is changing and we must change too, lest we fall behind.

Finally, once the presentation is made and the new "whatever" is launched, there must be follow-up and assessment. Has everything worked as we'd hoped? Should we modify the new plan? Are there unforeseen consequences? While we don't want to send a message indicating we're not resolved to the new program or approach, it is also a good idea to let everyone know we're fair and open-minded - that at the end of the day we're all on the same side.

Change may be unsettling, but without it our futures are at risk; and there are clearly ways to minimize the negative effects. It will require effort, planning and persistence, as behaviors and attitudes are not easily influenced.

Margaret Thatcher may have summed it up best when saying, "You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it!"

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Article Tags: change, change management, dealing with change, management, sales management, selling



Related Forum Posts
Re: Kevin's Case Study #10 - When to become an entrepreneur? - When the bug bite you. A lot of successful entrepreneurs started in their teens or at school. Selling sweets to fellow students or lemonade to firends in the neighbourhood.
Re: This is Marketing Warfare! - Hey GT, I guess this was from a while back, and it'll test your memory a bit but could you possibly elaborate on Unique Selling Proposition? Can you give us some examples of good USPs?
Re: Spellcheck? - [quote="TheAnonymousMan":2f894q6j]When discussing the majority of people I would definitely say that most people hit the "Change" or "Ignore" button without thinking too much about the correct spelling of a word. All bosses are concerned about is getting the report to the Directors meeting on time.[/quote:2f894q6j] That probably depends on what the "majority" are trying to accomplish. I have word set to alert me about misspellings and grammatical problems, so I fix most as I go. But I also add names etc to the dictionary because I get tired of seeing the red and green squiggles when I know the info is right. If you're only going to click "Change" or "Ignore" then why bother to take the time to use spell check????? Business people that I work for want the info compiled in a timely manner and they want it right - which is fine because that's the way I strive to do any project. Sending out a memo, letter, report etc with obvious spelling and grammatical mistakes makes the person and the company look bad as far as I'm concerned. Shri
Blog pinging - Thanks Martin - yes, I do ping and it has been very effective. I'm currently on the first page of Google for Mastermind Group and on the second page for Selling to Small Business.
Business magazines - Fast Company is pretty good if you're into technology although it can be very on the edge. Entrepreneur has become one giant advertisement and I cancelled my subscription. Selling Power also has some useful content if you're looking at improving your sales skills / presentations.


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