In direct sales, clashes between teams over strategies can be common. To steer through these conflicts effectively:
- Embrace open dialogue. Facilitate meetings where each team can present their approach and underlying reasons.
- Identify common goals. Highlight shared objectives to create a foundation for compromise.
- Develop a hybrid strategy. Combine the strongest elements from each team’s suggestions to form a cohesive plan.
How do you handle strategy disputes in your business environment? Encourage others by sharing your approach.
As a successful leader, I navigate conflicting strategies between teams in direct sales by first facilitating open dialogue. I encourage both sides to present their perspectives and ensure everyone’s voice is heard. By actively listening to the concerns and rationales behind each approach, I can identify common goals and areas of overlap. I’ll then guide the teams toward a collaborative solution that integrates the strengths of both strategies, fostering a sense of shared ownership. If needed, I’ll use data and past performance insights to objectively assess the viability of each approach. My focus is on aligning the teams around the broader organizational objectives, promoting unity and driving success.
Embrace Diversity: A clash of strategies can be exactly what you want when trying to optimise and change a business. At the end of the day, teams (like customers) will copy whatever is proven to be most successful. I focus on the territory plan for each of the sales people, where they define their strategy, target accounts, resources required etc. It can be challenging for the cross functional teams if each person is running a different strategy, but approaches will generally fuse together when success is seen. Key will be to report results regularly for each strategy in a very public way (I generally do it weekly) which will accelerate the merging into a single strategy.
Navigating team clashes in direct sales is like steering a ship with two captains—you need everyone rowing in the same direction. To balance conflicting strategies: ? Facilitate open dialogue: Bring both teams together to discuss their approaches. Often, alignment comes from understanding each other’s perspectives. ? Focus on common goals: Redirect the conversation to shared objectives like revenue growth or client satisfaction. ? Find a compromise: Combine the best elements of each strategy to create a unified plan that serves both teams. ? Track results: Use data to measure the effectiveness of the agreed strategy and adjust as needed. Collaboration turns friction into forward motion.
POV: Sr. Enterprise Sales Account Manager If two teams have conflicting strategies, make it a competition. Leaders should always encourage their salespeople to try new strategies and 'keep throwing the pasta against the wall to see what sticks'. Plus sales people are notoriously competitive. Incentivizing agile strategy exploration could bring your team their biggest deal yet.
Navigating conflicting strategies between teams starts with open communication. I make sure to understand the reasoning behind each perspective and find common ground where possible. It’s about aligning everyone’s goals and focusing on the bigger picture, so we can collaborate effectively while respecting different approaches.