Accelerating Sales Transformation

Every day, we empower the digital transformation of our customers and partners to deliver IBM's mission around Hybrid Cloud and AI. To help our customers and partners succeed and lead in times of change and innovation, we rely on our sellers and technical sellers to bring world class technology skills to our customers.

In FY21, we’re investing significantly in learning and up skilling of every IBMer to lead with programatic transformed customer centric GTM motion.

These GTM motions are for everyone, everywhere, at any time, and enables sellers to embark on an educational adventure by role, task, product, or scenario. Each new adventure unlocks an achievement and earns badges towards becoming a master in a chosen role. Whether seller is trying to grow in his current role, or interested to take industry knowledge to next level, my mission in sales transformation is to provoke and help them to grow skills on industry's latest trends, solutions and IBM’s technologies in consistent ways. We believe we have an opportunity to launch a best in class sales motion that will win the hearts and minds of our customers and partners, through this achievement-driven task-based learning.

Sales Transformation is team sports.

Building a culture of learning in your teams is a continuous journey which can best be achieved by meeting the learners/sellers where they are. So creating a localized team closer to customers and field sellers is key which will take engagements to next level. The team mission should be simply to develop seller communities to share best practices around new ways of selling, leveraging ecosystem, customer success, garage(startups), seek learners’ input to improve offerings/plays, and organize strategic activities on priority skilling, in partnership with the respective business leaders.

Here are three strategic activities that can help you to up your selling game- 

1. New OI and pipeline generation with next generation tools. ,
2. Compete effectively to win customer mindshare
3. Leverage Garage/Startup/Entrepreneurial mindset to progress deals and increase deal velocity.

Few questions to consider to define your sales transformation strategy-

1. Have you defined a differentiated sales strategy to deliver value to existing and new customers? Is it aligned with your overall GTM strategy? 
2. Is the sales force and partner channel ready to sell your solution? Are there mutual partners or specific partners that can help you scale? 
3. Do you have the right management and coaching plan to lead your sales strategy and optimize execution? 
4. Does your new software products require a new recruitment strategy or upskilling sellers? Do you need to optimize individual skills within your company to sell in your new solution? 
5. Does the incentive compensation plan meet management’s objectives to ensure fast sell-in? 
6. Are management systems/data powered reports ready to support selling your new software?

We have to move at breathtaking speed and pace if we have to transform our selling culture to create an impact on customer in these changing and inventive times.