Beyond the tool

Beyond the tool


Professional development of a sales team goes beyond introducing a new tool. It is so easy to get excited about a new method or tool and lose sight of the overall objective and all the other conditions needed to make that happen. Funnily enough I was working on a new tool (the Closer Canvas ?) when I was reminded of this. I spoke to a sales leader, who was unhappy with the performance of his sales team but mentioned there were tools in abundance..

So what is required to make development happen? To answer this question, I have stretched the Edge/Groove/Home model of Kegan and Lahey (read their great book, An Everyone Culture) that they have developed to describe Deliberately Developmental Organizations. I have used their model in my own way. It is very helpful in defining the conditions required to make deliberate development happen.


The Edge is the developmental aspiration, the objective. Ideally, an edge is ambitious and compelling to the team. An example of an edge for a sales team is a better handle of closure - being able to close deals in a given timeframe and with win-win terms. This is a big edge and will require various capabilities to be developed and desired behaviors to be defined and practiced.

The Groove is the rhythm, the mechanism to wear in the desired behaviors needed to achieve the developmental goal(s). It is also the practice ground where nobody's perfect, feedback is given, and coaching happens. To me, tools are important here, to help visualize, analyze, strategize and to define clear actions and new avenues to try. So that is why I have split up this up - into a drumbeat and a tool, see below. As for the closing example, the tool will be instrumental. The drumbeat is regular (maybe weekly) to review a deal to be closed, highlighting actions needed and helping/challenging the owner how these can be executed. The professional principles and desired behaviors can be used as frames of reference. And then, the focus should not be on the desired result for that specific deal, but on the learnings for the owner and the team and how these can best be applied going forward.

The Home is where support can be found. Everybody needs a crew, and this is where being a team of Sales is important - to support each other. Leaders set the scene, encourage, and understand that mistakes are unavoidable. Kegan and Lahey use the term backhand for less developed skills - everyone has a few of those, even the leader. We can try to hide them or be open about them and then push to develop. As to closing the deal, sales team members need to feel secure enough to try something completely different. Everyone will be afraid they might lose it..


To move from theory to reality, I have defined 12 tips to apply the model as described above.

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Sales teams do not buy high-level corporate goals.

In terms of Aspiration, sales leaders will need to sell the why of the development (the change) to their team. A high-level corporate goal does not do the trick, it needs to be translated to the Sales team level. Not only by explaining the benefit of it, but also by describing the cost of the status-quo.

Furthermore, the team requires a compelling goal (the Edge) they can really subscribe to.

And finally, the expected development needs to be made tangible by defining the professional principles that apply and, more importantly, the desired behaviors needed. Example: if the professional principle is that buyer and seller are partners, you will want the seller to act in a cooperative way, understanding the interests of both parties and working the common ground. To help define the desired behaviors, I have developed a number of professional archetypes, descriptions of different (and unfortunately rare) traits sales professionals need to master. These will be described in a later article.

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Team sessions for development are often started up with a lot of enthusiasm but are rarely followed through.

Sales teams need a Drumbeat, both as a team and 1on1, sessions which are aimed at development, not only at reporting out.

It will take time for the drumbeat to run smoothly and show results, sales leaders need to persevere. Unfortunately, if results are not instantaneous, many leaders and teams easily give up. Wrong!

And to help keep up the momentum, successes (not only end-results, but intermediate green shoots too!) need to be celebrated. Remember how your parents taught you how to ride a bicycle?

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Sales teams do not easily adopt new tools.

To help sustain the groove of development, the Tool needs to be as simple as possible. Unfortunately, the reality is that most tools are overly complicated due to a managerial desire to be complete (forget that, please) and the tool becomes an admin burden.

Furthermore, the best tools trigger the desired behaviors by asking the right questions, challenging the sales teams. In a way, they nudge towards the desired behaviors.

And ideally, the tool is integrated in existing working processes (such as a CRM) to avoid time-consuming collection of relevant information.

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Development means trying new things and making mistakes.

If failure is punished, sales teams will feel insecure, and development will halt. Security is essential.

Development happens when sales leaders focus on the growth, the journey, and not so much on the end-result. Vulnerability should be allowed, promoted even. Does the sales leader dare to show vulnerability him- or herself?

Rewards or incentives should be fair and aligned to the developmental goal(s) and desired behaviors. If they are not, they can significantly hamper the growth.

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Check questions:

  • how has your sales team subscribed to the developmental goals?
  • how did you check they captured the desired behaviors?
  • how often are team and 1on1 sessions cancelled?
  • how much time during these sessions is spent on reporting out and how much on coaching?
  • how often is the tool used incorrectly or incompletely?
  • to what extent does the tool trigger desired behaviors?
  • how often are sales team members complimented for growth steps?
  • as a sales leader: do you dare to show vulnerability yourself?

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#salesatstake


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