COLLABORATIVE CHAOS

The perspective of a salesperson

“ I am in pursuit of this deal and now is the time

They will agree and this deal will be mine

I nurtured this deal and lay claim to the glory

They listened to me and were impressed with my story

There is no competition to compare to me

All that is left to submit is our most competitive fee

I need to engage my back of house team

They will only respond if I kick and I scream

So scream I did …the sky is falling

Their responsiveness is to me appalling

Finally I have it my client awaits

OH…. no budget approved”

The perspective of a pre sales team member

 “Drag me this way drag me that

I love to support but why this and when that?

I drop what I’m doing and we race against the clock

I meet the deadline and get home late

Next day I hear the customer pushed out the date

This happened before and it happens again

What do you want and truly by when?

The sky is falling every day it seems

No more working late…it’s not worth it”

These two perspectives represent contrasts that distract a business from a primarily customer focus.

 SKILL AND WILL 

It is said that WILL is the primary enabler for resilience and resilience is a key ingredient to overcome obstacles and achieve outcomes your business needs to survive and prosper.

What then is WILL? Simply it is the desire to go over and above- discretionary effort. When obstacles and challenges strike; which they inevitably do in the pursuit of outcomes the WILL or motivation to push through is essential. The two perspectives above highlight what impacts WILL within both teams.

Companies everywhere are being challenged to do more with fewer resources. I contend that the single biggest drain on resources is the draining of WILL. If my contention is true it follows that the options to strengthen resources are not just the recruitment of new staff but a firm focus on WILL to make existing resources more productive. More motivated. More resilient.

 THE PIVOT POINT

I like the word pivot as it points to a single starting point from which strategy is created. There is no doubt that in the pursuit of revenue and sales the pivot point should be the customer.

Companies need to be careful however not to have their sales teams interpret customer focus as customer acquiescence. Win/Win outcomes are the basis of sustainable long-term relationships where BOTH the customer and the vendor are winning. Organisations need both sides of their house to make sure the business they pursue is deliverable at a profit. Sales people who have little interest in the implementation of their solutions under the conditions that deliver their business a sustainable margin if allowed to go about such business unchallenged or without checks and balances might win you plenty of business but in time will also send you broke. Companies who preoccupy themselves with margin making conditions will become inefficient and self absorbed and unattractive as a long-term supplier partner.

COLLABORATIVE CULTURE

Humans are born to collaborate. In the workshops I run for MHI Global where I introduce, train and consult to both inside and outside sales teams using process and collaborative customer focus tools I am amazed at how resourceful people can be if given a challenge.

I recall one workshop where a participant asked me for some advice about how to get a purchasing manager to call him back. He told me that he had first met this new purchasing manager 6 weeks prior. She had been recruited by my participant's customer to cut costs. This customer had gone through a significant down sizing and six weeks ago was the first time my participant had met with her. He told me they got on really well and he wanted my advice as to how he could get her to call him back. I asked him what they had talked about and he told me; many things but most noteworthy was the new pricing he had informed her of. Bingo!

I asked my participant : " Does increasing your pricing for your current services represent a win for your new purchasing manager? He replied: " No; but my pricing had to go up!"

I asked him : " Is there any way you could find a win/win here?"

He paused and stated: " My boss told me that my pricing has to go up!"

The break concluded and I presented the challenge I had just discussed through the break with all workshop participants and related the challenge to a room of collaborators who each pondered the same question: " How could we deliver a win/win outcome in this situation?"

First hand raised and someone said: " You know what; that client is considering a proposal of ours for another product. If they agree to purchase that now, under the conditions we have given them we could hold off on this price increase?" Another participant offered: " Maybe we could delay the price increase until the new financial year and add a little extra to give this customer the runway they need to overcome these short term cost challenges?"

Amazing! Collaboration in practice. Like minded people focused on the customer.

The sum of these individual capabilities when applied to a common purpose creates competitive resourcefulness. Such resourcefulness creates competitive advantage.

Talk to me about how I can help your business collaborate around the customer’s purpose. Unlock your team’s WILL and help you in the journey from collaborative chaos to a winning collaborative culture.