How a truly Commercial Excellence program, Builds Antifragile Businesses. “The big challenge fostering an antifragile commercial team”
Agustin A. Cohen
Business Development | PROFESSOR at FIU | Speaker | YLAI/IREX | Veritux/Umbrex | Angel VC
Today's business landscape is a permanently changing environment. Competition is fierce, with local rivals facing off against global giants. Customers are more demanding than ever, and economic downturns lurk around the corner. How can companies not just survive, but thrive, in this environment? The answer lies in achieving commercial excellence.
Commercial excellence goes beyond simply maximizing sales and customer value. It's a holistic approach that aligns an organization's strategy, processes, culture, and people to drive profitable growth. It's about understanding your customers deeply, building a team that thrives on challenges, and continuously adapting to market shifts. In short, it's about building an antifragile business—one that not only survives disruptions but gets stronger from them.
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Why is Commercial Excellence Crucial?
There are several compelling reasons to embrace commercial excellence:
Superior Performance in a Competitive Landscape: Today's businesses face intense competition, both local and global. Commercial excellence helps companies differentiate themselves by consistently delivering superior results. Research shows businesses with strong commercial capabilities achieve significantly higher revenue and earnings growth compared to their peers.
Weathering Economic Storms: Market downturns are inevitable. Companies with antifragile commercial capabilities are better equipped to weather these storms. They can adapt, innovate, and find new growth opportunities even in challenging times.
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The Antifragile Advantage: How Nassim Taleb’s Concept Applies
Nassim Taleb, author of the bestselling book "Antifragile," introduced the concept of antifragility. Antifragile systems don't just withstand stress; they benefit from it.
Here's how commercial excellence can cultivate an antifragile commercial team:
Continuous Improvement in commercial excellence is a never-ending journey. By constantly self-assessing, adopting new best practices, and embracing agility, the team becomes more resilient and adaptable. Challenges become opportunities to learn and grow stronger.
Learning from Others or Biz Hacking from different industries has different challenges. By studying best practices in mature industries, your team can develop operational excellence to navigate production constraints. Similarly, studying high-growth industries like software and IT can teach valuable lessons about building advanced commercial capabilities.
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Mutual Learning for Antifragility: Bridging Old-School and Young Salespersons key issue in today’s corporate America companies.
In a real antifragile business environment, blending the experience of old-school employees with the innovation of younger counterparts can create an antifragile and adaptable sales team.
By integrating the experience of old-school salespersons with the innovation of younger salespersons, companies can create a sales team that is not only resilient but antifragile—capable of growing stronger in the face of challenges and changes. This dynamic blend of knowledge and skills will enable the sales team to thrive in an ever-evolving market.
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Fostering an Antifragile Sales Team is a big challenge:
Promoting Continuous Learning:?Encourage a culture of continuous improvement where both groups are open to learning from each other. This can be achieved through regular training sessions, workshops, and knowledge-sharing meetings.
Encouraging Collaboration:?Create opportunities for cross-generational collaboration on projects and sales strategies. Mixed teams can bring together the strengths of both groups, leading to innovative solutions and a more adaptable sales force.
Implementing a Mentorship Program:?Establish a formal mentorship program where old-school salespeople mentor younger ones on traditional sales techniques and industry knowledge, while younger salespeople mentor their seniors on digital tools and modern sales strategies.
Leveraging Diverse Perspectives:?Encourage open dialogue and brainstorming sessions where both groups can share their perspectives on sales challenges and opportunities. This diversity of thought can lead to more robust and creative problem-solving.
Building a Resilient Culture:?Foster a culture that values adaptability, learning, and resilience. Recognize and reward team members who embrace change, learn from failures, and continuously seek to improve their skills.?
By embracing commercial excellence and fostering an antifragile commercial team, your company can not only survive today's dynamic market but thrive in the face of disruption. It's time to stop simply coping with change—it's time to leverage it as fuel for growth.
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Actionable Steps to Achieve Commercial Excellence
Key Takeaways
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