You can get ready for change by finding power in adapting to it.

Linked In recently hosted Marketing & Sales Connect to convene top sales and marketing leaders on building and growing connections between sales and marketing departments. I was delighted to be part of the agenda. Here are some of the thoughts I shared.

 Fifty years ago, the life expectancy of a Fortune 500 firm was around seventy-five years; now it’s less than 15. Clearly, there’s a lot at stake for keeping pace with change. Like survival.

Change is such an important dynamic in business it must now be part of everyone’s job. You cannot delegate this -- you must lead it. That means every function of every company has to be ready to change, and to meet change early. That means sales and marketing teams have to be ready for change – together -- for the future of your organization and for the customers you depend on. 

  “Without a customer, there is no business.” I’ve always appreciated this simple, timeless wisdom from business philosopher Peter Drucker. It puts business in perspective, which is often lost in the chaos and challenges of work.

 Your customers are looking for strategic partners for the future. They are expecting you and your company to help them keep pace with change, which is increasingly harder to do. Can you help them? Are you ready? 

You can get ready for change by finding power in adapting to change.

But often making change means you may have to get ahead of our customers and others in your company. It takes courage to risk a new future where there are no guarantees, especially when revenues are at stake. As a sales and marketing leader your job is to instill a dogged persistence about the future, while still going after the opportunities in front of you. This means moving at the speed of where the market is going, not where it is right now.  

This makes people nervous and afraid. Fear exacerbates existing tensions, especially between sales and marketing, and then you’re stuck fighting old battles about who contributes more to the company’s revenue line. You have to overcome this. Harness different perspectives to act boldly and move forward.

Here are two practical actions I’ve found useful:

Ask: What problem are we trying to solve? I’ve found this simple question to be a great uniter in times of conflict between teams. It brings clarity of mission and it helps overcome the inevitable tension of who “owns” the customer. Everyone owns solving the problem. And it’s a good one to continually ask of the customer to make sure goals are aligned.

Develop: A customer maturity model. It’s a simple framework – levels 1 to 5, with 5 being the most open to change -- that starts by gathering feedback from sales, marketing and product teams to assess the readiness of a customer for something new. And then it focuses your efforts and offers accordingly. Level 5 customers are the ones most open for experimentation. When they adopt what’s new, they not only become a partner invested in the future, they also provide confidence for your teams and examples for other customers to follow.

The future is calling you. Your customers need your help. Are you ready?