managing change

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Managing Change

The most successful people in sales recognize that for their customer in the

process of buying, is all about making a decision to change. Everyone is all in

favor of change as long as it doesn't mean me and it doesn’t mean right now.

When salespeople are working with a customer, they are actually helping the

customer navigate through the change process. The smartest way to create

change in other people is to develop their awareness of the elements that

create discomfort and dissatisfaction with staying the same.

We must focus on the emotional side of change. You can sum up a typical

customer's emotional state with three simple axioms:

Buying requires changing.

Change is difficult to accept.

Avoid change until it is clear that staying the same is more difficult.

Successful selling is about managing the customer's emotional acceptance of

change. The initial job is to ensure that the customer's negative present state

actually exists and that he or she fully understands it. Once that is firmly

established, your next job is to help the customer design a solution capable of

transforming that negative present state into a positive future state.

The more complex a sale becomes, the more radical change the customer

must undertake and the greater the perceived and actual risk. The hidden

costs of the customer staying the same are much greater than the risk they

run of doing something different. When your customers are continually

moving forward in a circle, they end up in the same place. The most

successful salespeople are noted for their ability to understand and guide the

customer's change progression.

When the complexity of the solution increases, and the decision elements of

the change involved in the purchase are more complicated and more difficult

to understand, the risk of changing is that much higher. The investment, the

requirements of implementation and the emotional elements, all impact on

the buyer's career and livelihood and create that higher risk. Change and risk

management both play a major role in the decision and the sale of

strategically complex products.

Analyzing Change.

A key insight is that the decision to change is usually made as a response to

negative situations and is driven by negative emotions. People change when

they feel dissatisfied, fearful, or pressured by their current problems.

Customers are more likely to buy in those same circumstances. Conversely,

people who are satisfied with their current situations are unlikely to change

and are unlikely to buy.

All too often, a sales professional will uncover a serious problem that the

customer is experiencing. The customer agrees that it is a problem and

agrees to solve it. They have discussed the solution options, and agree that

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the solution can eliminate their problem, yet they do not buy. It's not that the

customer doesn't have a problem, and it's not that you don't have a solution;

it occurs because the customer cannot or will not go through the personal or

organizational changes needed to implement the solution.

When real salespeople approach the sales process from a risk and change

perspective, they deal directly and in real time with the critical change in risk

issues that their customers must resolve. They focus on helping their

customers to identify the consequences of staying the same or not changing

the negative present. They are not dealing with an optimal future but with

the immediate reality of a problem that must be solved.

If we work with a customer from the perspective of a decision to change, we

set aside conflicting agendas. Now both salesperson and customer can work

toward a mutual objective of understanding the problem and aligning the

best available solution so that the customer can make the highest quality

decision about the proposed change.

The Levers of Change.

The diagnostic conversation is a dialogue with the customer the progresses

from job responsibility to indicator to cause and consequence to priority.

Indicator. The indicator is the physical symptom, the evidence of the

condition or problem affecting the job performance; it tells us and our

customer what is happening.

Cause. The cause is the problems origin; it tells us why it is happening.

Consequence. Consequences are the problems impact and its

severity; it tells us what and who is being affected and how bad the

problem is.

Priority. Priority is the problems' position relative to other issues in the

customer's business; it tells us whether and when the problem's worth

resolving from the customer's perspective or job responsibility,

indicator, cause consequence and priority.

The Progression to Change.

Just as complex sales feature multiple decision-makers, they also require

multiple decisions about the content and sequencing of those decisions. This

is what allows us to connect our customers and the problems they face to the

solutions that we are offering.

Satisfied. The" life is great" customer has strong feelings of success.

They feel their situation is very good and see no need to change.

Neutral. The "I am comfortable" customer has no conscious feelings

of satisfaction or of pain. They are not actively exploring their

problems nor are they considering change.

Aware. The "It could happen to me" customer has some discomfort,

understands that a problem exists, has had some exposure to



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solutions, but is not directly connected to their situation. They most

likely tell you that they will consider a change in the future.

Concerned. The "It’s happening to me" customer sees all the

symptoms of the problem. They recognize that they are experiencing

the problem and that it is potentially harmful. They are ready to

define and explore the problem.

Critical. The "this is costing me too much money" customer has a clear

picture of the problem. They are ready to quantify its financial impact.

Crises. The "I must change now" customer recognizes that the cost of

the problem is unacceptable and they can no longer avoid change.

They have reached the point at which the decision to change is made.

To Accomplish This Goal …

We need to establish an ordered and repeatable sequence of questions that

will lead to a high quality decision. This sequence is called the bridge to

change. It guides salespeople by establishing a questioning flow capable of

meeting the needs of their customers through complex decisions. It allows

salespeople to pinpoint the areas in which they can construct value

connections that will benefit their customers.

It starts at the organizational level by examining the customer's major

business objectives or drivers and the critical success factors that must

be obtained to achieve those objectives.

It seeks to identify the individuals responsible for each critical success

factor and to understand their personal performance objectives.

It prompts the salesperson to identify performance gaps, identify

potential shortfalls in the customer's key performance indicators by

probing for symptoms, uncovering their causes, and quantifying their

consequences.

Its’ bridge helps define the expectations and alternatives for solving

the customer's problems and then narrows the search to a final

solution.

Successful Salespeople Think like Business Owners than like

Salespeople

They take the time to understand the financial, qualitative, and competitive

business changes at work in their customers’ companies. In order to succeed,

they realize that the most successful salespeople constantly interact with their

customers by building relationships based on professionalism, trust, and

cooperation.


managing change

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