Sales White Paper: Sales Change Management

Sales Change
Management
WHITE PAPER

Sell Smarter. Manage Better.

Sales Change Management
INTRODUCTION
The TAS Group publishes a range of White Papers on Since the understanding and mastery of change is so
best practices in Sales Process, Sales Methodology and fundamental to sales improvement, it seems right that
Sales Technology. All are focused on enabling – and a White Paper should be devoted to the mechanics
hopefully inspiring – the global selling community to of change and to the conditions and commitment
improve their sales performance. that needs to be in place for it to happen. Literally
thousands of publications have gone before this one,
At the heart of all of these White Papers, and at with the same noble intent, and still our industry
the heart of sales performance, effectiveness or recognizes the primacy of change management yet at
productivity improvement, is the simple but elusive the same time still struggles with it.
factor that this involves changing the behavior of sales
professionals and leaders, and managing that change This White Paper covers sales change management. It
successfully over time. Changing your behavior is hard, levers off some excellent research and publications in
as you need patience and determination in the early this space, and uses them to delve into why change is
days as your normal levels of productivity dip while not successful, and what factors and conditions need
you acquire the new way of doing things. You need to to be in place when change is successful.
see early benefits too, which encourages you to fully
adopt the new behavioral skills and move down the As with any of our White Papers, there will be a
path towards mastery of the ‘new way’ and of sales big variance in the seniority and experience of
improvement. This also assumes that a raft of variables the readership. This White Paper aims to provide
in your colleagues, managers, leaders and organization something for the complete range of requirements,
is also favorably disposed to your success. but if you want to dig deeper or move wider, we urge
you to get in touch with us individually. You can do this
via email to: info@thetasgroup.com.

WHY CHANGE FAILS
In 1996, John P. Kotter, leadership and change guru and In 2008, a McKinsey survey of 3,199 executives around the
Emeritus Professor at Harvard Business School, published world found, much as Kotter did, that only one transformation
Leading Change. The research that Kotter drew on showed program in three is a success. Kotter identified a number of
that only 30 percent of change execution programs succeed. factors that contributed to the 7 out of 10 programs failing,
Nothing has changed in the decade and a half since Leading and we explore these below.
Change.

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Allowing Too Much Complacency The TAS Group approach: as part of our Change Execution
Kotter attributes the biggest flaw to executing change Process for sales academies or sales effectiveness programs,
successfully in jumping into a program or initiative without we incorporate Executive Alignment Workshops and
instilling enough urgency and excitement in managers and Management Alignment Workshops, so that sales managers
employees. This is especially true for first-line sales managers and leaders agree on what the sales organization is trying to
in charge of a team. Our own numerous transformation accomplish, and how it will accomplish it, and understand the
engagements with customers over the years have confirmed importance of bringing every one of their sales people along
that the first-line sales manager is the critical cog in the the same journey before the training begins.
machine for transforming sales behavior; successful
transformation requires them to lead by example. Managers
therefore need to be more knowledgeable, internalize the Failing to Build a Substantial Coalition
expected behavior change and adopt it as the accepted way We’ve already stated that change will fail without getting the
to coach and manage their business. sales manager adopting and coaching the desired behaviors.
It is also stated that change will fail without the buy-in of the
Transformations are never achieved when people don’t head of the business, but really this is true for all senior level
understand why the change is necessary, and what personnel within the business and the sales organization.
the objectives are for the change. This area is often Inversely, an executive sponsor alone will not be able to create
underestimated. Sales people need to understand what is the needed change. Invoking the Buckminster Fuller theory of
driving the change, what specific problems it is solving, and the ‘trim tab’ effect, you need 5% of people that have the right
what goals this will accomplish. They need to be ‘clued up’ balance of power and / or influence to lead the change and
and ‘fired up’ about the changes. Complacency kills any sales mobilize 20% of the population.
training or other change initiative, and creates a ‘flavor of the
month’ phenomenon. This will delay the impact beyond the In order for the transformation effort to be successful, the VP
point of any effectiveness or competitive advantage. of Sales, VP of Sales Operations / Effectiveness / Learning and
Development, and the sales managers need to be aligned
To use a sporting analogy, when Tiger Woods decided to and work as a team and a committed force for change.
change his golf swing, his immediate performance slipped Realistically, you will not always get all senior people onside
for a few tournaments, but then he went on to win back-to- at first. If you’re serious about your initiative, and it’s critical
back-to-back tournaments and arguably enjoyed the best to your growth, you should focus on the people that carry
performances of his career. He achieved this through a great enough power and / or influence to lead and be the change
deal of coaching and support, as well as understanding agents.
of where he wanted to get to, accompanied by a sense of
urgency to make these changes in order to remain head and When a sales transformation has been successful, it’s when
shoulders above the competition. the coalition has had influence and momentum. This comes
from their formal seniority in the business, the knowledge
Conversely, when leadership or management – perhaps and skills they have, their reputation within the business, the
conscious of this – show a lack of patience and rush into relationship they have with their peers and the sales teams,
the program, this can often create a sense of anxiety in the and their own natural capacity to lead. You can’t do this on
sales organization which simply reinforces the resistance to your own, no matter how many of these boxes you check,
change. When the sense of urgency and purpose is correctly unless your sales organization is very small. You need to build
communicated to people, and instilled in them, then they your coalition.
understand the payback from making the necessary sacrifices
to change and are more amenable and ready to learn, apply The TAS Group approach: as part of our Change Execution
and adopt. Process, we coach sales leadership on the management
performance processes for getting and keeping support and
momentum for a sales initiative. This helps leaders agree sales
initiative objectives with management, communicate them,
and watch out for and correct the warning signs.



Underestimating the Need for a Clear Vision Communicating is about leading by example, both in what
You have to have an idea of where you’re going when you you say and how you act, and it is more important that you
embark on a journey, or else how will you know when you’ve ‘walk the walk’ than ‘talk the talk’. Sales leaders and managers
got there? Nothing could be truer for sales transformation, who do not back up the vision with their own behavior will
where you have your investments and all your profit-making quickly dismantle any edifice that you have sought to build
assets – in the form of your sales producers – at stake. Vision up for your sales initiative.
is a key catalyst for change because it paints a picture of what
we can be if we all make the commitment. Vision helps to The TAS Group approach: our Customer Success Charter is
get people behind the cause and inspires them to see the an integral part of our Change Execution process, and helps
personal, emotional and financial benefits of taking the tough businesses to frame what success looks like for their sales
path that leads to improved sales performance. initiative. A key part of this is how you will communicate the
vision of the initiative, and we can provide you with structured
If the vision is lacking – either it’s not there at all, or it’s not the examples and templates to help you with the communication
right vision – your sales change program can result in wasted process.
energies, lost time and dwindling morale. This throws the
risk of change into stark relief, because if you sacrifice the Permitting Roadblocks Against the Vision
time trying to change behaviors and you fail, you incur fewer Even when your leadership, management and sales teams
revenues than if your teams had been continuing to sell under are on board with the vision, roadblocks can arise. This is
status quo conditions. Your initiative is viewed as a series of inevitable when a major sales change involves and affects so
tactical blunders rather than a strategic masterstroke. many people. It is essential that you remove the roadblocks,
since otherwise they will become a huge demotivator.
The TAS Group approach: our sales effectiveness programs Roadblocks will come from several people and perspectives,
are built around sales transformation as a process, not a series and it is crucial to understand its root cause. All too often,
of one-off events. Our focus is on keeping your sales teams the feedback provided is taken at face value, and that is what
productive as they transition their sales behavior from the ‘permitting roadblocks against the vision’ means.
current levels to their improved levels.
We can categorize roadblock root causes in 4 ways:
Failing to Clearly Communicate the Vision Understanding, Habit, Attitude, and Structure.
Having the vision is one thing, but you have to be able to
communicate it – early, well, and often – to give the expected Understanding: Your sales people must fully understand
changes any chance of taking hold. Your sales people the why, what, how and when of the change management
have to be able and willing to change, and even if they are exercise. You should provide solid explanations and equip
underperforming at the moment, they may be unwilling to them with the knowledge of what you are asking them to
change their behavior if they don’t understand and fully buy do and why. The vehicles for this are sales methodology,
into what the change is designed to do, why they should do it, definitions and terminology, processes, sales technology
and how they will benefit if they do it well. and so on. The recommended process here should be: train,
teach, tell, read, re-teach, re-explain etc. Do not underestimate
Your sales managers and sales people need to believe that the process in which people understand things. Sending
the benefits of your sales initiative outweigh the effort and an email and expecting it to be read, digested, retained and
hardship of undertaking it. They also need to believe that the understood does not work. People learn at different paces
initiative has a good chance of success, and unfortunately and it is critical to watch for it and make allowances for it.
your communication task is made harder if your organization
has a history of unsuccessful initiatives and people who are
inured against future programs.



Habit: Your sales people need to acquire the knowledge Even more dangerous, if you don’t have the quick wins under
for it to become a habit. For it to become a habit, they need your belt, then you run the risk of complacency or even active
to take the knowledge they acquired, and practise it over resistance setting in. Short-term wins have to be focused on
time. As the Greek philospher Aristotle said; “We are what the behavioral changes you are looking to engender in your
we repeatedly do.“ Excellence is not an act, but a habit. This sales managers and sales people. It is these early signs of
is echoed by older, seminal research called the ‘21 Day Habit behavioral change that will lead to the later signs of success,
Theory,’ developed by Dr. Maxwell Maltz in his book ‘Psycho- in the form of revenue improvement, and better sales velocity.
Cybernetics.’ He found that our brains do not accept new data Using the new sales language correctly, adhering to a new
for a change of habit until it is repeated each day for 21 days. sales system, withdrawing from deals that are a bad fit to the
business, completing opportunity plans for all opportunity
Attitude: Your sales people may have the knowledge, the plans, and carrying out opportunity reviews are all examples
skills, and the mastery of the behavior, yet from an attitude of the right kinds of behaviors that you should reward and
standpoint, if they don’t buy into the value, they won’t celebrate early.
adopt the change. Attitude dictates our behavior, and to
understand the true attitudinal barriers or resistance to The TAS Group approach: our Customer Success Charter
change, it is important to dig below the surface to understand provides the framework for businesses to agree what success
the underlying fears and perceptions. If there is resistance, it is looks like for their sales initiative. It’s expressed in revenue
shaped by the way that we perceive the change and its effect objectives, and non-revenue (i.e. behavioral) objectives. The
on us. If the resistance is not understood or addressed, we will Change Execution Process is the vehicle for delivering on
not be able to modify behaviors because we did not address the Customer Success Charter and monitoring, recording,
their attitude or perception about the change. Archaic carrot reviewing, correcting and celebrating progress toward the
and stick theories do not suffice. To change mindset, leaders vision.
need to leverage a number of conditions for change which
we will come to later in this White Paper. Declaring Victory Too Quickly
Changing sales behavior is a battle, and the war is never
Structure: Your sales people need to be convinced that over. Celebrating the early wins is essential, but declaring
all the framework elements that go into enabling them to that you’re almost at the finish line reveals the ignorance of
perform the desired behavior are in place. These elements managing change as a never-ending wheel. You hear the
are numerous, but they include the compensation plan, phrase ‘making it part of their sales DNA’ a lot in sales training,
the supporting systems, and making sure the deal reviews, which evokes the idea that a new way of selling has become
management reviews and other internal processes connect to embraced to such a degree that it is part of the sales person’s
the new way of doing business. core, part of who they are.

Not Planning and Not Getting Short-Term Wins To become this deeply absorbed into the organization’s way
Implementing a major sales change exercise is a major of working takes a long, long time and requires unending
undertaking. It takes time, and should be viewed as a commitment from the business, since the sales organization
process, not a one-off event. Sometimes it’s difficult to see if a is constantly changing with people entering or exiting the
change in selling behavior is producing results, as some sales business. This might take years, and any new sales initiative
organizations have very long sales cycles and it can take a less than a year old is still vulnerable to resistance, apathy, and
while – sometimes too long – for the results to come through. outright aggression.

It is important to set early milestones to celebrate and build It is important to take the long view, once you understand the
confidence and momentum along the way. Splitting up the scope of what you are trying to do when you instigate a new
journey into more achievable sections is essential, otherwise way of selling. If your timeframes are too short, your changes
people won’t embark on the journey; all they see is the finish won’t stick. It’s no use pulling up the plant every so often to
line way off in the distance. see if the roots have grown.



You must be on your guard against indicators that give you In order to do this, you must communicate to people the
a false sense of progress. These can either be the indicators connection between the changes they made and the benefits
themselves, or they can be people with an agenda to force that resulted, so that they understand the connection. Calling
that is either for or against the initiative. Pro-change initiators out examples of the specific behaviors and mindset people
may be too keen to look for kudos, and politically minded adopted that led to improved performance is key. When
resistors may join in the celebrations and push for the training you’ve got this far, you want to make sure people are not
work to stop before the new ways of working have taken root. making the wrong connection for success and consequently
developing the wrong behaviors.
The TAS Group approach: our Change Execution Process
provides the structure for you to monitor behavioral Lastly, and most importantly, you need to take time to ensure
compliance and record your pre-sales initiative baseline, and that your crucial agents of change, namely your front-line
your actual results against target results over quarters and sales managers, are still walking the walk, and are living,
years so that you stay the course. breathing examples to new and seasoned sales people of the
‘way of we sell round here’.
Not Anchoring Changes in the Corporate Culture
Once the communication, encouragement and the right The TAS Group approach: we do not vacate the premises
kind of pressure have been applied for long enough, the once your sales training or the workshop-driven aspects
changed behaviors become the accepted way of working. of a sales initiative have taken place. We hold ourselves
Until this happens, there is always the risk of the train slowing accountable for your success and in our Change Execution
down, stopping, or being derailed. Once the new culture Process we continue to be stakeholders throughout your
is said to be the current corporate culture, then the change partnership with us.
management exercise can be deemed a success.

MORE ON THE ROOTS OF FAILURE
The seven-tenths failure rate is sufficiently disastrous for us multiple pieces of research to explore why transformation
to dig a little deeper, since it should help inform your own efforts fail. As we have seen, a range of issues contribute to
transformation efforts. Organizational behavior consultant this, in the following proportions:
Pete Abilla, in his blog www.shmula.com, also draws on

Factors contributing to failure %

All other obstacles

72% of change 14% 39% Inadequate resources
failures are due to or budget
organizational issues 14% Manangement behavior
not supportive of change
33% Employee resistance
to change



In the sales organizational context, 72% of the failure rate • Informal ‘how things get done’ remain inconsistent
is due to organizations issues, i.e. sales professionals or with espoused values
sales managers, and not to a lack of resources, as might • Change champions lose interest and move to the ’next’
be expected. Abilla outlines the typical characteristics in change program
transformational failures, which have some pertinent parallels • Leaders charged with implementing the change do
with the Kotter findings: not possess the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities
• No obvious connection to outcomes that the
organization values We now have a comprehensive list of symptoms and factors
• Aspirations of the organization are not clear, concise or of failure in sales change management. Let’s flip the coin
communicated over and analyze what needs to be in place for us to end up
• Desired behaviors are not role-modeled, trained or in the happy place of the 30% of sales change management
reinforced initiatives that are successful.
• Top team is not aligned

CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL
SALES CHANGE MANAGEMENT
First and foremost, you need to plan the transformation. conditions – each of which need to be independently
Too often, organizations underestimate what is involved in acknowledged by sales people – that must be in place
conditioning behavior change. The key is to identify which for staff to change their behavior. We have taken those
are the right levers to condition the change. In the course of four conditions and broken out one of them to make five
analyzing why change management programs fail, we have conditions that should be place in order for sales change to
already indirectly addressed what needs to happen for them take place.
to succeed.
At their core is the notion that in order for you to change
In this White Paper we have already leaned heavily on people’s behavior, you have to change their mindset, or
eminent research in this area, and we are once again indebted attitude, first. Sales people submit willingly and with an
to the work that has gone before. In particular, a piece of open mind to training if they understand why change is
research from McKinsey Quarterly is particularly instructive. necessary and agree with it to a sufficient degree. We present
In June 2003 Emily Lawson and Colin Price published ‘The below, therefore, the five conditions for successful change
Psychology of Change Management’, which outlined four management.

Executive
Reinforcement Sponsorship
and
Recoginition
Purpose Skills

Attitude
Role Models Processess
Behavior



Condition 1: A Purpose to Believe In Condition 4: The Skills Required for Change
Sales people need to believe in the overall purpose of the Sales leaders need to focus on sales managers and sales
change management initiative, and you will only achieve this people being instructed in how to make the sales training
through a robust communication plan. Within this plan you work for their situation, their Opportunities and their
need to address these critical components: Accounts. This takes time. In addition, the teaching needs
• Why is this transformation necessary (for the industry, to be broken down into digestible chunks to aid absorption.
the organization, the sales people, their customers)? Also, once the new way of working has been learned, it is best
• What are the problems this initiative will solve? It is cemented by applying the knowledge straight away to real
important to clearly call out the problems preventing Opportunities and Accounts. Inversely, considering the two
them from achieving their transformational goals previous conditions (role models and reinforcement systems),
• How is this initiative going to help achieve the desired sales leaders need to acquire the appropriate level of skills to
outcome of the transformation? coach and sustain the transformation.
• What are the short, medium, and long-term results
expected out of this initiative? Condition 5: Process, Process, Process
• What must change as a result of this initiative? In our view, processes – and the connection to them – need to
• What’s in it for them – what do they gain, what do they be brought out into a separate condition for successful sales
lose? transformation. Sales methodology, sales process and sales
technology need to be connected explicitly to the internal
You should package the components in a compelling story processes that a sales organization follows to run its business.
that your sales people can identify with. If your sales people have to make the connection themselves
between the new behaviors and their ongoing day-to-day
Condition 2: Consistent Role Models activities, it is highly unlikely you will see the sustained
Role models significantly affect behavior change in sales behavior change you’re looking for.
organizations, as much as the four other conditions put
together. The peer group to which the sales person belongs Sales managers and sales people need to establish the
– typically the sales team – also affects it. For this reason, connection between new behaviors and internal processes
individual role models, particularly individuals with rank and / to the same degree that the other four conditions need to be
or influence (in other words sales leaders and sales managers) satisfied, in order to effect the attitudinal change in your sales
need to internalize the desired language and behavior in organization that drive the new (and hopefully lasting) sales
order for the change in the sales teams to be prevalent, behaviors.
profound and lasting.

Condition 3: Reinforcement Systems
Sales coaching, performance measurement and rewards or
recognition need to be aligned to the new sales behavior.
When a company’s goals for new behavior are not reinforced,
too much erosion occurs after training, and there is not
enough momentum to sustain the change. Furthermore,
structures that initially reinforce the new behavior do not
guarantee that it will be sustained. They need to be supported
by changes that complement the other four conditions.



SALES CHANGE MANAGEMENT WITH
THE TAS GROUP AND DEALMAKER
Much of the research explored in this White Paper, combined • Align: Securing agreement and buy-in from all
with over two decades of experience implementing sales stakeholders to the initiative
academies and sales transformation programs for companies • Deploy: Implementing Dealmaker
and enterprises, inform our globally proven sales change • Learn: Using blended learning (including e-learning
management process, which we call the Dealmaker Change curricula, interactive web-based sessions and self-study
Execution Process. Dealmaker is an integrated sales approach assignments) to acquire the knowledge and concepts
with learning and best practices constantly reinforced • Apply: Applying the acquired concepts to live accounts
through its everyday use. It comprises a proven methodology and opportunities in a workshop environment
and optimized sales processes, embedded into on-demand • Measure and Coach: Coach the process, method, and
sales performance automation technology, with effective on- software into the working practices of the customer’s
the-job sales training and reinforced by expert tuition. Since team; realize quick wins
sales effectiveness is a continual process, Dealmaker breaks • Sustain: Secure ongoing, long-term performance
down the critical elements of the process into the following and productivity, inspecting and exhibiting the right
eight stages, split across four phases: planning, delivery, behaviors at all levels
adoption and sustainment.
For more detail on the Dealmaker Change Execution Process,
• Define: Defining the customer’s key business which is designed to secure the conditions for successful sales
requirements and associated challenges change management outlined in this White Paper, please
• Design: Designing the solution to address the see the services section of our website or contact us at info@
customer’s requirements thetasgroup.com

DEL
IVE
RY

Define Design Align Deploy Learn
Objectives Solution Stakeholders Dealmaker Virtual Learning
System

Coach Me Apply
Sales Management, Case Studies,
Reinforcement Workshops,
and Coach Me Dealmaker Usage

Measure
Dealmaker
CU

Reporting and
O Predictive
ST

M Sales Analytics
ER
AD
OPT
IO N



SUMMARY
Improving sales performance is about recognizing and our Change Execution Process. It espouses the lessons
managing change. Research has shown that seven gleaned from the research presented in this document,
out of every ten change initiatives fail, and this losing and provides for the businesses who partner with us
record has remained consistent over time. A variety a foundation on which to successfully transform their
of factors, many of them rooted in the way people are, selling activities and sales velocity.
contribute to this failure rate, and they are as true for
sales effectiveness initiatives in sales organizations as If you wish to find out more about The TAS Group’s
they are for other change programs in businesses of all sales performance offerings, or anything else discussed
sizes and industries. in this White Paper, please contact us at
info@thetasgroup.com.
Research has also identified four conditions that need
to be present for a change management exercise to Recommended further resources:
succeed, and we break up one of these conditions to • The TAS Group White Paper – Evaluating Sales
make five conditions for success in the selling context. Training Programs
When you understand the psychological implications • The TAS Group White Paper – Establishing
of change, this provides additional insights to further Lasting Changes in the Sales and Marketing
inform how you lay the groundwork for the conditions. Enterprise
• Dealmaker Genius – Generates customized sales
The TAS Group has worked with some of the world’s processes in a matter of minutes
most admired selling enterprises for more than 20 • Dealmaker Index - Evaluates your company’s
years, and from this experience has established a sales process, as well as your own, so you can
proven change management template which we call see how they stack up against others


ABOUT THE TAS GROUP
The TAS Group helps sales professionals sell smarter and manage better. Through a unique combination of deep sales
methodologies and intelligent software applications, customers achieve measureable results including increases in win
rates, deal sizes and qualified opportunities, as well as decreases in sales cycle length. According to the Aberdeen Group,
customers of The TAS Group realize 21 percent greater attainment of sales quotas.

Dealmaker® intelligent software is the engine driving revenue growth and sustained adoption of improved sales
practices.

The TAS Group has helped more than 850,000 sales professionals in more than 65 countries, from small private
companies to market leaders. For more information visit http://www.thetasgroup.com and read the dealmaker365 blog
at http://www.dealmaker365.com.

ABOUT DEALMAKER
Dealmaker software from The TAS Group delivers real-time opportunity and account management, intelligent
deal coaching, accurate sales forecasts, smart playbooks, self-paced learning, and predictive analytics, resulting in
measurable sales growth.

Dealmaker can be delivered as a standalone application or can be integrated with Salesforce CRM, Microsoft Dynamics
CRM, Oracle CRM On Demand, Oracle’s Siebel CRM and SAP CRM, or with any third party software application through
the Dealmaker API. For more information visit http://www.thetasgroup.com.

Copyright © The TAS Group. All rights reserved. This briefing is for customer use only and no usage rights are conveyed. Nothing herein may be reproduced in any form without written permission of The TAS Group.

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