How do you handle your own environmental changes?

We have talked about "the environment" quite a lot lately. But we are not concerned here specifically about greenhouse gases and CO2 emissions (we are really and generally but if you follow us regularly, which many of you do, you will know that we are actually talking about the corporate environment we all work within)

We have recently related to you some of the issues that our clients are having to handle at present. Whether it is how to define a winning go to market strategy for a new proposition or how to handle the fact that there is constant change and uncertainty in a large organisation.

What we are very conscious of, both as sales-people (where we are trying to sell to our customers) and advisors (where we are helping drive the effectiveness of the sales and marketing teams), is the impact a perceived negative environment has. Whether it is decision makers failing to make decisions (no point re-org coming soon) or managers seeing everything as an initiative (they are like buses, if I ignore this one, another will come along shortly), the environment is often used as an excuse for inaction. As I am sure you have noticed, here at Accredit our philosophy is all about the doing - turning new behaviours into habits. For this to happen, inactivity is not an option.

Suffice to say that s*** happens and we all have to deal with it, remain focused and get on with the job. It is within your own power, at what ever level in the organisation you are, to do the right thing. As Brian Tracy would say, you are the CEO of "Me corporation" if you want to make a difference, then you have to do something about it yourself.

So if any of are you are currently going through a period of uncertainty or of rapid change then here are a few tips that will hopefully help you focus on driving "Me corporation" forward.

1. Change is constant. It is a fact of life. Accept it and focus on your job
2. We would all like to be in control, but there are some forces greater than us (usually the spreadsheet departments). Focus on your areas of control, they are your sphere of influence. For all the external issues you need to decide if they are Important and/or Urgent and prioritise accordingly.
3. Don't just change for change sake, link the change to your personal goals. By doing this, you can ensure that the environment works in your favour
4. Align your personal goals to the corporate strategy, this means that your success is directly linked to the organisation's success. You cannot have a Win/Win for You/The company without you both being aligned to a set of common goals
5. Being in sales we always have goals - to hit our targets. Focus on those irrespective of what is going on around you. If every salesperson spends every day taking action to hit their target then the organisational environment will, as if by magic, sort itself if the numbers are achieved.
6. Convert your goals into a plan, objectives and actions. Is everything you are currently doing enabling you to achieve your targets (irrespective of what is happening around you environmentally)?
7. Are you hitting your sales call targets? The more people you see the more chance you have of qualifying in some good prospects.
8. Are you going in to see customers with a great interpretation of your organisation's key marketing messages? Are you making these relevant to your customer's situation? When we are in organisational turmoil and a lot of change the fundamentals of selling become even more important.

We regularly see cases of effective people who succeed "in spite of the environment". These mavericks are the high performers in dysfunctional organisations, but they are impossible to replicate. However, we can all become good performers in dysfunctional organisations by focussing on doing the right things and investing our time where we will maximise the return, talking to our customers. If we all did this, we can guarantee (and that is not a word we tend to use) that we would all sell more.

Do you want to know more?

Either read our Helping business drive sales document or contact either Mark Savinson or Fred Nelson and let Accredit help you create and manage your solution assessments enabling you to ensure your sales organisation is maximising the opportunities your portfolio creates.

Next week we will start to look at - "How to use competency models to improve performance.