The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.
– Abe Lincoln
So many things have been said about change. So many eloquent statements made by influential people over time. In our case, the former President’s words could not ring truer. Change can be good. Change can be bad. And sometimes, it is inevitable. While change can bring about positive results, it can also be a scary thought or notion and is often met with resistance. In the life of an organization – change is almost the only constant. Whether it is change in management, implementing new technology, or change in marketing and sales strategy, it requires giving up an old practice for a new one. Often, this causes stress to employees.
When implementing any sort of change, companies can help employees adapt. First, companies need to be sure that the perceived need for change is real and the strategies being implemented will indeed create positive outcomes for the company, its stakeholders and employees in general. Marketing has a big role to play in communicating these changes to employees through effective internal correspondence. Marketing can use creative ways to portray the positive sides of the changes proposed.
Training and counseling sessions are vital. They not only prepare employees to quickly adapt and embrace change but also help to alleviate change-related fears.
Change must be as seamless and as painless as possible. Service to customers must not be disrupted. Some amount of business interruption is unavoidable, but for the most part, organizational, technological and policy changes must not hinder business operations or negatively impact customers. An effective change management plan will focus on bridging the gap between the benefits of change and actually executing the new strategy.
Bluff Manufacturing has always adapted to change and transformed its operations to effect improvements when necessary. We have been implementing organizational, strategic, and technological changes to sustain and move the company forward. In the past year or so, we have taken great strides to move marketing and sales forward and undertaken new approaches to managing distributor relationships. Using the web widely as a platform to promote our products and communicate with our partners, distributors, employees and end users has been a successful approach.
At Bluff Manufacturing, we have also been actively promoting change-centric selling. Change-centric selling focuses on the customer and the customers goals. Understanding organizational changes in a customer’s environment helps the salesperson see business strategy as a way to make change and to achieve the customer’s goals. The successful salesperson must not only adjust to the changes, but also must try and understand the organizational changes of the customer and then become an agent for change. The salesperson needs to focus on understanding the customer’s needs at a time of transformation and then sell a solution rather than the product.
The salesperson must present a value-proposition whereby purchasing from their company will enable the customer to accomplish the changes that the company strategy is intended to achieve.
We hope our blog has inspired you to make the necessary changes, the right changes and the changes that will help keep the cogs of your business working and moving in the right direction – forward.
