If you know me and know Prima Ressource, you know that our approach to solving sales problems is scientific and highly process oriented. You can read it regularly in this blog, but today there is no question of science.
While I created Prima Ressource 10 years ago, my ambition was to bring a new vision of sales, more aligned with the new market conditions and which would allow companies to give back to their department their true value Sales.
This ambition is still there today and it is stronger than ever. However, at no time had I considered the impact that the continued work with leaders and SME sales teams here could have on the evolution of Prima Resource. Not only have I learned a lot from the leaders with whom the sales transformation programs have worked, but I have learned even more from those for whom the interventions have failed .
Learn from mistakes and not repeat them
I’m not afraid to say that some of our programs stopped along the way and failed . This kind of situation requires a downtime. You have to work on yourself, your practices, your strengths and your weaknesses so you do not make the same mistake twice . The lessons of these failures must be identified.
This is what I ask our customers to do, so we have to do it too. Yes, it is a difficult exercise, which makes it uncomfortable and makes us doubt. However, many key elements to evolve our practice emerged from these questioning sessions. The answers never came easily and I also think we still have not found all the answers. This is a continual task, and we must not put unnecessary pressure on trying to find all the answers immediately.
Adapt the approach to the context and constraints of each company
The scientific and rigorous approach of Prima Ressource has the advantage of being tested and it produces concrete results on the increase of sales . For a few years, even though I have always offered personalized programs to businesses, I realized that I set the same pace for all customers. Some were able to keep pace, while others were more difficult to follow and some even landed.
By being totally convinced by the approach and the results it gives, I was not sufficiently attentive to what each leader and his sales team could absorb and put in place. I had the perception that the value for the company was in the content and the amount of information that I could transfer to them. I wanted to give the recipe quickly so that the leaders could get results immediately .
But, all companies and teams do not leave the same place and do not progress at the same speed . By being more on the lookout for this important parameter, sales transformation is becoming more fluid and can go to term without losing key players in the process. There is also much more attention not only to the transfer of knowledge, but to the integration of concepts and behaviors that are sought. I now understand that “less is more”.
The human being must be an integral part of the transformation process
By launching my sales consultancy, I have focused on the processes, science, data, proven approach and best practices I bring. Yet if I analyze the transformations that have gone by, they have made me understand that human factors must be taken into account and addressed directly. Until around 2014, I neglected this aspect and underestimated the impact of the resistance on the smooth running of my interventions. Managing resistance is part of managing change. Whether the resistance is active or passive, it is somehow the elephant in the room. If nothing is done, it will produce collateral damage, and it looks like it always happens at the worst .
Having seen the various forms of resistance, I can affirm that the most harmful is that which is passive. Today, I proactively integrate a discussion with the chief and his management team on the constraints related to sales transformation and human factor management . This is probably an aspect that is now as valuable to companies as the scientific part of our approach. I can now testify that there is always a human factor behind the sales performance problems. The two are related. Our approach is strengthened and much more effective.
