Use Our 10-Point Checklist To Determine Your Sales Orientation
In our fast-changing age of diversity, technology and talent management, can a sales organisation continue with traditional didactic sales development “this is how you do it” style of training and gain any competitive advantage? As sales people increasingly aspire to be seen as business professionals, does the didactic approach have any relevance today?
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Key Challenges |
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Hierarchical, Rigid silos |
Sales Structures |
Flatter, flexible networks |
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Position / Role |
Status Attachment |
Contribution |
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Command and Control |
Management Style |
Transformational, Empowerment |
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Focus on Outputs |
Work Style |
Focus on Inputs, |
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Transactional |
Selling Style |
Consultative |
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Tactical focus on next period’s target |
Planning Time Horizon |
Strategic focus on long-term improvement |
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Supplier of products and services |
Sales Orientation |
Business Partner |
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Waits to be told what to do and |
Learning Style |
Open, Questioning, Challenging |
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Shoving in |
Training Style |
Drawing out |
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Adversarial |
View of Customer |
Collaborative |
Which side of the table is your sales organisation on?
In case you haven’t spotted the obvious; we believe that the traits described on the left-hand side of the table belong to the sort of organisation that favours the ‘didactic’ school of training and development for its sales people. The biggest problem with the didactic approach is that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy – the more of it you do – the more of it you need to do.
The characteristics in the right, we believe, are exactly those which will enable sales organisations to position themselves for the challenges of the 21st Century and lead the way in defining what a successful sales team can look like in a rapidly-evolving, increasingly competitive world.
