Categories: Adoption and Reinforcement
Reinforcement and adoption are critical components to the success of any sales transformation initiative. With an investment of time and resources to improve your sales organization, elite sales leaders also put a strong effort into the plan to ensure adoption.
If you are getting ready to launch a new initiative or recently launched one, take a step back and assess how well your organization is set up for success. Below we’ve outlined five focus areas for successful adoption. Use them as a checklist to determine what components of your organization to assess to ensure your initiative is a success for your sales organization, company, and career.
Background
What worked well when launching past initiatives? Where did most of the roadblocks occur? Gather input from cross-functional leaders, your board, and front-line salespeople to understand the success of past initiatives and what your specific organization did to succeed. This step is often one of the most crucial for CROs leading sales initiatives. Ask:
- What historical change efforts have been successful?
- What did managers, reps do that supported that success?
- On the flip side, what didn't work and where did execution gaps lie?
- How were different roles supported during the change (managers, reps, BDR/SDR, supporting departments?
- What other company initiatives and/or existing methodologies would you need this new initiative to draft into (if any)?
Priority
If your initiative isn’t seen as a priority by the company as a whole, it will be difficult to sustain. Initiatives that drive lasting results have leaders up and down the company leading from the front, committing to the inspection and reinforcement of the new or shifted training concepts, methodologies and processes. Consider
- Is your initiative is aligned with and prioritized with existing and future corporate initiatives?
- As a sales leader, what actions can you take to own the initiative and lead from the front before, during and after rollout?
- How well have you incorporated managers and supporting departments into the plan to ensure they're aligned and equipped to reinforce rep behaviors and the overall priority of the initiative?
- Have you communicated your vision and the critical concepts behind the sales initiative to your organization?
Project
If you launched some type of sales kickoff event this year or you’re building momentum for an upcoming sales initiative, ensure relevant and consumable for your sales team. During the development of your initiative stay involved, show up and provide input and support. After launch check-in, early and often. Get feedback from your managers and front-line salespeople, so you can help your course correct as needed. Start to pinpoint additional areas where you could provide complementary methodologies, tools and resources to enable your team to scale their success. Consider:
- Is your initiative and related deliverables relevant and customized to your buyers and internal sales operations?
- Do you have measurable objectives set and have you established those standards with your sales team?
- Have you scheduled ongoing times to coach your managers on support rep adoption and reinforcement or provided them with the tools and resources to make it happen?
Accountability
Avoid just managing for compliance of new behaviors. Ensure you and your sales managers are focused on the execution so you can course-correct issues quickly and celebrate success often.
If you're going to make a big ask of your sales teams to change behaviors, then make a big show of celebrating their wins. When sales reps get it right, share those success stories in company newsletters, all-manager meetings, reviews, etc.
- Have you defined specific coaching activities that managers should execute and regularly report on?
- Do you have an operating rhythm set to help ensure inspection and review of desired behaviors at all levels?
- What is your process for celebrating wins? Who owns that effort beyond you and what is the cadence?
Long-Term Reinforcement
Having a ready-to-launch adoption plan prepared before you roll out your sales initiative is key to getting a jump start in the right direction. The more you can define the plan for adoption on the front end, the better you’ll be able to equip your sales teams for success on the back end, long after the SKO has ended. Here are some areas to consider:
- Have you incorporated new deliverables into your salespeople's daily rhythm (CRMs, on-demand content hubs, future training resources, playbooks, etc.)?
- How can you adjust your new hire training to get talent up-to-speed quicker?
- Is there an opportunity to train the trainers in your organization, to increase adoption, train new hires and enable promoted managers to coach?
Your Role in Maintaining Momentum
As a sales leader, the stickiness of the event comes down to your commitment and the steps you take to drive company-wide commitment. As you consider these questions and adjust your approach accordingly you may find value in this conversation on driving long-term SKO results. It's a Q&A with two sales veterans on some of the best practices they've seen and helped sales leaders implement.
