If you are a CEO, president, or division leader with profit and loss oversight, or a department manager, this chapter is for you. It is about how to implement the Selling Boldly system throughout your organization.

When I start working with new clients, I tell them that this is basically a behavior change project. We want people to do some new things. These things are, basically, all communications. We want people to communicate more with customers and prospects. That's the work. But to change behavior, as discussed in depth in this book, we need to change thinking also. We are working to get your customer‐facing staff to know how good they are (that's the thinking change), and then to behave accordingly (that's the communicating more).

So we're working to create some change. The problem is most people don't like change. They don't like doing new things. Change is uncomfortable. As a rule, people are wired to resist change. But making change with salespeople, who are probably the most independent employees in most organizations, is the hardest thing of all.

Nobody Likes Change

In fact, salespeople are much better at avoiding change than leaders are at implementing change. That's because, throughout their careers, they have learned that most changes do not stick. If I avoid this long enough, it will also go away. Like nearly all of the other changes that the boss has tried to implement over the years. You can't blame salespeople for this. Most change comes and quickly goes. It's what their experience has taught them.

And, so, when you announce a big change in the sales approach, like those detailed in this book, the following passes through their minds:

• “It's just another flavor of the month for the boss.”
• “Let's see if we're still talking about this next month.”
• “I don't have time for this.”
• “We don't need this.”
• “This won't work for us.”
• “I know how to sell. I'm talking to customers all day long. Are you?”

In each case, the main issue is fear (see Part I). Fear of the unknown. Fear of having to learn something new. Fear of working harder. Fear of working more. Fear of the implication that the status quo hasn't been enough. They think I'm not pulling my weight around here. Fear of the discomfort this new work might cause.

But the good news is that we can overcome this discomfort and resistance and implement organizational change effectively.

How to Implement Change with Customer‐Facing People Effectively

Change must come from the top. If it isn't important to the owner or the CEO or the division chief, it isn't going to be important to the managers or the frontline people. Change that starts in the middle levels of your company is nearly impossible to implement because it doesn't have the energy of top leadership or the commitment of the staff. Staff must know that the change is important to the leadership.

Accountability is required. In fact, there must be systems for accountability. Tools for planning and measuring the new behaviors should be created and used. Furthermore, managers' feedback should be systematic and consistent. The new effort must be communicated and discussed actively, in meetings, on the phone, and by email. In fact, a regular flow of communication about the new initiative is one of the keys to implementing it successfully.

Here is how to implement this accountability:

• Use “The One‐Page Sales Planner” discussed in Chapter 35.
• Have your sales leader specify how many actions, and which ones, he would like that week. For example, this week, give us five did you know questions, five referral requests, and five quote follow‐ups. You may have different actions for different departments. Customer service takes incoming calls all day. So you might focus on did you know questions and reverse did you know questions for them, which they can easily drop into existing phone calls. That's 15 actions. That's three per day. Which is approximately one minute of additional activity per person per day. That's one minute, executed by everyone, day after day, that turns into millions of dollars in new sales.
• Ask for customer‐facing staff—that's inside sales, outside sales, customer service, and anybody else who interfaces with customers—to create a plan and track their results. If the plan was to ask a did you know question today, ask for the following details in the results: Did you ask? Who did you ask? Which customer (company and name)? What product did you ask about? And how did the customer respond? You can do all of this in two sentences next to each did you know: Asked Tom at Widgets Inc. about our WX298. He did not know, and is dissatisfied with current provider. We are sending samples.
• Make sure everyone knows that it must be turned in to his or her manager by the end of the week. Before people finish working on Friday, they should finish up their planner, fill out any remaining details, and send it in to their manager.
• The managers should give feedback on this planner to people individually, copying executive leadership.
• If somebody doesn't turn in a planner, communicate with that person. What happened? I thought we were on the same page.
• It's okay to use words like mandatory. It must be clear that this is a permanent initiative. This sales change must be different from all the others.

Long‐term change must be focused on the long term. If you concentrate on it for only two months, your people will look away as soon as you do. Think of yourself as the personal trainer for this initiative.

Corporate change is like a new exercise program: many times, when people miss the first workout, the entire program ends. They simply don't return. Diets are the same way: one bad meal or weekend often kills a diet. Don't let one bad meal kill your company's new initiative. Keep it in front of the staff, regularly and consistently, for a long time.

Talk about it internally. Use the language. Let people get used to hearing the terminology.

Recognize the successes—publicly. Studies find that recognition among peers is a far more effective motivator than financial compensation. That is, one proactive company‐wide compliment is more powerful encouragement than a $1,000 bonus, or even a $10,000 bonus. Why? Because it's public, and it makes the recipient proud.

It also allows peers to witness, and learn from, the person's successes. Those same peers will now aspire to be recognized next. So we benefit from the psychology of people not wanting to miss out on the next opportunity for recognition. By publicly recognizing one person's success, you benefit from improved action throughout much of your organization. Executive leaders should send an email to everyone identifying top results, and recognizing top performers.

Finally, a steady stream of positivity flies around your company when you recognize success regularly. This is tremendously useful for behavioral change. It makes people want to participate, which is far more effective than change that is demanded.

Recognize those lagging behind—publicly. That's right, along with complimenting proactively, don't be afraid to call people out who are simply choosing not to participate. Of course, speak to them privately first, but if that doesn't help, do it in a departmental meeting or by email to the entire group.

The key is that this recognition of poor participation occurs in the same communication in which you address the successful implementers. Don't communicate the stick without the carrot. We need both. Positivity is the major theme in this work. Usually, being called out once like this is enough. People will do everything they can to never be in the “lagging” group again.

Wider efforts are more successful. Some of my clients have only the owner or CEO handling the implementation. That is, the same person communicates the activities for the week, gives feedback on the planners, identifies and distributes the recognition, and also speaks privately to the people whose participation isn't up to standards. Oh, and this person also runs the company. It's too much for one person. It's not surprising, then, that those companies that have more managers involved in the implementation of this work do better than those that have just one. I talk to these leaders separately from everybody else in our projects, teaching them how to implement accountability and drive this process within their groups. It's train‐the‐trainer work.

A wider effort is more successful because more people own the outcome. More people implement accountability. And they are closer to their staff than the top executive. They're on the battlefield with their team daily, rather than in the rear, on horseback, directing strategy. It's also easier for the owner or CEO to interact directly with a few key leaders, driving their approach to management, than every front‐line person doing this work.

The Two Greatest Differentiators between My Clients Who Grow the Most, and Those Who Grow the Least

All of my clients add to their growth rate when they do this work.

Nobody has done this work and grown less, which is basically impossible if customers and prospects are hearing from you exponentially more.

But some clients grow much more than others. Some grow by 30 percent in their first year, while others grow by 5 percent.

What's the difference?

My examination of this arrived at two critical factors. These are the two most important differentiators between my clients who grow the most and those who grow the least. And like most determinants of corporate success, they start with the owner or top executive.