Do Not Be Defined. Define.
On an ongoing basis and especially during difficult times when companies and their sales teams are at risk of being defined by others or difficult circumstances, they need to ask themselves
Where are we?
Where do we want to go?
How do we get everyone there together?
These simple yet profound questions challenge business leaders to continually reconsider their mission and what it means to be a servant leader.
Where are we?
Stabilizing
Stabilizing an organization and strategic planning share many common points. The primary difference is that stabilization is intensely relational since new data related to a crisis is not yet available. Therefore, the organization should focus on making the decisions it can while working to obtain data for the new reality. In short, do what is prudent and think long-term.
In the meantime, living the concept of servant leadership will help stabilize the organization and prepare it to grow. Knowing “what we will be” is not enough. Knowing “how we will be” is critical during stressful periods in time.
Vendux interim executives help sales teams assess where they are with special attention given to conversations between the sales team and leadership, clients, and prospects. Considerable emphasis is placed upon data gathered through psychographics, demographics, and on knowing, understanding, and having the ability to communicate with a wide variety of constituent groups.
Constituent Engagement: Know What People Are Really Thinking
During stressful times it can be difficult to keep constituents engaged. This is often a result of not knowing what they are thinking. When constituents are not engaged, it impacts revenue and closes avenues for obtaining ancillary sales.
Vendux interim executives help sales teams segment their constituents and conduct in-depth research to determine the best strategies to keep them engaged and committed.
Operational Assessments and Refinement
Shifting strategic environments naturally change operational requirements – and yet sometimes those operational practices remain the same. Often, the operating practices of an organization are so imbedded they are difficult to isolate, and an independent assessment and improvement plan can be helpful.
Vendux interim executives provide assessment and refinement services for Operations, Finance, Communications, Information Technology, Marketing, Fundraising, and Human Resources – regarding their impact on sales.
Where do we want to go?
Knowing where to go in a COVID-19 world is dependent upon knowing your mission. It is the organization’s mission that inspires, motivates, and drives needed revenues. A series of key questions, such as, “Has the crisis changed your mission in total or in part? and if so, “How and what are the short-term implications of that realization?” Not everything will remain stable. Your competition, for example, may discover their mission has changed and decide to move into your domain. This may force you to reconsider your mission in response.
At this point in time, sales teams need an interim strategic sales plan. The strategic part emphasizes the need to look down the road while also working in an “interim period.” The past is gone, today cannot be what it was just a short time ago, and we are not exactly sure where we are going. An interim plan is a bridge plan – between the past and a future with an unknown outcome.
Micro-Communities
One of the solutions to current challenges begins with not creating larger oversight structures but instead making the challenge and response smaller. Much smaller.
Micro-Communities are a mechanism that brings together organizational leaders and key constituents, who are passionate about a narrowly defined issue. This small community determines how to expand upon the good, make measurable and data-driven improvements, and communicate with the others. In this way, sales leaders become thought leaders.
Community participants, using their own social media tools, provide personal testimony about the cause and the work of the community. This is key since many people now when receiving an assurance report, search online, and engage others prior to deciding its legitimacy. Statements are out, the conversation is in, and connecting with others through disinterested parties is now a metric. Today, between COVID-19 and civil unrest, people want and need to see others working together.
Beginning with the formulation of the micro-community, Vendux interim executives provide continual guidance through facilitation and managing team dynamics.
Moving Forward Together
During this difficult time, it is important for those dedicated to the sales profession to support one another, and working with Vendux interim executives is easy and straightforward. A mutually agreeable time is spent discussing the organization and its sales team to determine if it would be beneficial to work together. Vendux interim executives rely heavily upon technology which lessens work on the sales team and lowers overall costs. We can help you define your organization during this crisis, rather than letting it define you.
Contact us to find out more.
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