How to Get Your Team to Use Your Sales System

So far this season we’ve covered why you need a sales system, how to use the sales system, the info and insights a sales system provides and some specific features of a sales system. But the elephant in the room is… how do you get your team to actually use it?

That’s right, it isn’t just you or your team. Pretty much every organization struggles with software adoption no matter what because… Change is hard

Humans are by default and nature change-resistant. Even when the team is bought-in on the benefit of the change or tool, there will still be a struggle to adopt it. Worse, the team might not be on board and resist the introduction of one-more-thing to complicate their already complex collection of tools and software.

Embracing Change: The Key to Sales System Adoption

Okay, so to get people to use the system, we need to change and no one is going to like it. Great. Well obviously we aren’t just going to give up because the #1 enemy of progress is the status quo. Let’s dissect how to tackle getting the team to use the sales system, or really embrace change of any kind for that matter.

1. Start with Why: Stealing from Simon Sinek here, always start with why. A crystal clear understanding of the reason that the system is needed and the benefits it brings is the anchor we humans need to weather the storm of change. It can also help harness the collective brilliance of the team to help with the change if they believe in the reason for it. Warning here, any murkiness on your part will translate into lack of conviction for the team. That means the leadership has to start with a clear reason before even thinking about rolling out the change.

Strategic Flexibility: The Art of Adaptable Planning in Sales System Implementation

2. Next, have a plan. One of my favorite quotes about plans comes from Mike Tyson: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” I also love the sentiment from Prussian military commander Helmuth von Moltke that basically says “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.”  

Now you might be confused because I’ve just quoted two people that seem to be disparaging against plans. Actually, they help clarify what planning is about. The objective of creating a plan isn’t to have a bulletproof, step-by-step, no deviation list of activities to execute. The objective of planning is to think through what it will take to achieve the desired outcome. Out of that you’ve got a first draft of a list of activities that need to be accomplished, but that is simply a starting point. As implementation progresses, more information will be gained to revise the plan.  

The tricky thing about planning is that you won’t have all the information you need for the plan until action is taken. There is no such thing as a perfect plan, because there is no way to know everything that will be encountered before you start. But, if you don’t start with a plan, you have no way to keep on track to the end goal or measure progress. So plan, but understand that this step is more about the consideration than the plan that comes out of it.

Interactive Learning: Empowering Your Team Through Teaching and Collaboration

3. Learn, Experiment & Share – Obviously training is required for any new software, system or tool. Very few people are curious enough about software to just jump in and start doing stuff. But training can’t mean suffering through hours of endless videos or lectures, that is pretty much a guaranteed way NOT to get the team to integrate change into their routines.    Researchers tell us that the best way to really learn something is to teach it. So one “hack” when training is to get members of the team to learn parts and then teach their colleagues. Create an environment where experimentation is possible, encouraged and rewarded. Structure training to be interactive and collaborative. 

4. Indoctrinate change. That may seem like a strange word to use, but I think change adoption takes more than training. In the culture of your organization, the status quo can’t be rewarded if you need people to embrace change. In fact, it is a clear indication of the values the organization has if there is a defined process for change. When change resistance comes up, look for signs that the status quo is being rewarded, and address that issue before doubling down on “more training.”  

Okay, you are now armed with steps to take to get your team to actually use your sales system. In the next episode we’ll go more in-depth on the Learn, Experiment and Share step to specifically cover tactics and training recommendations for your team with regards to the sales system.