In 1980, Mike Scott, who was then the CEO of Apple Computer, warned his employees that the company would not be purchasing any more typewriters and that they better start using Apple’s word processing technology. Thanks to the Internet, his memo lives on to this day, and we’ve posted it below:
We can’t decide if the best part of this memo is the all caps warning “YOU ALL BETTER READ THIS” or the fact that the notice not to use typewriters does, in fact, seem to have been created with a typewriter.
Irony aside, this type of change seems pretty logical. After all, a tech company should be using its own products. It’s become such a common practice that “dogfooding” has entered the standard business lexicon. And this type of top-down mandate, especially when accompanied by dire warnings, seems like a pretty good way to encourage compliance.
But for sales ops teams, driving change is rarely this easy. The initiatives we are advocating for may not seem as obvious to everyone involved, and it’s highly unlikely that you have an executive mandating the change.
In short, a typewritten memo coming from the sales ops team is unlikely to have the effect that this one did. (Even if you include the “YOU ALL BETTER READ THIS” heading.) Instead, we recommend using one of the following three approaches that other sales ops teams have found successful:
- Incremental change: Large changes are intimidating. But if you break something down into smaller tasks, it will seem much more doable. And if you can adapt existing tools and processes slightly, that’s much more likely to succeed than a wholesale change that requires the team to completely alter the way they operate. We cover this idea in more depth in Delivering No-Brainer Sales Guidance and Innovating to Maximize Sales Productivity.
- Collaboration as a catalyst: When people are involved in the planning process, they are much more invested in seeing a change come about. Successful sales ops team often find ways to involve key stakeholders in the beginning stages of an initiative. This process requires close relationships with members of other teams, but it can also help strengthen bonds that already exist. For tips on putting this approach into practice, check out Fostering Productive Collaboration and Being An Internal Sales Consultant.
- Neutralizing excuses and resistance. If you have a pretty good idea that someone in another department is going to object to something you propose, head them off. Address resistance proactively by identifying likely objections and providing the response upfront (or at least having it ready). This approach also has the advantage of making your team look like you’ve fully considered all the concerns. To learn more about this tactic, see Neutralizing the Sales Team’s Go-To Excuses and Making Change Happen.
Change is hard. Even a powerful tech CEO had a hard time getting his secretary to stop using a typewriter to draft memos.
But preparing in advance with a strategy to help overcome resistance to change can go a long way in helping your proposals become reality.
Delivering No-Brainer Sales Guidance
Equipping the sales team with relevant, data-driven guidance is a priority for many Sales Ops groups. In this on-demand webinar, learn the key ingredients for delivering guidance your reps will actually use.
Innovating to Maximize Sales Productivity
Without adding headcount, how do you pursue a host of new customers while retaining and growing a massive base of existing customers? Learn how one B2B sales organization increased their capacity, productivity and effectiveness…all at the same time.
Fostering Productive Collaboration
In this recorded session, we discuss how to identify and influence the groups that contribute most to our sales performance and explore the 8 key ingredients for effective cross-functional collaboration.
Being An Internal Sales Consultant
For sales operations functions, frustration and conflict would seem to be inevitable. But learn how an "internal consultant" mindset and approach can make driving improvements much easier...and far less frustrating.
Neutralizing the Sales Team's Go-To Excuses
When things don't turn out as expected or desired, it's just human nature to look for explanations beyond what might be perceived as a personal failing. Learn how Sales Ops can address the common "reasons" for poor sales performance.
Making Change Happen
How do you get an organization to move away from the status quo and actually embrace doing things differently? With the dynamics involved, effective change management requires a more strategic approach.
