| 13 Nov 2018
The concept of AGILE
Around four thousand million years ago, the carbon atoms mulled together and formed into something called the ‘primordial soup’ which eventually led to the inception of life as the experts say.
Now, did these atoms re-arrange themselves instinctively to form an advanced human anatomy? No. They had to form simpler structures like polymers – proteins – cells – primeval organisms like microbes and so on. It took ages for life to manifest into something like a mouse.
My point is, every step in this process opened up the possibility of something new, expanding the horizons of what was possible. This is what change is all about, this is what improvement is all about, and this is what AGILITY is all about.
BEING AGILE IS NOTHING BUT BEING ABLE TO COLLABORATIVELY RE-ORGANIZE INTO SOMETHING BETTER WHEN THE ENVIRONMENT DEMANDS FOR IT.
‘AGILE’ IN SALES
Top of mind, can you recollect a few words that you associate Sales with? Most likely your words would have been something on lines of Desirous, Competitive, Individualistic, Aggressive, and so on. What seems to be missing here in this context? I’d say, it is Collaborative, Cohesive, Connected, and Flexible. And yet, a sales team can’t be successful without the aforementioned traits. Hello, Agile!
In this context, I have a favorite aphorism – ‘the only thing that’s certain about long-term predictions is that many of them will go wrong’. Hello again, Agile!
The Agile methodology has conveniently been imported to sales from the Software development. Perhaps, one could actually draw parallels to how a traditional development team functions and match them with sales; having an initial set of requirements in development/targets in sales for instance.
Some salesmen win deals in a quarter. Some lose. But what must continue? The team’s success. This is what the ‘Agile Methodology’ brings to the table. The Collaboration. The Flexibility. The normalization of uncertainties that otherwise affect the individual performance.
So how are the roles defined in an ‘Agile Sales’ team?
We can observe that the roles do not exactly match with the agile development roles. The idea is to identify the best practices like adaption, collaboration, having a common goal, resolving issues together and apply them in the sales environment.
BENEFITS OF BEING AGILE IN SALES
CORE VALUES OF AGILE SELLING
SUCCESSFUL AGILE SALES TEAM
So adapting the agile methodology will solve all the sales issues and makes the sales team super-efficient. Right? WRONG!
Nothing comes that easy! You have to follow certain rules to get the best results.
See, coffee is amazing! It’s heavenly. No questions asked. But what makes it so amazing? The right amount of milk, the right amount of decoction, the right amount of sugar and essentially the right blend of everything!
Similarly, to become the best agile sales team ever, you need the right blend of leadership, metrics, and processes!! And the recipe for success is:
Agile sales, when done right, will eliminate issues like the bad working environment, no group effort, and low team morale. Instead of the sales teams being seen as a group of competitive individuals, they can become a model of teams working together collaboratively, learning from each other, and all working towards achieving a common goal.
Sources:
Teresa Weirich, ‘What is Agile Selling, and Why Does it Matter to Sales Organizations?’, Costello, 29th Nov 2017
Aja Frost, ‘The Ultimate Guide to Agile Sales’, HubSpot, 16th Jan 2018
Ankita Kaushik, ‘9 Tools and Techniques for Better Sales’, Agile CRM, 24th Jun 2016
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