Part 1 – The challenge
Steve, the CEO of Widgets Inc, sits at the board room table staring at his notepad and thinking of the week ahead. The board meeting is tomorrow, his leadership meeting in a few hours.
He has three words written on his page, new normal recovery.
He and his team have guided the company through a tough few months, facing the most serious pandemic in living memory. This year’s pipeline was strong in January, but many new orders have either slipped or gone away completely. One positive is that existing customers considered it too risky to move, so their renewals are strong.
Their world is now very different in only a few months, and this ‘different’ is not going anywhere soon he fears.
Customers are placing their spending plans under greater scrutiny and expect suppliers to demonstrate value rather than pitch products. Buyers are not playing the same game they have in the past and his sales team will need to adapt quickly if they are to do more than survive.
His thoughts drift momentarily to the board meeting tomorrow, and the questions that will be asked of him. They need a plan from Steve, one that steers a way through this uncertainty and produces predictable sales performance, accelerated growth and greater market share.
He ponders what “new normal recovery” truly means for Widgets, especially their sales and marketing efforts if he is to steer them back to growth. Their current approach is not going to be enough and the whole team will need to step up.
Working harder and doing more of the same is one option.
But Steve can’t help but feel there is a better way. One that transforms their sales approach and delivers a more sustainable path to growth.
Steve is concerned. He sees some challenges ahead and mumbles to himself quietly as he leans back in his chair, “we need to change”.
He makes a note – our salespeople need to be the value creators for customers, not our competitors.
He now has a focus for the leadership team discussion. “How will they react?” he wonders.
Find out in part 2 how they developed their growth plan.