A key element of IBM CEO Sam Palmisano’s remaking of the firm’s sales organization is to make the company more nimble. Nimble firms (1) constantly monitor and communicate with customers, (2) are proactive of reactive in meeting needs, (3) practice adaptive selling by carefully sensing customer needs in each interaction and adapting the from and message and message of the communication to those needs, and (4) are flexible at all times and open to creative and out-of-the-box solutions.
Palmisano has opened the door for IBM’s sales organization to be more nimble by providing clarity of vision and direction via four major strategies:
• Salespeople don’t work as individuals anymore. New tactics group them into teams to serve selected large customers, or small and medium sized customers. The system decreases confusion for the customer and allows salespeople to drive sales through the pipeline faster.
• Every salesperson follows the same seven-step selling method to ensure consistency. The strategy keeps everybody-from field reps to Palmisano-on the same page regarding sales leads.
• One universal reporting system takes the guesswork out of numbers. Instead of wasting valuable meeting times debating whose calculations are correct, the system makes sure all numbers are consistent. Meetings are devoted to coaching, coming up with solutions to problems, and discussing leads.
• The sales organization strictly adheres to a cadence of meetings, which allows sellers to be in the field more because they are expected to attend only one 30-minute meeting with their direct managers each week. The meeting structure ensures the flow of information, decisions, and coaching among sellers, managers, and executives.
Palmisano, his senior executive team, and in fact IBM’s sales organization as a whole are committed to being the best sales organization in the world. They aim to do this by focusing on understanding and serving their customers through value-added selling. IBM is going to be a great sales force to watch over the next several years as they execute these new strategies.
Source: Erin Strout, “Sales& Marketing Management, March, pp. 25-29. Reprinted with permission.