The nature of B2B continues to evolve at an exponential rate. The task of selling is getting harder as competition continues to evolve, intensify and specialize.

Salespeople are facing market demands that are increasingly extremely difficult to deal with – i.e., decreased product uniqueness, the constant shift in market needs, larger new market entrants with superior vertical specialization creating “safe” markets, more profound reliance on third-party software integrators, shorter products lifespan, longer sales cycle.

Every organization that intended to survive in this ever-evolving environment must tackle these realities.

The question is how an organization leader can assist its sales force to stay competitive and relevant in the face of growing new market complexity and uncertainties? What should leaders focus on to remain competitive and leading-edge?

The following principals provide a framework that can ensure survival, progress, and success.

1- Kaizen Innovation Philosophy

Kaizen is the Japanese word that means “constant, continuous improvement” in everything one does. An organization that focuses primarily on product innovation alone will create a limited competitive edge.

Rather than relying mostly on R&D to improve product cycles, the company, its executive management team and everyone that serves it, should focus on progressive continuous innovation in everything the company does to help its customers, employees, and shareholders.

Which leads to the fact that everyone within the company should embrace innovative thinking in all areas of the business, including product lines development, distribution channels, operation, talent development, sales and marketing process, strategic planning and customer engagement.

Kaizen innovation is all about achieving incremental progress at all level regardless of hierarchical position or job function. To reach this heightened state of mindset, will require liberating everyone in the organization to become an innovator, a contributor to thoughts, ideas, and insights as well as a difference-maker within one capacity.

Small contributions should be celebrated to pave the way for more significant audacious, transformative ideas.

Most organization pay a wage according to output based on function and performances. Interestingly, the most prominent production source of idea and genius often lie dormant in the mind of its employees, no one ever asks for it.

Creating disengaged, dissatisfied employees whose oft-expressed number one desire is to join another company who appreciates not only the hand’s output but the mind as well. Performing a job function well is the essence of a job well done.

However, neglecting to ask all employees for mental contributions beyond the job requirement is often the areas that most companies miss the most significant ROI and breakthrough advancements.

B2B sales professionals generate incredible field intelligence back into the organization. Most of this competitive intelligence gathered is often dismissed or labeled as “fad disruptors,” “sales panic syndrome” until reality sets in when these disruptors become power household names with significant market share.

Salespeople job satisfaction has a lot to do with being an integral part of an organization that value people contributions beyond meeting sales metrics.

The Gallup Organization concluded based on an extensive survey in 2012 that only 30% of the U.S. workforce was engaged and inspired at work, with 20% disengaged, active spreading discontent and seeking to undermine their employer.

A more extensive Gallup study of 142 countries concluded that only 13% of employees were engaged at work, while 24% were disengaged. Numerous studies have shown that when you commit employees’ hands and minds, and you treat everyone as “human being” capable of extraordinary thoughts beyond job function, rather than a “human doing” limited to job function description.

Job satisfaction soars, employee engagement increases and creativity expands.

2- Purpose-Based Thinking

Establishing direction, creating a vision and coalescing everyone behind it, is a good start. However, building a purpose-driven organization, where everyone is engaged adequately to make a positive difference and create a competitive edge far beyond the obvious.

Purpose creates faithful believers who will go above and beyond job duties every time because they care about something much more significant than personal gain.

Mission and purpose allow people to surrender to the higher authority of “serving others” in creative ways that creates a wow factor and generate customer satisfaction.

Purpose-driven companies move beyond the dilapidating daily crisis-based firefighting thinking to opportunity-based innovative thinking model.

Purpose-driven organizations indirectly Run a connectedness matrix that elevates performance game, accelerate mind-share power and permit fluidity of thoughts and friction-less accelerated strategic and tactical organizational changes.

“The one characteristic of authentic power that most people overlook is humbleness. It is important for many reasons. A humble person walks in a friendly world. He or she sees friends everywhere he or she looks, wherever he or she goes, whomever he or she meets. His or her perception goes beyond the shell of appearance and into essence.” – Gary Zokav

3- Modest Leadership

People leave organizations where they do not feel recognized for their contributions or when others claim credit for their work. Modest leaders acknowledge that everyone work should be appreciated, credited and celebrated regardless of its significance.

This philosophy boost morale, promotes fairness, collective contributions, and team cohesiveness and collaboration to achieve organizational goals.

Significant achievements are never created in a vacuum. You can almost trace every accomplishment to multiple factors that made it possible.

Great performances are the results of numerous cross-functional teams performing in a harmonious sequence to achieve the intended results.

The strengths of the group reflect the ability of the leader to connect people behind the company purpose and align everyone regardless of function or position behind the company reason of being.

Besides, a leader should focus on a small limited number of critical priorities.  You can engage people to handle three to five priorities, beyond that the message and purpose get lost.

Message reinforcement must be communicated on a consistent basis to drive adoption and core behavioral change.

Leadership openness and authenticity, free of command-and-control mantra, where people feel acknowledged, recognized for their contributions and efforts tend to outperform, outthink and outdo their market peers.

 4- Growth Through Collaboration

Focusing on customers current and future needs will invariably lead you to unchartered territories.

Leaders can produce great teams and deliver superior company performance as a consequence of the effort to realize customers and employee’s innovative ideas.

Creating an internal culture that is passionate for growth, where growing continuously and breaking through norm and limitations should be as important as the focus to increase the top and bottom line, being that most meaningful exponential growth is often the result of innovations that meet or exceed current market demand.

Being growth-focused means that the leader needs to consider internal employees and the external customer as a constant source of honest feedback to implement the necessary changes.

In order to meet market demand while dismantling quickly failed model and replacing them with radically improved business models that will enhance the organization competitiveness.

“Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity. The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply. When we listen with curiosity, we don’t listen with the intent to reply. We listen for what’s behind the words.”- Roy T. Bennett 

5- Customer-Centricity Through Partnership

Being customer-centric is a requirement for survival for any organization. Companies that ignore this fact are doomed to failure. However, fulfilling customer needs to the best of one ability does not go far enough in term of customer retention, loyalty and repeat business.

A new mindset of customer oneness is vital to creating a competitive advantage. Selling a product that meets or exceed customer satisfaction is no longer enough.

Today’s customer wants their ideas, input, and feedback to be manifested in the product they buy and the companies they patronize.

Engaged customers provide a valuable resource, allowing the organization to get customer first-hand precise perspective of product enhancement, iteration, expectations, and innovative break-through.

Impersonating the customer, allows the organization to produce exceptional products and services and when an organization thinks and operates as its customers. It creates a customer base that is loyal, broad and promotes companies across multiple social platforms that support innovative organizations that encourage customer perspectives, wants and needs.

6- Breakthrough performance 

Great performances in sales or any industry and across functions are often tied to few principles that support quick decision-making, alignment among vitals financial, technical, and operational platforms necessary to speed the process of innovation and issue resolution to achieve optimum performance. Once a leader achieves total congruence and alignment among cross-functional teams. He can quickly tackle ambiguities across the organization and focus on a growth trajectory.

Rather than focus primarily on output generation, such as profit and productivity. Breakthrough performance requires concentrating on specific vital inputs that lead to superior outputs.

Conclusion

Incorporating the above-outlined principals can speed growth, allow people to perform at a higher level and will facilitate the building of a competitive edge to succeed in the marketplace.

The organization leader must take a stand to create an environment that induces people to think forward and act to pull the company ahead.

To achieve this goal, may require the company to enter new markets, engage new demographic, or add new capabilities. Also, addressing critical organizational vulnerabilities swiftly will ensure successful execution, eliminate inherent shortcoming and shield the company against competitor’s threats.

Revenue and profit goals are crucial to the survival of the organization. However, leaders should always leverage the power of innovation and purpose as a means to strengthen the financial standing of the company, its brand, and cultural health.

Strategic priorities should be specific items that every employee understands unequivocally regardless of function or rank. The leaders should ensure that customer oneness is a cultural foundation that drives the company innovative progress and growth.

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