Today’s business challenges are an evolution, not a revolution.
True or false: commercial excellence requires radical changes if your organization wants to stay competitive.
We’ve heard many customers argue its truth. Switching to remote or hybrid sales commercial models is today’s holy grail, sought after by every self-respecting sales organization.
It impacts almost every part of the organization, from leadership to field force, from human resources to finance, and from marketing to customer service. At least, that’s the ‘feeling’ that arises with many leaders as they try to make sense of radically altered market dynamics. We understand, but we respectfully disagree. And with us the many leaders that have invested in commercial excellence over the years. Because today’s circumstances are not a revolution, but merely the logical next step in business evolution. Those who adapt will thrive. Those that will not, perish.
How to adapt? Motion5 presents: Dynamic Stability©.
A customer centric approach
Dynamic Stability© is best described as an organizational philosophy in which agility, customer-centric thinking, and working with dynamic virtual customer teams is the norm. Stability comes from a uniform structure and modus operandi (MO), characterized by a repeatable process, a common language, and clear key decision points. We developed Dynamic Stability© for markets that are in a constant state of flux. In such markets, companies are forced to change their approach to customers, to become more agile in all areas to succeed in this changing landscape.
Agility
In today’s reality, effective sales professionals have to be agile, especially when it comes to winning complex sales projects. This is nothing new; the correlation between sales success and sales agility has been around for decades. Markets are different; cultures are different; companies are different. Furthermore, a growing number of stakeholders are involved in decision making, all with different identities, values, and beliefs. And the product or service requirements that a customer started out with can morph and change as they journey through the Customer Buying Cycle.
Outperforming competitors through commercial excellence
At the beginning of the cycle, customers tend to think more creative as they are looking for alternative solutions. Later on, the thinking process becomes more formal to reduce the number of options via an ‘objective’ selection process. The route to outperforming your competitors begins with a clear-eyed view of what matters most. To be persuasive and engaging with multiple stakeholders, it is critical to create and articulate value, not just for the person in front of you but for everyone involved in the decision process. Competitive sales requires certain competencies, like working with dynamic (virtual) teams, project leadership, unbiased situation appraisals, building winning strategies, inspiring people, and making sure the buying- and selling processes are in sync. All while keeping tabs on shifting grounds. Clearly, sales is a precision operation that requires a team effort to be successful. That’s why teams win deals, not because they present assumably better features and benefits.
Winning the deal
Many salespeople complain about their internal organization. Common complaints include that ‘selling’ an opportunity to internal stakeholders is complicated, resources are limited and difficult to allocate, and prioritization is crucial. The internal decision-making process may seem driven by daily challenges, such as doing the urgent before the important. In Dynamic Stability©, the organization is customer centric. The customer’s strategic direction is what matters most. By aligning solutions to that strategy, you increase the investment’s importance and win the deal.
Structure creates flexibility
Dynamic Stability© is not the contradiction it may seem. One simply cannot do without the other. An organization benefits from having a uniform commercial structure and simple processes that everybody understands. These are then upheld by systems to support a proactive, dynamic approach to customers. If you want significant competitive advantages in today’s marketplace, best-in-class commercial capabilities are essential. A common structure and Modus Operandi based on best practices. Combined with the willingness to adopt these standards and mindset to make them flourish, building a strong, agile commercial organization is fundamental.
Continuous improvement
High-performance companies and their leaders across sectors continuously assess their commercial capabilities to find areas where significant improvements are possible. Stability is not fixed, nor is it a synonym for inflexibility. It is part of a learning organization. With our experience, companies can finetune their chosen structure to improve the agility of sales teams. Dynamic Stability© has been at the core of Motion5 since our very beginning, some 18 years ago. Today, with markets becoming increasingly volatile, we bring forward the concept of Dynamic Stability© in our Commercial Excellence solutions for customers.
From process to mindset
A commercially excellent organization is more than the sum of its parts. How much more? That depends on the way those components are attuned to each other. This is why we believe in an integral approach: from process to mindset. Motion5 created a complete program designed to improve those individual components and smartly connect them to co-create a ComEx organization based on the principles of Dynamic Stability©.