Breakfast with a forward-thinking client brought up a situation. Back in my office, I realized that several of my ongoing clients are struggling with this same issue. The easiest way to explain it is to use a ladder as an example.

Organizations have hierarchies. There is no such thing as a truly flat or demographic organization because somebody has to be in charge. Someone has to set the direction and that someone is usually the CEO, the corporate visionary. In most organizations the CEO is also the CSO and this newsletter addresses the responsibilities of the CSO.

Begin by thinking of the CEO/CSO being on the third rung of the ladder, the sales leader (VP, sales manager, etc.) is on the second rung and the salespeople are on the first rung.  

You learn through a conference, book or article that your organization needs to go to the next level so you decide to go up to the fourth rung. You now need for your sales leader to move up to the third rung and your salespeople to move up to the second rung.

What will happen in real life? 

Your sales leader is in a precarious position. They have two choices: try to meet your expectations and pull up everyone on the team or meet the expectations of the sales team and try to convince you that moving up is not the best idea. In other words, if they have thirty salespeople they can either try to convince thirty reluctant people to change their behavior or they can try to convince one executive to change theirs. You are trying to pull them up while their salespeople may be trying to hold them back. After all, change is uncomfortable for many people. In their position, what would you do?

This is even more complicated when the salesperson carries a bag or is compensated on sales results.

The Solution

You will need to outsell your best salesperson.

Answer this question: "Why is it in the salesperson's best interest they move up?" Once you know why it's in their best interest, you're ready to move forward with one of three approaches: 

• Carrot - offer a reward for moving up. The reward must be higher than the perceived cost of changing.

• Stick - explain the downside of not moving up. This can include changes in the compensation program or even continued employment.

• Burn the boats - announce that the change is happening and ask for ideas for implementation. There will be no discussion about whether or not it is a good idea - the die  has been cast, now it's just a matter of implementation.