HOW we did it…
II) HOW we did it.
Our research was conducted in an environment that encouraged study and creative processes, and was supported by observations and measurements in our quest to obtain the very best answers for the demands of over three thousand executives, managers and professionals in complex sales who were working in ten multinationals in the Information Technology and Communications sector (Claro America Movil, Telefónica, Autodesk, Microsoft Dynamics, Symantec, Cable & Wireless, among others); targetting specific affiliates located in a dozen countries.
Conscious Complex Sales
The project made notable progress when we arrived at simple answers to questions regarding how to provide flexibility and adaptability to the modern role of B2B sales in times of dramatic changes; answers to questions regarding how can we make it easier to see the trees without losing sight of the forest in the middle of complexity; questions regarding how to make proposals that enable quantum leaps in sales productivity with small changes; and how can we offer a generic complement for organizations and / or sales methodologies at all levels of sophistication.
To be more explicit, without being overly verbose, below we highlight some specific tasks that led us to our significant findings and developments:
1. Studies that seek to compensate human limitations, particularly difficulties in our brain to handle the increasing complexity present in strategic sales; these conclusions have been reached by cognitive neuroscientists, and our focus on them have opened an effective way to greater simplification without losing depth, not to mention the discovery of structures of interrelated variables that interconnect business disciplines with a systemic and integrated vision.
2. An analysis of the dynamic complexity (in contrast to the analysis of the details complexity) plus the integration of disciplines that revolve around selling, helped us to identify “attractors” (which are, in fact, similar to the ones in Chaos Theory) which enabled us to identify trends, thus facilitating the forecast events in the midst of uncertainty, and, ultimately, improved prediction in business opportunities.
3. An analysis of how pressure, plus the many interruptions that scatter our attention, as well as the lack of time, all impacting the objectivity required for decision-making during complex sales, helped our labor to provide tools that promote mental clarity and, therefore, enabled us to build tools to facilitate conscious and certain decision-making in spite of these distractors.
4. Measurements of the diametrical changes that have occurred in the symmetry of the buyer-seller relationship (purchasing-sales) led us to discover that in the interactions that are intended to influence complex sales, “timing” is a factor of greater relevance than had ever been considered before. It was surprising to find exorbitant “out-of-sync” levels in business connections, which all have tremendous impact on sales productivity, as well as on clients’ trust, and satisfaction.
5. Due to this understanding that the seller’s influence should not only be directed towards the client’s growing network of decision makers and users, but also towards an internal network that includes numerous sales teams, internal control and approval organizations, suppliers, partners and allies, amongst others, we were able to go even further and associate the processes that seek to influence business with those human processes that are present in everyday life; we finally confirmed how business techniques can be strengthened if we are aware of the basic structure of our own mental processes in our daily lives.
Once we explained the why of our direction and how we did it, next article is about “What we developed”.