Aligning Your Sales Team with Your Strategy
by Neil Baron and Charu Manglani
Product strategy built in corporate headquarters tends to face friction during the sales process and resistance from the sales organization. At the ‘Product Executive Form’ held in early December, we discussed the importance of aligning the sales leadership with the overarching organization strategy.
Where is the friction?
Misalignment of goals between sales and product poses a major challenge. Sales teams have a short-term focus as their compensation structure is linked to generating revenue quarter on quarter. The product team on the contrary, has a longer-term view about the positioning of the product in the overall roadmap.
Products designed in silos can face resistance from the sales team if the product-market-customer fit and positioning is not clearly defined and explained. Lack of clarity about who will buy the product and why, can make sales lose confidence in the product and they resist selling it. It is critical for the product team to understand salespeople’s credibility with their customers is their most important asset and they will be reluctant to risk it to sell a product they are not convinced about. Product people need to be mindful of the fact that salespeople have a different appetite for risk. While they embrace risk by accepting a variable pay structure, they can be very risk averse when it comes to their own reputations and selling new products.
Strategies work best when the broader view of the product team is translated into relatable concepts and data points that can be easily understood and communicated to the customer. For instance, in regulated industries such as finance and healthcare, the implications of not communicating the regulations can lead to wasted efforts to pursue an opportunity that is not permitted by law.
How to create better Sales-Product Team alignment?
Involve the sales team in the product development process as the voice of the customer. This would not only ensure that the customer’s needs are incorporated but also help to secure the buy-in of the sales function from the start. The need is to build an iterative loop of seeking inputs for product development and further feedback to refine the product and the messaging.
New products and services require new sales delivery models alongside new business models. Evaluate the current incentive structure and what motivates the sales team. You cannot successfully adopt a new strategy without getting your sales team onboard with a new incentive structure. For example, a company wanting to move to a subscription-based business model, can no longer continue to incentivize on immediate sale but pay incentives when it earns the revenue.
Align the metrics used to assess the performance of the sales team, to the goals of your product strategy. To build consistency in achieving sales, make sure that the sales team is focused on building a sales pipeline that the product team has defined as a good fit for the product. This would help to reduce reliance on adhoc opportunities that can disrupt carefully developed roadmaps.
Effectively equip your sales team
Train the sales team to sell to the needs and problems of the customer. Make it easy for your salespeople. They are competing with time to close the deal. Build a sales playbook that provides them with insights and expert advice about what is happening in the market and speaks directly to the positioning and messaging of the product.
Create a sales model where salespeople have the training, tools and support resources to accelerate the customer through their buying process. Open information flow on both sides is critical to build sales confidence. Empathy to their personal pressures and stresses can be the key to achieving alignment with the sales team.
About PEF
The Product Executive Forum or PEF is an exclusive, by invitation only program for senior executives that are responsible for the product management or product marketing function. Learn more about PEF here: https://www.bostonproducts.org/product-executives-forum
Note: If you are a VP or Director in Product Management/Marketing and interested in sharing best practices with your peers, please contact Neil Baron, at nbaron@baronstrategic.com
About the Authors
Neil Baron has served in a variety of senior marketing and management roles at companies such as IBM, Digital Equipment Corporation, Sybase, Art Technology Group, Brooks Automation and ATMI. He is passionate about involving customers throughout the go-to-market process. In 2009, he started Baron Strategic Partners, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations launch groundbreaking products and services and re-energize older ones.
Charu Manglani has worked in the banking and asset management industry in strategy & advisory roles. Charu is passionate about learning and applying new ways of building and improvising products. Her current focus is on exploring optimal applications of emerging technologies in designing user friendly products.