Amazing success applying Lean to sales does not come overnight. It is achieved through continuous improvement one step at a time. As the Vice President of Toyota said, “The most important thing for Toyota is people. Toyota is all about teaching and training people and building a culture of continuous improvement.” You want to achieve sustained success not a quick flash and then burn. People try to change too much at once, and then they fall back into old habits. Sustained success comes with gradual change. It’s the compound effect of building one improvement on another.
In our previous blog posts and podcasts, we discussed locating and analyzing the disconnects in your sales process and execution. As we mentioned, you don’t want to act and spend money in the wrong place. So, let’s quickly recap where we are so far on our journey to success. We suggested that you create a value stream for your sales process. Next, we suggested you define, measure, and analyze the problems. Now it is time to select the problem that occurs the most frequently and has the most significant impact on your sales.
Next Steps
Your goal is to solve the problem while also building a Lean culture.I’m sure that your team has made multiple suggestions to resolve the issue. Therefore, it is critical the sales team agrees to the solution you are going to test and takes ownership of the success. The next decision is the scope of the area or salespersons you want to include in the pilot. In addition to an organizational scope, you also need to set a time parameter.
Management and company leaders must buy into the pilot of the solution and agree to support it wholeheartedly. Many projects fail because there is no senior management commitment and everyday business gets in the way. So, the team needs a sales leader and a senior management leader who is actively engaged in the project. The senior leader must not just provide inspiring words and spot checks. He or she must also understand the problem and solution and attend milestone meetings. It is the management team that must take responsibility for removing roadblocks to success.
Deliverables
One of the key deliverables in evaluating success is the KPI (Key Performance Indicator) report. The pilot team direct supervisor will take responsibility to gather and report the metrics. At your milestone meeting, you can review the report and decide on any adjustments or improvements to the improvement plan.
Implementing
It isn’t over when the pilot ends. That is the time to review the results, make any tweaks, and then cascade the new process to the rest of the sales force. As Paul Akers, author of 2 Second Lean, says, “Lean is not a rigid business tool. Lean is a platform for creativity, innovation, and lots of laughter.” Make the sharing meeting fun as well as informative. In his book, Akers tells the story of employees in an international bank that shared their success by dressing up in the office waste they eliminated. The point is to get the employees involved and excited.
Sustaining
In his latest book, Big Potential, author, speaker, and researcher Shawn Achor reveals new research that shows those around us influence every dimension of our human potential. You can achieve your highest potential when your work with othersey i as a team. So, get everyone involved and sharing. It is also essential to make people accountable and to keep them focused on the goal. It is easy for everyone to get distracted. So, it is critical you communicate constantly from the top down and between employees. It will ensure they stay focused and engaged.
Celebrate Your Success
Finally, don’t forget to celebrate the successes. That doesn’t mean handing out Visa gift cards for every problem solved. There are many ways to acknowledge success, such as words of affirmation, quality time with a manager or senior executive, helping one another at crunch time, a handshake or a high five for a job well done. Of course, tangible gifts at the right timeare good rewards for those who appreciate them. Gary Chapman has an excellent guidebook called, The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace.
Communication
But, as Lean leadership expert Jamie Parker says, core beliefs drive behavior. So, she recommends communicating a clear message frequently, varied and often. As I said, get everyone involved. Make it fun and celebrate successes. Work at it consistently, and the compound effect will produce amazing results!
Resources for succeeding with LEAN:
Akers, Paul A, (2017) 2 Second Lean, Ferndale, WA: FastCap Press
Mann, David, (2010). Creating A Lean Culture: Tools to Sustain Lean Conversions (3rd Edition), Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Rother, Mike, (2010). Toyota KATA: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness, and Superior Results. New York: McGraw-Hill
About the Author: Phyllis Mikolaitis is a sales coach, author, and speaker with over 30 years’ global experience. She is dedicated to taking you beyond the typical “how to” courses to the heart of persuasion techniques incorporating insights and stories to win the sale.
Phyllis has also had training in Leadership Through Quality, Six Sigma and Lean. She is certified in Process Improvement in Print and is now working with organizations on Lean and People-Centered Leadership.
Visit Phyllis and her business partner John Switzer on other pages on this site www.salestrainingsolutions.com. The links on our website allow you to listen to our podcasts or catch up on past blog posts on this and other sales topics. For Lunch and Learn sessions, face-to-face or virtual training and coaching contact us at 703-819-5872.
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