Creativity vs Consistency, do we really have to fight?
How many times have you felt like trying something new on the phone, mixing it up a bit, only to finish the day with worse results than usual? You have a hunch that with more time this new pitch will flourish, but how much more time do you need? Dare you risk ruining your month for the gamble of a new approach?
It’s a contradiction inherent within sales development, employees are hired for their energy, creativity and ambition to find a way to achieve challenging goals but are then funnelled into days with high activity targets and lots of meetings. There isn’t always the freedom for creativity and exploration. And when activity targets are pressingly high, it’s much easier to rely on a generic pitch without considering what’s uniquely important to the prospect.
Does that mean we should get rid of high targets and ‘focus on quality’ instead?
For those wanting to hear a Yes, I’m sorry the answer is No!
Why?
High activity targets are necessary because they’re an education, or better phrased they are revision. Has anybody read a piece of text once and been ready to sit an exam on it? The more times you read and interrogate that text, the better results you’ll get. It’s the same with making phone calls, the more you make the better you get.
How is it possible to try out new pitches when under pressure to achieve high activity targets?
Firstly, it should be a Manager lead team activity for a minimum of one day at a time (a Friday every couple of weeks is great). A competition to see who can generate the best results by trying something new, is a good idea. At worst it’ll be a bit of fun, keeping things fresh and giving reps time to think critically about their approach. And at best, the stakes are high, a new method to generate better results will be found.
Sounds simple enough, what could go wrong?
Taking a day to try new things means daily metrics will not be achieved, which negatively affects the company’s pipeline.
Some reps may feel distracted from their day job and would rather carry on as usual.
Potential to ‘mess up’ a chance with a good prospect by a new approach that doesn’t work.
It’s hard to know if a new pitch doesn’t work, or if you haven’t simply given it enough time.
Here’s how to handle those potential challenges:
Taking a day to try new things means daily metrics will not be achieved, which negatively affects the company’s pipeline.
The team should overachieve their metrics in advance of the ‘try new things’ day. It’s also very important to explain to senior management what the plans are, and the reasons behind them. It’s brilliant to try new things, as long as it doesn’t compromise overall company performance.
Some reps may feel distracted from their day job and would rather carry on as usual.
Not everybody likes trying new things, and it may well be the case that the rep has an important call to make that day, and they need to focus, exceptions can be made here.
But if the rep is in a comfort zone and simply doesn’t want to try something new, then it’s a lack of confidence manifesting as a bad attitude. Work with them to improve their confidence. And if you don’t see a turnaround in their willingness to take part, you should question their role in the Team.
Potential to ‘mess up’ a chance with a good prospect by a new approach that doesn’t work.
Practise on colleagues first and then pitch gatekeepers before going for it! Often you get better results sounding fresh and real instead of automating the same old script.
It’s hard to know if a new approach doesn’t work, or if it hasn’t been given enough time.
Identify what your early metrics of success are. For example, the % of dials put through by the gatekeeper, the length of the first conversation with a decision maker, or open rate of emails. If the early metrics look good, then keep going! You could be the one to find a way to make the company more money, be hailed a hero and increase your commission. Who doesn’t want that as a prize?
