Consistency is Key to Aligning Sales Teams After an Acquisition

“Disruptive” enthusiasts often value strategies based on how far they deviate from established practices rather than on their merits. Moreover, “disruption” has become a catch-all for originality and boldness, despite concerns that people will “twist it and use it to justify whatever they wanted to do in the first place,” as explained by academic Clayton M. Christensen, the first to publish on the theory.

The fact remains: results come from consistency.

Consistency is key to aligning sales teams after an acquisition. However, achieving this consistency challenges sales professionals to adopt new methods and practices. Here, we look at ways in which a sales leader can create alignment so that everyone on the field is using the same playbook.

Use Collaboration to Create Buy-In

Driving consistent selling takes time. Therefore, sales leaders need to be sure that the destination is the right one. In the stages immediately following an acquisition, sales professionals need to come together and determine what strategy they want to embrace. Essentially, the question that the group must answer is “Who do we want to be?” Time spent at this stage will pay dividends later. Involvement from all sales professionals is critical; each person needs a say if the sales leader is to achieve widespread buy-in. The goal is not to form an “average” of all the opinions at the table. Rather, the intent should be to provide a forum in which everyone has a voice. The goal is to walk away with a sales strategy that will guide all subsequent decisions.

Draft a Customer Experience Framework

Use "Force Multipliers" to Boost Engagement

Sales leaders need to remain realistic about driving consistency. Aligning teams and practices is a gradual process. Too often, leaders overestimate the short-term impacts. In reality, however, “Only 27 percent of acquisitions are able to help a company grow faster than its historical rate or keep pace with its peers,” according to Deloitte. Beating these odds requires a repeatable process that builds on small but regular gains. Additionally, leaders should communicate this fact to the sales professionals. Allow time for revising and reshaping the approach as overarching strategies take shape.

Consistency is about more than boosting sales. Consistency matters because without it, sales leaders will never have a clear idea of what is working and what isn’t. While disruptive innovation chases what people think will be different in the future, consistency embraces what won’t change: the value that comes from a customer focus.