Communicating the New Sales Comp Plan: Key Steps Part 3
This is a continuation of our blog series, Designing Your 2018 Sales Compensation Plan. Want to begin at the beginning? Click here.
In my last two blogs I’ve written about communicating the sales compensation plan. Click to read: Part I: Start Strong, or Part 2: Craft the Change Story
3. See the Organization’s View
Company culture plays a huge role in making change. Some cultures operate on stability and are naturally change averse, while others are change tolerant and even change seeking. It’s important to know the organization’s and individuals’ comfort level with change in order to message and manage well.
Assume that most people will see any change as potentially negative. This is particularly true when it comes to compensation. From a sales organization view, unless the current compensation plan is a complete disaster, they often assume the only reason to change the plan is to manage pay or improve the company’s financial position. “If you have a sales program that allows people to make money, and you want to make a change to compensation plan, you have to be crisp and clear about what those changes mean. Otherwise, the immediate thought process of a salesperson is, ‘They’re trying to figure out how to take money out of my family’s life,’” says Jeff Schmidt, global head of business continuity, security, and governance for BT Global Services.
Beyond risk, resistance also comes from reluctance to alter routines. If the new incentive plan steers the organization toward new products or perhaps selling to new customers beyond their current accounts, that can be plain uncomfortable.
In our work, we see that about 20 percent of an organization are acceptors and embrace the new plan without argument. Another 50 percent are observers who will wait and see. If the plan is designed, communicated, and managed well, this group will usually join the first group of acceptors. But as much as 30 percent of the organization may resist the new plan. The resistors range from passive resistors to active resistors.
You may recognize some of the passive resistance behaviors, which include apparent confusion, hesitancy to act, and lack of urgency. On the aggressive side, behaviors might include outright opposition and involvement in trying to change the course of the implementation by demonstrating why the program will not work. The good news is that most resistors tend to be on the passive side, although they are not always easy to identify and engage. The key to working with passive resistors is to connect, sense, and communicate at the field level to understand their resistance points before the implementation. If ignored, their resistance can become contagious. As for active resistors, they’ll test leadership’s resolve for change, as we’ll describe shortly.
Contact me at mark.donnolo@salesglobe.com with any questions.
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