In Sales Management, the Waning Power of "Push" and "Pull ...

by Andris A. Zoltners, PK Sinha, and Sally E. Lorimer??|??10:00 AM December 19, 2012

Salespeople generally have a great deal of autonomy in deciding which customers and products to focus on, how hard to work, and who to collaborate with. At the same time, sales leaders and managers try to affect the choices salespeople make using two predominant forms of influence ? "push" and "pull".

Sales managers "push" salespeople by directing activities and demanding results. The extreme case of "push" is the command-and-control way of working, where leaders determine what needs to be achieved and how it will be achieved, and they drive processes to cascade their directives down the sales ranks.

At the same time, companies "pull" salespeople by setting goals and providing incentives and recognition for success. By attaching a reward to outcomes ? for example, a bonus for goal achievement, or an incentive trip for performing in the top 10% of the sales force ? salespeople are "pulled" to accomplish those outcomes.

You can "push" or direct salespeople if you know which direction to push. And you can "pull" if the rewards are meaningful to salespeople and the rewards themselves do not distract salespeople from critical and appropriate sales tasks.

But because of four pervasive and inter-linked threads of change happening in many sales environments today, the power of push and pull is eroding.

First, the increasing "democratization" of information creates a world in which customers and salespeople no longer rely as much on information from headquarters for making buying and selling decisions. Customers can learn much about a company's offerings online. Salespeople, too, can easily access information about customers and/or competitive offerings with the click of a mouse. As customers and local salespeople become better informed, the value of "push" gets weakened.

Second, the generation of "digital natives" that comprise a large part of today's sales work force is communication and technology-savvy and more team-oriented. The people in this cohort don't rely on a simple vertical conduit of information from their managers. They constantly reach out on their own to get work-related information, often using social media. They are "push" unfriendly.

Third, in many sales environments, customers are less dependent on salespeople to develop solutions to their problems. Customers are asserting control over the buying process, and therefore the selling process. More and more, salespeople have to collaborate with, rather than sell to, customers. Too much "push" and "pull" creates friction and dissonance and little success in such a world.

Fourth, when sales processes are complex or require teamwork, the power of short-term individual incentives ("pull") gets weaker. Numerous studies have shown how incentives become a distraction to the completion of complex tasks.

If "push" and "pull" are losing their power, then where should leaders go from here?

It's time to step back from "push" and "pull" to focus on the "person." Just as sales leaders and managers have to adapt to the new realities of managing salespeople, so do salespeople need to adapt to the new selling environment. Success requires a different breed of salesperson ? a self-directed synthesizer, problem-solver and team player. Gone is the celebrated model of sales success from yesterday ? the rugged individualist driven by personal achievement and money. Sales leaders and managers must build a sales team of people with the right characteristics (innate traits and abilities) for success in today's world. And they must align sales development programs (training, coaching, and mentoring) to help people develop new competencies (learned skills and knowledge). At the same time, salespeople must be armed (not "pushed" and "pulled") with a value-adding sales process, supported by the right tools, resources, and information.

Sales force leaders, managers, and salespeople must adapt to a new way of working; those who can't adapt will not survive. It's time to help the people change, or to change the people.

Source: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/12/in_sales_management_the_waning_power.html

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