I recently met with a senior marketing leader of a large multi-national organisation to discuss inbound marketing. We covered a lot of ground on digital marketing, the importance of a content-led strategy (particularly for B2B business with long, complex sales cycles), the way the buying life-cycle has changed and that business people are researching and buying online and that even if you are the dominant provider in your field there are many up and coming companies who are more agile, more customer focused who can easily cherry-pick your best customers.
No doubt this company would have the resources available to run comprehensive inbound marketing programs, but what was uncovered in our conversation was an even bigger marketing problem - there is little to no support for online marketing in the sales team and even at the executive level. However, for many of us who have worked in big multinational organisations, this is not surprising. The unwillingness to change, to try new approaches, even when you rationally have the reasons and data to do so, is a regular barrier to the adoption of new marketing programs. This is a big problem. How do you operate when this level of resistance to change exists?
As it happened, my reading list this summer included "Switch: How to change things when change is hard" by the authors Chip and Dan Heath. Switch is a must read if you're looking for ways to make change happen. It's very practical and is organised around a simple framework and filled with great, real-world examples which makes the book a fascinating and memorable read.
Throughout the book they use "Clinics" to provide hypothetical situations to apply what you've learned so far. So what better opportunity to look at the issue above through the lens of the "Switch" framework. When the change is too big and too hard - the status quo remains. So how do you make the change small enough not to scare people?
Chip and Dan talk about each person having a rational (rider) side and an emotional (elephant) side. For things to change you need to reach both. Direct the rider, motivate the elephant and clear the way to make it easy for them to change.
So in this instance, how would the switch framework apply?
Direct the rider
- Find the bright spots - are there any supporters in the sales team and the board? Why? What are they doing differently than the others? Have there been any digital marketing success stories that translate into business benefits? Are there any examples of customers looking for information online? If not can you engineer a project to demonstrate just that? Is there a particular geography that's more responsive to digital, more open to change, is there a particular product line that lends itself more easily to a digital marketing approach. Seek out the "bright spots" that are working and clone them.
- Script the critical moves - don't think big picture, instead think of the specific things that you'd like the sales team or marketing team to do.
- Point to the destination - when you know where you are going and why it's worth it, change is easier. What's the end goal for the sales team? More qualified leads? Exceeding their quotas? Going to Club? What's the goal for the company leaders? A more agile business? One that responds better to customers and competitors?
Motivate the elephant
- Find the feeling - make people feel something. Load piles of Monopoly money on the table to demonstrate the potential revenue slipping past by not engaging with prospects and customers online. Physically showing someone something is far more compelling than a Powerpoint presentation.
- Shrink the change - break it down into manageable chunks. Provide simple instructions on what you'd like people to do and start small. One extra phone call a day. One interaction on social media.
- Grow your people - cultivate a sense of identity. Is there a team that could be trained to be trusted advisors to the online channel?
Shape the path
- Tweak the environment - Are there problems in the situation or the systems used? When the situation changes the behaviour changes. Is there a way to make handling online inquiries easier? Is there a way to further qualify leads without the involvement of the direct sales team? Is there a way to alert reps when the leads they're interested in visits the website?
- Build habits - look for ways to encourage habits by setting "action triggers". For example, each morning after my coffee I will research on LinkedIn and call the online leads.
- Rally the herd - behaviour is contagious. By promoting the successes other will want to join the cause.
