Manage Change Like a Salesman

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Manage Change Like a Salesman

In order to make effective change, the manager has to believe in the change. It is top down. You hear words like "buy in" which means a manager has to talk up the change and make it practical and tangible to the people who are going to make the change.
Not all change is a choice, rather it's something that managers are mandated to enact. You have to believe in the change yourself in order for others to follow willingly and to make it most successful. Interesting that sales and marketing must be present in whatever quality to make the change more palatable.
Managers must know their demographic, players strengths and weaknesses, the "depth of the iceberg" and pitfalls that would make the change more difficult to enact.

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		0 Rafael Acosta Coach, United States
	We are Always Selling Rebecca, I just gave similar advice to Nityananda's HR problem, albeit more specific. No one wants to be a "pushy salesman", no one likes a pushy salesman, all things being equal, people will do business with friends, all things being unequal people will still do business with friends. Tangible goods, service, concepts they all need to be sold. Sales makes the world go around, we do it everyday. If you are not sold on the change forget about it. Thank You for your insight. Raf.

		1 Lindhout Entrepreneur, Netherlands
	Change and Sales are All About Listening and Influencing I fully agree. Leading a change is setting the direction. Founded on a certain basis, but enhanced by a (large) number of people. This takes listening, motivating, stimulating, influencing, being creative, etc. All these are the skills of a salesman. So I fully agree.

		1 Rick Garlick United States
	Selling is About Creating Urgency and Begins with Communication I'm on board as well. The key ingredient for any change or any sale that needs to happen is creating that sense of urgency. It is the first step (regardless of who you read this from or how they word it) and if it doesn't happen, then change won't happen. I have found that the urgency is a product of time and money. It is indirectly proportional to the amount of time you have - low time frame, higher sense of urgency. However when there is little money, it seems to stall change (change can often be equated to increased spending). Lastly, if we are to sell change as Rebecca suggests, we need to realize that it takes time. We need to start the process well in advance and communicate what is to come - market the change as much as possible for as long as possible prior to actually moving into the actual change process.