Launching a new product is met with resistance from your sales team. How will you win them over?

First of all, it's sales and marketing, not sales or marketing. There should never be a product launch without the input from your sales team. Never marketing for the sake of marketing or product for the sake of product. Showcasing a problem the sales team may have i.e leads aren't warm enough, it's too much of a stretch to sell a high ticket item etc, not meeting revenue targets and explain how the new product and marketing strategy will help them achieve their sales goals. That's where your marketing strategy and product design should come from, as well as be backed by the overarching business goal. Without that, there's no direction and a lot of wasted effort, energy, money and time.

I normally recommend including all of the relevant people—including the sales team in the product development process. When this doesn’t happen and there is resistance from the sales team it’s important to understand their concerns. Dig deeper on why they have concerns and where they are coming from. Hear them out. Understand their perspective before offering to work together with the sales team on a solution that everyone is happy with. A new product is only successful if it sells. The product development team and the sales team are two teams within the process and collaboration between both teams is crucial to the success of a product launch and the ongoing sales of the product.

Start by genuinely understanding the concerns of your sales team. Engage them in open discussions to pinpoint specific issues, such as product complexity or customer reception fears. By actively listening and showing empathy, you can build trust and gather valuable insights, setting the foundation for addressing their resistance.

Understanding Concerns: I believe that the key to decomplexifying a problem, whatsoever, but in this case resistance from the sales team on Product Launch lies in identifying the root cause(s). Schedule one-on-one meetings to listen to sales stakeholders' specific worries (learning curve, hitting quotas). In my experience, a rep once expressed concern about a new product that might cannibalize existing sales. By addressing their fear, aligning with their objectives, and highlighting the product's complementary nature, I helped them see the bigger picture and even suggested valuable upselling strategies. This open dialogue fosters trust and empowers them to champion the new product.

This implies that effective leadership and management of a sales team begin with listening to and addressing their issues and challenges. By understanding what obstacles they face, their needs, and their motivations, you can build trust, improve morale, and tailor your strategies to better support them. This approach helps create a more cohesive and productive team environment, leading to better sales performance and overall success.

Introduce attractive incentives to motivate your sales team. Implement special commission structures or bonuses for early successes with the new product. Clearly communicate these benefits, aligning them with both the team's personal goals and the company's objectives. Tangible rewards can encourage your team to prioritize and enthusiastically promote the new product.

Offering rewards or benefits, such as bonuses, commissions, or recognition, can significantly boost the performance and motivation of your sales team. These incentives encourage team members to achieve or exceed their sales targets, improving overall productivity and morale.

Equip your sales team with thorough training on the new product. Develop sessions that cover its features, benefits, and potential customer objections. Use role-playing exercises to build familiarity and confidence. A well-prepared team, knowledgeable about the product, will feel more confident and effective in their sales efforts.

Adequate training is essential for ensuring your sales team is well-prepared and confident in selling a new product. It involves providing them with comprehensive knowledge about the product, its features, benefits, and how it meets customer needs. Training also covers effective sales techniques, objection handling, and competitive positioning. This preparation boosts their confidence, enabling them to effectively communicate the product's value to potential customers and close sales successfully.

Go beyond training. Make an accessible toolkit with everything sellers need to be successful. Make yourself available before and after launch. Let's break it down: Sales Enablement Toolkit: 1. End-to-End product demo 2. Competitive analysis 3. Competitor demos 4. Customer-facing 1-sheets 5. Internal cheat sheets 6. Sales deck with narrative and notes. 7. Creative assets for customizing decks per segment. 8. Weekly "Office Hours" (Ideally 2 hours per week) 9. Formal kickoff with/ recording + Q&A 10. Team competitions (A Quiz) with prizes. 11. Internal certifications and badges (gamify it!). Bonus tip: As a PMM, make sales training and certification one of your KPIs. When the number comes back high, you look great in front of your leaders.

Foster a culture of feedback where your sales team can share their input on the product and its strategy. Establish regular meetings or an online feedback system, and implement feasible suggestions. Involving your team in the process makes them feel valued and increases their sense of ownership, ultimately boosting their commitment to the product's success.

Encouraging feedback is a two-way street that significantly reduces resistance. At Network Perception, I established regular meetings and an online feedback system for the sales team to provide input on our product and market strategy. By taking their suggestions seriously and implementing feasible changes, we not only improved our product but also made the team feel valued and involved. This approach fostered a sense of ownership and commitment to the product’s success. Seeing their feedback lead to positive changes enhanced their engagement and drive, ultimately benefiting our overall performance.

This implies that when both giving and receiving feedback, fostering open communication helps to build trust and understanding. This mutual exchange makes individuals feel heard and valued, which can decrease defensiveness and resistance to feedback. It emphasizes the importance of a reciprocal approach where both parties engage actively and constructively.

"Your Sales Team IS Your FIRST Customer" The sales team isn't just a product delivery channel. To win them over, think like a B2B marketer: - Don't Hear Them Out, LISTEN: What's going on under the surface? Tackling the unspoken is key to a winning GTM - Market to Them, Before the End-User: Start with "new benefits for me" (where me = sales team) - KNOW Their Motivators (Metrics): Align the company metrics before launch. Don't just reward outcomes, but also effort & adoption. - You Are The Parent, But They Are Baby-Sitters: Your product is your baby, not theirs. Don't expect the same emotional attachment & patience. Make selling easy for them. What I learnt: Partnerships make more products successful than successful products themselves!

Launching a new product often meets resistance from the sales team. To win them over, continuous support is key. From my experience at PepsiCo, here’s how: Regular check-ins: Hold frequent meetings to address concerns and share updates. Updated materials: Provide the latest sales resources reflecting product updates. Tutorials in video is a powerful tool to support the team. Open to improvement: Encourage feedback and be willing to adjust based on their insights. Listening to feedback: Create a comfortable environment for sharing thoughts and suggestions. Inclusion in the process: Involve the sales team from the beginning, not just at the customer-facing stage. These strategies ensure your sales team feels supported and valued.

This emphasizes the importance of ongoing assistance and resources to sustain progress and growth following a project's or product's initial release. After the excitement and initial push of a launch, continuous support ensures that the project stays on track, overcomes challenges, and continues to develop. This can include regular updates, user feedback, customer service, and resource allocation, all of which help to maintain enthusiasm, address issues promptly, and keep the project moving forward successfully.

Early bird gets the worm, deep support weathers the storm! Involve your sales team early in the development and launch phases. When they feel like contributors, not just executors, their buy-in increases significantly. And, commit to continuous support through Q&A sessions, feedback loops, and access to resources. When your sales team knows you have their back, they’re more likely to take risks and push boundaries.

New products need to be presented as they are: A great way to get new sales, either to new prospects or to current customers. So more oportunities, more chances to sell right?