Making a sales team transform to meet current demands
Agility and Stability: The New Essentials for B2B Sales Success
As 2020 entered its final quarter, we all found ourselves reflecting on a year defined by adversity and rapid change. The early months were a struggle—coping with uncertainty, new obstacles, and a world that seemed to shift overnight. Yet, true to human nature, we adapted. That adaptation is evolution in action, and it’s made us all stronger.
Organizational Evolution: Pivoting Under Pressure
Organizations faced similar challenges. In the past, responding to market shifts or changing priorities could take years. But in 2020, survival required transformation in just a matter of months. Those organizations that had already embraced agile values and mindsets found themselves better equipped to pivot with less frustration and more confidence.
Why Sales Teams Needed to Change—Fast
Sales teams, in particular, had to reassess their approach to work. The tried-and-true methods—face-to-face pitches, conventions, and bustling conference halls, were suddenly off the table. What once brought stability became obsolete almost overnight.
Boudewijn Driedonks and Ryan Paulowsky highlight five trademarks of an agile sales team:
- A Common Aspiration (“North Star”)
Everyone in the sales organization rallies around a shared vision. - Empowered Networks of Sales Teams
Teams are supported by digital tools and are empowered to make decisions. - Rapid Decisions and Dynamic Pipeline Management
Agility in decision-making and adapting pipelines on the fly. - Dynamic Support for Customer-Centric Sales Capabilities
Ongoing support and development to keep the customer at the center. - Next-Generation Technology
Leveraging the latest digital tools to enable and streamline sales efforts.
Doing Agile vs. Being Agile
It’s not enough to follow an agile framework step by step. True agility is about adopting the right mindset and behaviours—constantly improving, collaborating, and adapting. When organizations focus solely on process, they risk falling into the same trap as traditional waterfall methods: rigidly following steps without genuine evolution.
Agile Sales Teams in Action
Here’s how agile thinking is transforming sales teams:
“Agile companies are starting to replace traditional key-account teams with key-account customer squads. These squads are assigned to a set of customers in a specific sector. The squad is a cross-functional agile team that delivers the entire customer service, from initial contact to post-sales service. Customer representatives interact directly with the different members in the squad, and the key-account manager (also part of the squad) cooperates with the other members daily in a short stand-up meeting, setting the priorities for driving customer satisfaction.”
By reconfiguring teams to better serve clients and foster collaboration, companies are experiencing improved productivity, increased employee engagement, and enhanced customer satisfaction.
The Bottom Line: Agility Is Survival
We’re now in an era where waiting to be a “fast follower” is no longer an option. Innovation cycles are measured in months, not decades. Organizations that not only transform to agile delivery but also embody agile behaviours are the ones that will thrive. Those who resist will be left behind. That’s the new nature of evolution in business.
Ready to make agility your competitive advantage?
Let’s talk about how your sales or business team can move beyond frameworks and truly become agile. Book a call.
Let’s talk about how your sales or business team can move beyond frameworks and truly become agile. Book a call.
"I help create ecosystems that become legacies.”
- Jeremy Berriault
Quick Links
Hours of Operation
Monday - Friday
9 am to 5 pm
Saturday - Sunday
Closed