The Mature and the Mavericks: A Case Study for Sales Force Managers

What does intergenerational conflict and mis-communication cost you? We can assure you, it’s not a small number. You could be losing more deals than you need to win to hit your number this year. If you don’t know what a generation gap is costing you, you are normal.

In sales, we typically get commission when we win, so it is important to shrug off a loss and move on. We want you to take a step back, and look at the smoking crater in the ground where a lost deal blew up. In that deal, did you click with the decision maker? Was there a personal connection between you? Did you see the problem and your solution the same way?

A Case Study

See if you can relate to this. The Mavericks in our firm (Generation X) think sending paper invoices is stupid, the Mature (Baby Boomer) partners don’t. One of the Boomer partners prints emails so he can read them, even though his eyesight is fine. The X’ers text and IM their customers but the Boomers want to talk on the phone; OMG!

We are a multi-generational firm, selling in a multi-generational marketplace. Chances are, you are too. However, at our company we are not content to ignore or put up with the costs of intergenerational conflict and mis-communication anymore. We try to win on when we want, where we want, and how we want, every time. That requires us to dial in our sales process to take advantage of the generation gap.

Situation Normal…

If you are in your 20s or 30s you can, and sometimes have to sell effectively to a 60 year old, or vice versa. The realities of sales work require us all to bridge the gap, but many salespeople do a fairly poor job of it. As we looked at our track record, we were shocked.

Before we started using our own Intergenerational Influencing process, we just ignored the lack of chemistry with a different generation customer. When it became a problem we just pressed on muttering, “that old guy just doesn’t get it,” or “those kids think they know everything.” The chain of smoking craters was long, and we started to pay attention.

What We Knew

Baby Boomers respond to salespeople differently than X’ers or Generation Y.

There is a natural connection that happens when you see things the same way as your customer. You feel a click, and there is a personal connection. The opposite is just as true, and if you’ve sold more than two significant deals you’ve seen the squint on your prospect’s face. It’s as if they’re saying to themselves, “This sales guy isn’t going to tell me something I don’t already know…get me out of here!” The customer is closed minded based on your relative age and appearance.
To win in this environment we knew we had to change the dynamic. We had to make a connection by behaving in the way our buyers were wired to accept. We needed to build credibility, create conviction, and share our product knowledge in the ways our customers expected.

What We Did

After we recognized the cost of muttering, we changed. We recognized that while there are a lot of people talking about multi-generational issues, few provided a process that salespeople could use. So, we did our research, collected a group of experts in persuasion and influencing, compiled the needed resources and developed a system called Intergenerational Influencing. Then we validated the process.

Because we sell advice and training, we tweaked our own sales process. Then we transplanted this system into a number of our clients and honed the process by filing off the edges that weren’t relevant or repeatable. Finally, we measured the results in a number of industries.

Now, in our CRM system we list the generation of the prospect, as X’er, Y’er, or Boomer. We use different approaches based on the profile, like speeding up and slowing down parts of the sales process to accommodate the way Boomers, X’ers, and Y’ers absorb information. We changed the way we establish credibility and how we create conviction for action. In essence, we bought our own brown sugar. We practice this adaptation because we have found out that it is a very powerful source of competitive advantage when we sell.

Our system isn’t for everyone, but the problem is universal. The good news is that if you recognize, acknowledge, and overcome your generational differences, you build competitive advantage.

What you can do

1. Look at your track record. Examine losses and dig into the generational aspects of those cratered deals. You may find that you’re doing great, but be honest with yourself in the assessment. Don’t put a bucket on your head and bang it until you hear what you want to hear.
2. Help yourself. Work on the way your company manages intergenerational conflict and mis-communication. Become aware. Coach each other, and become coachable. We solved our problem by developing our own system. If you invest the time, money, and energy, you can too.
3. Learn more about your target customer’s generation. What was the world like when they were in high school, and how did people treat each other? Go deeper and think about the way the world worked when they started their careers. How were they trained to communicate, innovate, learn, and respect authority? Most importantly, examine how each generation judges credibility.
4. Include the process into your systems. Note the customer’s generation in your CRM and start tracking your success rates.
5. Match generations when you can in the sales process. This may not be feasible, but it has worked for some organizations. Generational matching can pay dividends.
   Get some professional training and consulting if you want to develop competitive advantage more quickly.

Hiring Help

There are plenty of resources out there that can help you bridge the generation gap. If you hire a training or consulting firm, we have a few suggestions that may help you buy well. This list applies to all training programs, but especially in frontier areas like intergenerational influencing.

1. Pick a group that specializes in sales training and consulting. Salespeople learn best from other salespeople, so demand experienced sales trainers.
2. Don’t take one swing at it and expect a home run. Take a phased and long term approach. This is a tricky problem and it takes time to solve.
3. Avoid the temptation to bring in a funny and entertaining speaker that points out the problem without providing a systematic solution that you can adopt. Ask yourself, “How can I use this stuff tomorrow?” and “Will my people use it?”
4. Look for service providers that bring tools and resources that enable you to sustain change. Follow up and a phased approach are key in any learning and development program.
5. Demand measurable results from your service provider. If you’re spending money, you need to be able to track the ROI.
6. Train your managers first, and keep developing them. Managers are the pivot point for the whole sales force. Training the rank and file is secondary because they will follow their managers.
7. Look for service providers that can train your training department to deliver the program. No successful program is built on a cult of personality. If you hire help, the provider should be able to give you what you need to sustain progress.