The Value Digest – April 7th

At DecisionLink we’re all about value. When we’re not building enterprise-class software solutions for Customer Value Management (CVM) like ValueCloud®, we’re busy exploring what’s going on in the world of value and sales leadership. In ‘The Value Chronicles’, published every second week, we’ll be sharing some of the news and editorial that has caught our eye.

Of course, recent news has been dominated by the tragic spread of Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 and many are working hard (at home) to create their own ‘new normal’. For those in sales, this is particularly challenging, and we have been working on material and advice to support customer facing teams in a time when face-to-face time with customers is limited.

Here are a few things we’ve seen, along with a few of our own initiatives:

• In this article in WebProNews, entitled “Digital Transformation: The Conversation Has Shifted, Says ServiceNow CEO”, Bill McDermott, CEO of ServiceNow, discusses how COVID-19 has forced CEOs to speed up digital transformation in order to compete and win. McDermott says, “that businesses have to have an all-weather workforce to win.”
• Bernard Marr, Forbes contributor agrees in his piece “How The COVID-19 Pandemic Is Fast-Tracking Digital Transformation in Companies”. Adding, coronavirus (COVID-19) has forced many around the world to rethink our daily lives from work to school to entertainment. In response to travel bans, school closures, and recommendations to not gather in large groups and keep our distance from fellow humans to limit the spread of the virus, many people turned to digital tools to keep some semblance of normality.
• Also in Forbes, Dharmesh Thakker, offers advice on “Navigating Market Uncertainty with Efficient, Cloud-Native, Go-to-Market Models”. Dharmesh suggests that the shock may just accelerate the movement to more efficient, cloud-native operating models for enterprises and tech companies alike.
• Gartner offers this advice on how to “Support your people. Sustain the organization.” They have provided a complimentary collection of COVID-19 research and tools, to help lead your organization from initial response to recovery.
• Check out this great piece from McKinsey & Company exploring life “Beyond coronavirus: The path to the next normal.” The coronavirus is not only a health crisis of immense proportion, it’s also an imminent restructuring of the global economic order. This article shares how leaders can begin navigating to what’s next.
• According to Harvard Business Review, “You Don’t Need a Grand Strategy to Achieve Organizational Change”. Greg Satell tells us, usually when we think of transformation, we think of it as a shift in the fundamentals of a business, like Lee Iacocca’s turnaround at Chrysler or Steve Jobs’ return to Apple. Unfortunately, managers often overlook skills-based transformations, which can be every bit as important.

In our own news:

• Having launched our latest white paper “Customer Value Management: Why Excel Can’t Cope,” we spoke with Trent Isaacs, RVP, Solutions Consulting and Value Engineering at Verint. Trent shared some of his own experiences with spreadsheets in a blog tilted, “Four Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Spreadsheets for Value Selling.”
• We’re also excited to be hosting our Power Seller’s Webinar Series this week (April 10^th). This week’s lunch and learn topic is Selling Value & Building Trust in the “New Normal”. Building trust is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. Face to face meetings have always been the preferred manner to connect, relate and build trust. There’s just something about that personal human connection that helps build relationships. This is becoming increasingly difficult as we adjust to our “new normal” in a world of digital selling. With travel slowing down, our ability to meet face to face with customers and prospects is no longer an easy option. From a selling perspective, how do we overcome this added obstacle to building trust and selling value? Sign up and join us.
• And if you want to find out “What Exceptional Sales Playbooks Look Like (And How You Can Build Them Too)”. You can register for this Vendor Neutral webinar on April 28^th, where our CEO, Jim Berryhill will be sharing his vision along with Surf & Sales’ Scott Leese, Membrain’s George Brontén and Catalyst Sales’ Mike Simmons.

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