The strategy word gets thrown around quite a bit in Enterprise sales. It is frequently applied in a variety of unrelated situations and used interchangeably with tactics. It’s quite confusing. Ask someone for their definition of strategy and you will get a variety of answers.
As strategy is the core of our Compass system, I thought it important to define exactly what strategy means in the context of Enterprise sales and how it differs from tactics. This is a critical distinction to high-performance sales.
The earliest developments in the discipline of strategy were in military applications. I guess our ancestors got tired of getting their ass kicked so decided they better be more thoughtful and disciplined in how they conducted warfare. The same applies to today’s sales professional.
The Art of War by Sun Tzu, written around 5BC is a classic that has been applied beyond military applications to business & political as well. You can summarize the approach to strategy in this work as the “discipline of planning and directing operations and movements to achieve victory. It involves understanding and outmaneuvering the enemy, making efficient use of resources, adapting to changing circumstances, and often achieving objectives without direct conflict”.
Some of the more modern thinkers of strategy have applied it to business. John Lewis Gaddis in his book “On Grand Strategy” defines strategy as a dynamic and flexible process that involves aligning goals, methods, and resources while adapting to changing circumstances”.
Lawrence Freedman, one of my favorite writers on strategy, in his book “Strategy: A History”, defines strategy as “the art of creating power and its application in achieving objectives, dealing with adversaries, and managing crises. It involves making choices, setting priorities, and organizing resources to navigate through complex and changing environments. Now that sounds a lot like Enterprise Sales. Let’s break that down.
· Art of Creating Power: Strategy involves not just the use of power but also the creation and management of it.
· Achieving Objectives: It is focused on reaching specific goals or outcomes.
· Dealing with Adversaries: Strategy must consider how to interact with or respond to competitors or opponents.
· Managing Crises: It involves preparing for and handling unforeseen challenges.
· Making Choices and Setting Priorities: Strategy requires decision-making about what to focus on and how to allocate resources.
· Organizing Resources: Effective strategy involves the practical arrangement and use of resource.
Lastly, another of my favorite writers of strategy is Sir Basil Liddell Hart. In his book “Strategy: The Indirect Approach”, he argues that instead of attacking the enemy’s strongest points directly, one should aim to exploit the enemy’s weaknesses and create conditions that lead to victory with minimal direct confrontation. Strategy should not be rigid or overly focused on a single plan but should be adaptable to changing circumstances and make best use of all available resources. The goal should be to minimize cost, mitigate risks and make efficient use of resources”.
To distill all these concepts down so my basic brain could process it, I define sales strategy simply as “the discipline of creating the power required to complete a successful transaction with a buyer”.
How is strategy different than tactics? And, why is this important?
It is important as too many sales experts, writers, bloggers, best-selling authors, etc confuse the concepts of tactics and strategy. Tactics are “how” you sell. Strategy is the who, what, when, where & why you execute to create the power to achieve your objective of closing business. It is about managing power, resources, risk, unforeseen challenges and competition to achieve your objective of closing business.
Strategy and tactics are 2 sides of the same coin. To be a high-performing sales professional, you need to be good at both. Let me provide 2 examples that highlight the difference.
Little League Baseball.
Every year at this time, the best Little League teams in the world gather in Williamsport, PA for the LL World Series. These teams are very good for 11- & 12-year-olds. Way better than when I was there. The pitchers basically have command of 1 pitch at that age …a fastball. They may throw other pitches, but their strategy is to win the game by throwing the ball straight over the plate generally in the range of 55-70+ mph. How they throw it tactically can vary quite a bit at that age due to difference in sizes, training and culture.
Now compare that to Major League Baseball. The pitchers there have command of 4-5 different pitches. Fastball, slider, curve, changeup, etc. Their pitching strategy is determined by several factors. Who is batting? Who is on base? What inning is it? What is the pitch count and so on. Their pitching strategy is based on taking all these factors into consideration in under 30 seconds to determine the type of pitch they are going to throw and at what velocity. How they throw it tactically depends on the pitcher. Most have some personal style that determines how they do it. Each pitcher has different windups, release points, arm angle, etc.
So in Sales, why are so many salespeople playing little league baseball?
Many have only developed command of 1 strategy or pitch, the Fastball, and that is all they throw. “Bring on the Heat”! They focus exclusively on how they are going to sell and don’t consider developing the skills to throw multiple pitches or strategies. High performing sales professionals have command of multiple strategies. They are constantly evaluating their position to quickly determine which deal strategy they are going to use to improve their position, increase velocity and move their opportunity quickly to a close.
Miniature Golf.
Who doesn’t love miniature golf. It’s such a chill thing to do. The strategy of miniature golf is to use 1 club (a putter) and one ball and play the course by avoiding as many obstacles as possible. There is always a windmill. The strategy is to avoid the spinning blades. The tactic is to hit it with enough velocity and the proper timing to avoid your ball getting blocked.
Now let’s compare that to playing golf on the PGA tour. A pro golfer is allowed to carry up to 14 clubs in their bag. Their strategy is to select the best club to hit their ball with, so they finish with the lowest score of all the competitors. Which of those clubs they select depends on their position on the course and how much velocity they need to advance. How they tactically hit the ball is up to the individual player. Each has a different style of how they swing but each player’s strategy is the same …. finish with the lowest score by using the best club selecting strategy and then determine how they are going to hit it.
So, in Sales, why are so many salespeople playing an 18-hole, PGA course with just a putter?
Sure, you will eventually get yourself around the course but only using one strategy isn’t going to get you very far nor will you score competitively. Why aren’t you developing skills at using more than one club or strategy to win business.
To become a high-performing sales professional, you need to get good at strategy as well as tactics.
Interesting things happen when you get good at strategy.
Your close rate increases as does your deal size. You stop discounting so heavily. As a result, your income increases dramatically. Like 2-3x over what you are making today.
Then, because you are dependable at closing business, your company starts giving you better sales territories to manage. They want their best people covering their most important accounts. So, with better accounts, you close more business, and your income keeps increasing.
Then, one day you may get a tap on the shoulder. Would you be interested in taking on a sales leadership role? Because you are good at strategy, the company trusts you will figure out how to lead the sales team. And it can go on from there. You get can even get tapped on the shoulder to be a CRO or member of the senior leadership team and potentially even a CEO.
Where do you think CROs come from? No one goes to school for it. Generally, they got good at strategy.
You need to be tactically sound as a sales professional. But you also need to excel at deal and sales strategy. When you have those 2 capabilities, you become capable of successfully navigating the uncertain world of Enterprise Sales and achieving significant financial, personal and professional outcomes.
And when you have those navigation skills, you can say “I don’t know where I am going but I know exactly how to get there.
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