A way to effect change without selling it or demanding it

People resist change for many reasons. They’re comfortable with the way things are. They feel threatened. They think the new way won’t work.

So as a leader, what can you do when you’ve been tasked with implementing change?

If you try to “sell” change, your people will feel, well, sold. And if you demand change, you get reluctant participation at best. It’s a real conundrum.

The challenge

Luckily, there’s a third way, and to understand how it works, let’s imagine you’re a manager facing big changes. Let’s say you manage a customer service call center whose people are friendly, helpful, and effective, and get high ratings from customers.

But now, as part of a companywide effort to boost sales, your department is being asked to cross-sell customers who call in for help. It’ll require new scripts, new training and a new mindset. To get your team behind the change, you need buy-in from your most senior employee, whom we’ll call Trisha.

You brief Trisha on the new direction. “This is a chance to get top management to take our department more seriously,” you say. “That’s good for all of us.”

Trisha hesitates, then says, “Maybe. But I don’t think this idea will work. Our best people aren’t motivated by a desire to sell. We see ourselves as helpers. If we have to cross-sell all the time, it’s going to feel like we’re stuffing product down customers’ throats.”

Ping-pong

Your immediate reaction? It might well be to counter the objection. You might say something like, “I don’t know about ‘stuffing product down customers’ throats.’ Wouldn’t you agree they can benefit from learning about additional products we offer?”

“Come on. This isn’t about educating customers. It’s about selling them…”

“It’s about solving customers’ problems. Isn’t that just good service?” you go on.

“There’s a difference between service and sales,” Trisha insists.

It’s verbal ping-pong: Trisha serves an objection, you volley it back. Frustrated, you eventually order her to comply. She might – but she might do it in a lukewarm way, damaging the new initiative’s chances.

A missed opportunity

What could you have done that you didn’t? Well, you missed an opportunity to make Trisha feel she’s participating in the change, not having it dictated to her.

That’s important, as behavioral research shows. In a classic study of employee resistance to change, researchers experimented with four ways of implementing changes in the manufacturing routine of textile workers. One group of workers was simply told of changes and directed to make them. The other groups were given increasing amounts of say in the change process. The researchers found that the more workers were allowed to participate in designing the changes, the more productive they were afterward, and the less likely to quit their jobs. Participation equaled success when it came to change.

So if you want Trisha’s help with the customer service change, you have to make her feel she’s taking part in creating it – and Trisha’s objection, paradoxically, creates just such an opportunity.

Step #1: Acknowledge the objection

Here’s what you need to do. First step, acknowledge the objection, instead of trying to argue Trisha’s concerns away.

You say something like this: “Let me see if I understand your objection. You think our reps will feel they’re pressuring customers to buy. Right?”

“That sums it up,” says Trisha, surprised not to be hearing a counter-argument.

Step #2: Turn objection into objective

Second step, you need to turn the objection into an objective. How? Here’s an objection: “This change won’t succeed because of X.” And here it’s reframed as an objective: “In order for this change to succeed, we need to address X.”

So you say, “Trisha, you’re saying that in order for cross-selling to work, we need to do it in a way that doesn’t make reps feel they’re pressuring customers. Have I got it?”

“Exactly,” Trisha says.

“So if together we could address that issue, do you think we can make this program work?”

“Y-e-e-s-s,” Trisha replies cautiously, “…if we can address the issue.”

What did you do here? Instead of countering an objection – which puts you and Trisha at odds – you’ve converted it into an objective — something you can seek together.

Step #3: Gain commitment

Third step: You need to gain Trisha’s commitment to help you achieve the objective. You say, “I don’t know exactly how we’d do it. Will you work with me to come up with solutions?”

“Hmm,” Trisha says. “We have a couple of people who are more sales-oriented than the rest. The only way this could work is if we piloted cross-selling with them. Maybe some of the others would see it’s not as bad as they think.”

“Let’s try it,” you respond.

See what’s happened? Trisha is no longer resisting – indeed, she’s collaborating with you – because you made her feel she’s participating in the change, not submitting to it.

Of course, sometimes employees are by nature uncooperative, and a manager may have to use positional authority to move them. But your experience with Trisha gives you a great blueprint for handling these situations in the future.

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This blog entry is adapted from the BTS Total Access micro video “When your people resist change: Turning objections into objectives.” If you’re a Total Access customer, you can watch the video here. If you’re not, but would like to see this video (or any of our other programs), request a demo and we’ll get you access.

The blog post and BTS Total Access micro video are based in part on the following research study: Coch, L., & French, J.R.P. (1948). “Overcoming Resistance to Change,” Human Relations,  1(4), 512-532.