Swiss rigidity to change, cost millions.
Swiss rigidity to change, cost millions.
We can learn some lessons here with the COVID 19 financial impacts.
In 1960, Switzerland was exporting in the region of $418 million in watches annually. By the end of the 70’s exports had plummeted to half that number. Fifty thousand watch makers lost their jobs. No one cared that they made the most accurate gears, or the finest mainsprings in the world. There had been a paradigm shift. The share market dropped from 65% to a mere 10%. What had happened was called….the digital watch. The great irony of this story lay in the fact that the digital watch was actually invented by the Swiss, but rejected by manufacturers, only to be picked up by Seiko of Japan.
Fast forward some fifty years to our current situation - COVID-19. The entire world has been forced into a paradigm shift in order to adapt to unprecedented challenges. Those that adapt, adjust and grow, see not only the ‘art of the possible’ but embrace it, to emerge transformed, enabled and dynamic in response. Sales effectiveness is no exception.
Emphasis on agile functional change and rebalance of structures and processes is critical for success. More than ever, it is important to shape this change through refocus on the key components that drive the DNA of a peak performing sales organisation. Why? Such diagnosis allows for identification of those parts of the sales organisation that are performing well, guide focus to areas which require intervention, reveal blind spots and expose voids. Understanding Strategy and Adoption, Customer Connection, People Potential and Sales Enablement allow companies to not only understand the changes necessary to survive, but embrace the paradigm shift to weave their own story of success.