Recently, we had a little bit of disruption here at the Basilico domicile. It was a tragedy beyond the pale… The ice maker on our fridge stopped working.

Broken & Fix It!

When we bought our old house, it had all new appliances. It took ten to twenty years before we needed a repair person to fix anything or look for a newer model to replace it. We moved into this house in North Carolina in September 2022, so it's only been two and a half years since we bought all new appliances.

But the ice maker still broke.

I know… “First World Problems.” But, we all (Layla, Kim, and I) rely on having ice and water at the fridge door. It is just inconvenient to bend over to get ice out of the lower freezer and walk to the sink to get water.

Thank God for the internet. I was able to search for our make and model and ice maker problems and found some YouTube videos that helped me troubleshoot and fix the issue.

Like our brand of fridge (LG), life is good again!

The disruption was real since we all like things to stay the same for as long as possible, and you expect that if you pay good money for something, it should last more than a couple of years without breaking down. Yet, reality dictates that change happens, and you must adapt to or fix the problem to get to the new normal. Change is disruption, and disruption is change, but you have to look at all of that from a new perspective if you expect to define what a new normal is and was.

Disruption In Perspective

Chances are, if you're doing content marketing or working with customers and trying to convince them to change, you have to look at things from their perspective. I work with a lot of sales teams, and they often have a wide range of people—everyone from Millennials to seniors.

When you talk with Millennials, they love to text, but they don't like face-to-face meetings as much. They're more comfortable with technology. In this group, you will find people at both ends of the spectrum when it comes to embracing change and disruption.

When we deal with more experienced salespeople, they're used to getting on the phone more often. They like face-to-face meetings, and they're not as comfortable with technology. But again, that level of comfort covers both ends of the spectrum because you have some people who are introverts and some people who are extroverts.

Just because people end up in the same category doesn't necessarily mean they will react the same way.

Change Your Perspective

When we're dealing with change, we have to look at things from the individual perspective of the people that we're asking to change. What are they comfortable with? What can they handle? Do they feel like they have a vested interest in it?

If we had to change to a new fridge, I would need to get Kim's buy-in on the new features and options to help her feel like change wasn't just thrust upon her. (Luckily, no change was needed.)

If we're dealing with disruption, how do we change the way we look at change? I think an uber important starting point is the “why.” Why do you want to change? What is the thing that you're trying to convince somebody to do?

Who Is The Champion?

When it comes to selling a product or service, you have to create what's known as the “champion” or the “change agent.” They have to be on board with what you're changing, why you're changing it, and, more importantly, how that change is going to affect the entire organization, the people, the processes, and everything else that change touches. I believe it starts at the top.

You have to have a change agent or champion willing to be the person who will not only embrace the new and improved but will also make the changes themselves. They have to lead by example. That way, they are the person who becomes the model for improvements.

They also have to be willing to actively listen to the people that are going to be affected by the change, react to others' objections, and do their best to try to figure out how to manage expectations.

As I said with the sales teams, Millennials are probably a lot more adaptive because they don't necessarily see themselves rooted in old foundations. When you deal with more senior people, they tend to resist change. That's not how it works. That's not how we do it here. You have to listen to both sides, bring them together, and create a communication network where they start to understand each other's points of view. You react and try to bring together that team so everybody's working cohesively.

WIIFM

The second thing you have to do is understand the WIIFM—What's in it for me? Every single person wants to know—How is this going to make my life better? Chances are, it's going to be more work up front to implement the change, but in the end, there should be some payoff. There should be less work later. There should be better results. It should make their life easier.

The bottom line is you have to understand how it will personally benefit each and every member of your organization and get them to become the champion of this change. They need to know this is going to make their life better, and that it's going to make your group and the processes better as a whole.

Final Thoughts

Here's the thing about change—it's inevitable. Change happens. Everybody deals with change differently. As the leader or the person who's trying to implement change, you have to have some skills. Those skills include being adaptable, learning how to make change incrementally, and being flexible. You have to be able to listen and react to the people in your organization and help them get on board with what's in it for them. And, you have to be willing to fail.

I am glad we did not have to go through the expense and hassle of calling a repair person. Also, we were not ready for the big expense of replacing a two-year-old fridge just to get ice. But if that were the case, it would have been a process that would involve all of the above lessons.

But for now, we all get to put that big change on ice!

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Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about business-to-business sales and marketing today! Do you have a sales or marketing communications strategy that works for you? What tips or techniques can you share that work for you and your business?

To learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at The Bacon Podcast.