Agile methodologies in the sales environment

How are Agile methodologies being applied in the business environment?

Indeed, the Agile methodology is being integrated into the different ways of innovating and managing projects within organisations, and the commercial department is no exception. However, we must bear in mind that Agile was born in systems environments as a way for project teams to work so as not to be locked into the iron discipline of managing the iron belt: Budget, Time, Scope. Agile seeks the possibility of being more creative, quicker in decision making and free to act in the face of iterations that arise.

To achieve this, a methodology is developed that integrates elements such as Kanban, Scrum, Sprints, and of course the integration of creativity through Design Thinking.

If we use these criteria to reshape organisational environments and make them Agile, it is clear that we can also make adaptations in the area of Sales.

Here are some examples:

• Working groups that, working on Design Thinking, generate strategies within the company (not exclusively in the commercial area) to reinforce the role of “customer at the centre”.
• Multifunctional customer-supplier teams, integrating people from Sales, Trade Marketing, Logistics, Finance, to develop topics such as Category Management, Net Revenue Management, co-creation of solutions.
• Develop a culture of innovation in the commercial team that supports best practices and new solutions.
• Revision of the commercial system to make it less rigid or dense.
• Strengthening of Analytics in the sales force’s capabilities.
• Use of Sprint methodologies by the Sales Director to make sales meetings more interactive and “agile”.
• Giving the sales team tools for their own planning and also to reinforce autonomy and empowerment. This also involves new reward models.