I am in the first phase of the execution of my strategy and we hired a new sales leader who wants to make big changes to our tech stack and rev strategy. What’s the best way to handle this situation?

I would recommend closely partnering with and advising this new individual to start with a listening tour of sales managers, sales reps, prospects, customers and partners to develop a deep understanding and appreciation of the current state of affairs before making any pivots to the strategy or tech stack. It is important to understand 'what you are solving for' before making changes to strategy and a tech stack that may have worked at a previous company. 

If you do this together, you will both have shared insights around what's working / areas for improvement and you can work together on refining and updating the strategy to solve for:

1. Company objectives,
2. Customer needs,
3. Sales manager and rep productivity. 

Essentially, slow down to speed up. It's more important to get it right and build a scalable model for the long-term than moving too fast for the sake of taking quick action. I would also consider bringing in other stakeholders that have been at the company for longer tenure to help you and managing expectations with this new leader.

Often times this happens due to not really understanding the value of what you have built. Revenue Operations should be a consultant to our stakeholders on best practices but also make sure we listen. I would first listen and understand where they feel there are issues with the strategy you have built. You likely need to find some sort of common ground with your leadership on cost to rip and replace your strategy and pros/cons of changing directions.

This applies to most new LT relationships in some way. I usually think of situation this as having 3 necessary steps: establishing a positive dialogue, problem solving together and rigorously agreeing on roles and responsibilities – as well as the path forward. For some more color: 

Positive dialogue: it is easy for a “change bias” vs. “status quo bias” game to emerge in this setup, so first acknowledge this and be radically transparent. Sounds obvious but your success in role is now intertwined with theirs and your combined experiences should lead to a synthesis. So, take time to listen, understand how they think, highlight agreement areas, and invest in a language and principles you will collaborate upon. This is the key step.

Problem-solve: in your specific case I’d facilitate a time-boxed exercise to (a) assess the state of your tech stack / revenue strategy with input from senior LT, and (b) enumerate, quantify and prioritize initiatives based on size of prize, likelihood of success, and ROI. On the latter, do not shy away from estimating costs like focus costs ("analysis paralysis") and change costs: process disruptions, dependencies, morale hits, all of these can and should be estimated as P&L line adjustments.

Agree on R&Rs + path forward: Remove ambiguity by clarifying roles and responsibilities in the organization. Map who needs to recommend, give input, decide, perform and sign-off on each change. Where consensus is not met, establish a fast escalation and compromise mechanism. By the end of this, you will have a charter in which some initiatives will be slated for piloting, some for implementation, some for a later revisit. Exhaustive clarity on which goes where, and an approach of "disagree but commit", “commit to revisit”, “adjust if needed” will set your relationship for a good start, preventing delays, and ultimately keeping the business going forward.

Start with listening. The number 1 advocate and driver of a revenue strategy is the sales leadership team. Take the time to listen to this new sales leader and understand their underlying objectives while trying to keep the conversation agnostic of technology. Understand how they want to orient the team and where they want reps to focus.

In my experience in this scenario, the most critical thing to do is NOT come with an agenda to pitch your plan with this new sales leader first. The majority of times, you are closer to the same objectives than you are apart even if you may not be speaking the same language yet.

In this case of having a new leader want a different tech stack and strategy, I would stop or severely slow down the execution of your strategy until you can get on the same page as the new leader. Continuing on a path they have not bought into is not going to end well, especially since they seem to have a strong perspective and vision.

The first thing I would do is get a large block of time with the new leader to review your strategy and make sure they understand it completely. You should get feedback on what they like, don't like, and cannot yet make a call on because they are new to the business. You should also ask for an explanation of their strategy and tech stack vision. This will give you a chance to ask clarifying questions, explain elements of the business they may not understand and thus have ideas that will not work, and overall understand their thinking. If done well, this session will lead to a much clearer understanding on both directions.

You can then take the input and revise your strategy proposal. I would review it with the new leader and revisit it with any other key partners, especially if they signed off on it or are involved in executing the strategy you were in the process of implementing it. Depending on the roles/hierarchy of these people, decisions may need to be (re)made so you can proceed with something, whether it's your original plan, entirely the new leader's plan, or some hybrid. The worst outcome is that no decisions are made and you have no direction. It's your job to push to get what you need to guide your team and deliver the revenue strategy.

In this situation, it is important to bring people together and avoid friction, so harmony prevails :)

If I was in your situation, I would start with arranging a meeting with the new sales leader to ask what his/her thoughts are on change and why he/she feels these changes must come about. Present the existing strategy's core components, timeline and rationale for decisions made in your current technology stack. Work towards a combined approach in which both perspectives may be incorporated/mastered into one plan. A phased implementation or even a pilot on specific changes can be done in order to examine their effect, avoiding immediate commitment. This balanced strategy would offer room for creativity while also maintaining stability and respecting the existing foundation of your strategy

Take this opportunity to sit with the new leader and walk them through your current strategy, why it was developed what your expectations are, etc. Seek to understand their feedback, and perspective and determine a good path forward.

You must have an aligned revenue strategy with shared accountability. Start here first. Then once you have alignment determine the proper timeline for execution and technical support.

What strategy and technology at one company might not work for another, as humans we like what we know and have found success with in the past, but we must evaluate if it will work in the current.

I believe it would be a misstep to view this as a situation "to handle" rather than an opportunity to collaborate with a new thought partner in crafting a fresh strategy that likely brings advantageous perspectives not previously considered. Welcoming a new sales leader to the organization presents a fantastic opportunity for all teams involved. Each new leader brings their own insights into what works, what doesn't, areas for improvement, and opportunities to capitalize on.

Engaging with this new leader to delve into their perspective, understanding their priorities and concerns. It is crucial to recognize that we are all part of the same team. At Tegus, we uphold the motto of "Tegus-Team-Self," emphasizing collective collaboration over possessive ownership. Our culture promotes the understanding that true partnership and productivity stem from collaboration, not individual ownership.

Every effective new leader enters an organization with a curiosity to learn. They seek to comprehend the business, its history, and the challenges it faces on the road to growth. In such situations, it is paramount to leverage this healthy curiosity, exploring alongside them to develop their unique perspective. In doing so, we allow their insights to enrich our own understanding, ultimately enhancing the development of a Strategy 2.0.