FINAL WORD
SALES SUCCESS
Stay agile to beat the scrum TOBY ROBINS discusses how agile businesses succeeded during the pandemic, and why they must continue to adapt, especially to hybrid working conditions, to keep team morale high
A
Agility. Take
threat coming. Sadly, some businesses
a course at the
were brought down by it. I prefer to
Cranfield School
celebrate those that showed their agility
of Management
and found opportunities and the path to
and you’ll find it’s a
break through and cross the line.
popular word. To me, it suggests the back
PPE, sanitisers and screens created
Tony Robins Tony is a consultant and board member at Green Element working from home, do you feel as much
line of a rugby team - the Shane Williams,
new opportunities seized by many while
a part of the team as you did before, or
Rory Underwoods and Cheslin Kolbes
the disease was rampant - but what of
do you feel the loss of those water cooler
of the world, racing forward, only to be
the opportunities for the changed world
conversations - a lost camaraderie eroding
confronted by a massive, immovable
we now live in? Working from home
the bonds that held you together?
block of humanity or two. The rapid
has changed the marketplace and driven
assessment of risk and opportunity
digitalisation. Coming from a couple
seeking to manage a dispersed workforce.
before jinking left or right, running
of decades of chasing price-focused,
There is business risk from people
through, or tapping the ball through or
commercial tenders, it seems to me there
becoming increasingly isolated, depressed
over, or accepting support from others
may be new opportunities.
and, consequently, less productive, as
- it’s a mental and physical agility that is paralleled in the business world.
The cheap functionality of contract office products does not sit well in
These are concerns held by clients
well as from having to recruit and train replacements as staff turnover ticks up.
It takes courage to run at someone
the domestic environment. People at
twice your size, and the same is true of
home look for the pleasure of writing
Why not suggest to clients they provide
getting up every day, and confronting the
in a beautiful notebook with a smooth-
corporate branded products to keep
challenges before you, knowing your team
writing, solid-feeling pen. Desk
remote staff engaged? From mugs and
depends on you and your judgement.
accessories need to satisfy the aesthetics
notebooks to promotional products like
of the home. It’s a flight to quality away
blankets, scarves, plants, beer and gin.
isn’t always obvious where the threats
from price-sensitivity; an opportunity
Are you bold enough to move towards
are coming from. The World Economic
to increase cash margin by marketing
a servitisation model and offer staff
Forum’s 2019 Global Risks Report had
directly to your local marketplace and
surveys to gauge wellbeing and host
the spread of infectious diseases at
upselling directly to the end-user.
team-building forums?
Like a tap tackle from behind, it
number 10 for the perceived threats with the greatest impact. However well you read the game, you are not likely to have seen the COVID
Then there’s the corporate perspective.
Like all risk, it creates opportunity.
Keep your business lean, fit and
Ask yourself why you like working where
agile, be as passionate and committed
you do? Is it the work you do? The people
as an international rugby player, and
with whom you work? If you’ve been
keep on winning.
www.dealersupport.co.uk OCTOBER 2021 [47]
