Growth Mindset – Harnessing Conflict

Welcome to the second of our short series of articles focused on sales growth by Where Now Consulting Ltd

Managing or resolving conflict is a skill that we all develop from an early age as we learn to interact and play with other children. Even though conflict is an important part of our personal development and growth, in business it is often seen as something that is detrimental to good business, something to be eliminated or avoided. However, the proactive harnessing of the conflict can drive growth. The first step is to consider all the elements and to recognize the destructive conflict elements such as personality clashes, cultural differences and hidden agendas early allows progression to constructive action. Once these are identified you can move forward to resolve the constructive conflict elements.

If we take the example of a multi-channel sales it can be very tempting to avoid discussing conflict between dealers or channels but doing so can destroy trust and ultimately lead to reduced loyalty and lost sales. The conflict may be the result of too many, or too few, distributors or may indicate issues with segmentation of sales channels or the management of leads and opportunities. Acting on the core reasons for the conflict can drive growth, improved customer experience and improve partner loyalty and trust.

When facing conflict there are a number of simple steps that can be taken that will reduce the conflict and enable growth;

• Act now – Do not ignore the conflict or delay response, it as an opportunity for potential growth
• Quickly understand the destructive, emotional elements
• Concentrate on the real issues behind the conflict
• Focus on tasks and problem solving
• Communicate clearly
• Keep commitments
• Be consistent

If you would like to discuss options for successful multi-channel sales our consultants will be delighted to discuss strategies and tools to help you manage your channels and alliance partners.