What's driving change?
Jul 01, 2025
Are you ready to increase your sales?
The Collaborative Selling Scorecard has been designed to show sales professionals their blind spots and provide instant, actionable steps on how to improve
It’s free and only takes 5 minutes
You’ve done everything right
- Strong solution
- Great relationship
- Clear ROI
But something’s missing
It’s often context
Customers don’t make decisions in a vacuum
Their world is shaped by forces outside their control
If you’re not aligning your message to those forces, you’re solving the wrong problem
This is where great salespeople excel
They don’t just react to change - they anticipate it
They use change to create urgency, demonstrate relevance and build trust
The RESPECT Framework helps with this by highlighting the 7 external drivers shaping every major decision:
R – Regulatory
Are new laws or standards pressuring your customer?
E – Economic
Are rising costs, market shifts or budget freezes in play?
S – Social
Are changing workforce or consumer behaviours reshaping expectations?
P – Political
Are new policies, tariffs or trade rules creating uncertainty?
E – Environmental
Is there pressure to meet sustainability or ESG targets?
C – Competitive
Is a rival innovating faster or undercutting price?
T – Technological
Are new tools, AI or platforms changing customer expectations?
So, how do you apply this?
Here’s a 5-step plan:
🔶 1. Monitor what’s changing in their world
Use industry reports, LinkedIn alerts, webinars, and most importantly conversations
Ask, “What’s changed for you this quarter?”
🔶 2. Align your solution to those pressures
Don’t pitch features
Show how you solve a strategic pain: regulation, cost, risk, competition, speed, or innovation.
🔶 3. Use change to create urgency
Things like:
“If you wait, that risk multiplies.”
“Early adopters are already seeing X results.”
“This won’t wait for next year’s budget.”
🔶 4. Tailor your message to each stakeholder
A CFO cares about savings
A CMO cares about speed
An Ops leader cares about control
Customise accordingly
🔶 5. Make change feel safe
Things like:
“We support every step of implementation.”
“You’ll have a dedicated team.”
“Here’s a case study from a company just like yours.”
Change doesn’t have to be scary… especially when you help your customer lead it
What RESPECT driver is hitting your customers the hardest right now?