Is Great Flattening of Salesteams Incoming?

Know anything of BPR?

Tom Peters (remember him?) was a huge proponent. Selling thousand-dollar-an-hour tickets to events triumphantly explaining how organisations needed serious hollowing out. Cut swathes of meaningless middle management and miraculously improve both your top- and bottom-line.

Business Process Re-engineering became the vogue wrap-around term.

I recall one particular early eye-popping case study where Dutch electronics conglomerate Philips became the movement's poster child when 'restructuring' through swingeing cull of (perhaps as many as fifty thousand) said pen-pushers.

In the thirty-five years since, there's been a couple of similar moments. Also in the aftermath of an economic downturn. Post dotcom boom and then GFC. It seems we're in its next phase.

Many business leaders state it's because AI is making so many middling roles redundant. In reality, as many keen observers point out, it feels more likely they're trying to obscure that they wildly over-hired following Lockdowns and couldn't possibly be seen to admit to such mistaken judgement now.

Today's round has the label 'the Great Flattening';

"technology analysts Gartner have predicted that 20pc of organisations this year will use AI to flatten their structure, eliminating more than half of current middle management positions".

Whatever the veracity of their reasoning, will where this fifth go spread beyond?

After all, despite spans of control broadening down the years, Sales has middle management too. Whilst there's an obvious ceiling to how many individual sellers a single 'boss' can oversee, in larger firms especially, where general departments lead, Sales will surely come under big pressure to fall into line.

If you're merely 'rent-seeking' in a kind of no-mans-land, we ought hold little sympathy.

Deadwood must be pruned. I've seen many an instance of salesperson claiming they have unbreakable, unique personal relationship with key client(s) and so couldn't possibly get chopped. Overwhelmingly their belief is misguided.

So perhaps such flattening may well extend to the actual sellers at the coalface too.

In which case, we must prepare.

For those of us at the sharp end, so called expansion territories could rip through our turf. That's where existing patches are divided up into smaller ones yet demanding similar quotas as their predecessors. Middle management then forced to choose either redundancy or accepting a role back in the trenches to fill the new patch.

Those still fighting for one of the fewer remaining go-between roles must ensure they have nailed their measurable impact.

There is one, right?

And also in the mouldability theme as I've blogged recently too, knowing where you are purposely upskilling along with existing proof of how you are getting ahead of where your current arena is going feels vital.

With echoes of being a proactive version of the '5 Bullets' viral phenom from this time last year. (Yes, 'what did you do last week?').

When within clutches of such pincers, I've helped those in solution selling prep their internal case for their immediate futures.

Admittedly if 'yer face doesn't fit', then there's little you can do. Though be heartened. As AI engagement alone is not the be-all-and-end-all of future Sales success. You can write up where you've come, are now, and headed. Then you may survive as in the famed joke.

A lion approaches two barefoot people. One guy runs straight away, yet the other pauses to put on running shoes. When the first exclaims to their companion, 'what?!', the answer is clear;

I don't have to outrun the lion, I only have to outrun you.