To ensure your sales team is fully onboard with your new product positioning, it would be beneficial to engage them early, communicate in a clear manner, offer training, share success stories, create a welcoming and supportive environment, establish achievable goals, and reward those who embrace the change. It would also be prudent to be prepared to adapt as necessary.

1. Early Involvement: Engage the sales team from the start. Hold workshops where they can share insights on customer pain points, allowing them to feel invested in the new direction. 2. Demonstrate Value: Present data that backs the positioning—market trends, customer feedback, and competitor analysis. 3. Equip with Tools: Provide sales with battle cards, pitch decks, and role-play scenarios. This boosts confidence and gives them language to communicate the value effectively. 4. Showcase Success Stories: Share early wins or case studies from pilot customers, reinforcing how the new approach drives results. 5. Create Open Feedback Loops: Set regular check-ins to gather sales feedback and refine the positioning as necessary.

Don't roll it out to everyone. I call it anti-enablement :) Find the people who are willing to adopt and exclusively share it with them. Give them all your attention to help adopt. Help them prep for calls, customize decks, and win deals. Then those 2-3 reps begin to close deals with your help, they'll start asking for the materials. Use your evangelist reps to help teach the materials and drive adoption. Oh and spiffs. Spiffs can work too.

If your sales team is resistant to new product positioning, you can successfully address their concerns by highlighting the advantages of the changes; offering training and resources to enhance their skills in selling these upgraded products; and fostering an environment of feedback and collaboration that promotes ongoing improvement.

1. Involve Sales Early in the Process 2. Clarify the ‘Why’ Behind the Change 3. Showcase Evidence and Data 4. Provide Comprehensive Training 5. Offer Incentives 6. Create a Feedback Loop 7. Leverage Influencers within the Team At the end of the day, there's no one solution fix all, but what's important to acknowledge is, on behalf of your team, ask yourself, "what's in it for me?"