How to Implement Change and What to Expect in the Process

Welcome back to the Building a Clear Authentic Brand podcast. I'm your host, Amy Dardis. Anytime we step into something new, whether it's change in culture, process, technology, or even how we lead, it's not easy. It's never easy. Change sounds exciting in theory, but the process of implementing it is uncomfortable, slow, and often messy.

In today's episode, we're talking about what to expect when you are implementing change, how to handle resistance, opposition, and isolation, and how to stay committed long enough to see the transformation. We are in episode two of a three-part series on implementing change. The previous episode we talked about ownership and commitment, which are required before you can ever see true and lasting change. Today we're talking about what to expect when you're implementing change and how to actually do it. In the next episode, we will talk about handling opposition.

Getting started with implementing change, what do we expect? How do we actually do it? I have had a lot of experience implementing change. I am a weird one. I enjoy it for some weird reason. But it is something I know takes an enormous amount of effort. And I've seen so many businesses fail at implementing change, trying to implement a CRM, trying to implement e-commerce, trying to change culture, or even just implementing a new process and failing. So I want to walk through what we really have to do so that we don't fail.

One of the stories I have on change is implementing a new e-commerce platform, which not only required implementing a new technology, but it required implementing a shift in process and a shift in how we do things, as well as marketing messaging. And it was a huge project. Implementing e-commerce was one of the biggest changes I've ever implemented, and that was a process.

The first thing to know is that when we're implementing anything new, we have to expect resistance. It's going to happen, and we have to be mentally and emotionally prepared for it. It's natural and it's okay. Even if people believe the change is good and are excited about it, there's still this fear, this apprehension, this anxiety. Deep down, they're like: I've always done it this way, and now you're asking me to do it this way, or you're asking me to learn this new thing. And deep down, I'm just afraid. I'm worried I'm not going to figure it out, it's not going to work, it's going to be a waste of time. These are all the fears and thoughts that go through our minds. It's normal. So if you're the one in charge, just know that. Even if they don't tell you, even if they don't admit it, those thoughts are going on.

In addition to expecting resistance, we also need to expect opposition. There will be adversity, there will be challenges, and there will be people who don't like it. Beyond resistance, there will be opposition to the change itself. There are two forms: passive opposition and active opposition. I'll dive more into that in the next episode because it's its own topic. Expect it, and listen to the next episode on how we deal with it.

The third thing is we have to expect isolation, especially at the beginning. Chances are when you're introducing something new, you might be the only one who can see the vision. You are the one who has this idea and this picture and this goal and this conviction in your head that this needs to happen. Your mindset has already shifted. You already see that it's possible and that it's good. But when you first introduce this to your team and your people or your customers, they won't be able to see the vision yet. And so that gap between it starting with you and then spreading to other people, it can be lonely depending on how long it lasts.

You're kind of the one pushing this big boulder up a hill for a while, and it's all on you. And that is hard and it is overwhelming. But if you just keep going and you don't give up, knowing that eventually people will come on board if you follow all the rest of these steps, there is a period of time when it's just you. You have your own insecurities, your own doubts, your own fears, your own natural resistance that you are having to work through. But you can't share it fully because you're trying to win them over, trying to instill confidence, trying to cast the vision. So there is a level of extra energy and extra positivity and extra optimism that you have to infuse into it, even when you yourself might be battling on the inside. And that can be lonely. But get through it and it'll be worth it.

When we're implementing change, we have to give it our full energy. We have to commit time, energy, and resources to it. We can't just decide that we're going to implement something new and then put in a little bit of effort, like hey, I said this is going to be new, and now we're going to start doing it, and people are going to get on board, and it's just going to be this seamless thing. That's not how it works. And a lot of times it's like, oh, we tried to implement a CRM and nobody used it. And then they say it's the software's problem. When a lot of times it's actually, no, there are so many more elements to it that require this intention, this focus, and this energy.

When I first started rolling out this e-commerce platform, I was doing it in an industry I was brand new at and knew nothing about. I had joined the gas and welding world, didn't understand the terminology, the operational side, the customer side. I was having to learn this industry while at the same time researching this e-commerce platform: what kind of platform to use, how to integrate it, what systems needed to talk to each other. Making sure we were using the right software for how our business operated. And then after getting all those integrations fleshed out, getting it designed, getting it working, which ended up being the easy part, I had to launch it. I had to train not only our internal team on it but also thousands of customers. And I had a lot of resistance to overcome.

It was very isolating in those early phases because I was the only one who understood the program, the only one who saw that this could make the business better, help us run more efficiently, help us improve sales. I believed this was required for the market because I did not believe we could continue to do business the way we always had and still grow without being at risk of losing out to competitors implementing technology. So here I was trying to learn everything I could and push it out and launch it and train on it. And in my head, I had to make this commitment: this is going to require all of my time, energy, and resources. I was almost willing it into existence with all of my being, all of my thoughts, all of my energy, all of my prayers.

And it took a lot. It took so many conversations, conversation after conversation. It took processes and following up and training and getting out into the field. And all the time and energy that went into people was a majority. The software and the learning and the educational part, getting all those things tested and working correctly, that was a fraction. The majority of the energy and effort and time was into people: changing mindsets, overcoming resistance, overcoming fear, training, following up, building confidence. I had to be so intentional about it. I had to bring it up when no one wanted to talk about it. I had to build it into processes. I had to go out and seek out opportunities.

Implementing change is slow, small, and steady. It's a gradual process. It is one tiny win at a time. It's one small mindset shift. It's one conversation at a time. And that is normal. There is no faster way to do it because you're working with people, and I had to give them time to change their mindset about it, knowing that just doesn't happen overnight.

I would go and hop in the truck with a salesperson and spend the entire day with them. We would go around and visit their customers. I would get to know them as an individual. And then throughout the day we would be talking to customers about e-commerce. I would go in and train them on how to do it and then help them do it. And then in the truck we would be talking back and forth about it, any questions, what I'm excited about, what obstacles I'm running into, what concerns they had. Then six months later I would go back and do it again. And six months later I'd go back and do it again. Each time there was change, each time there was growth, each time there was more progress.

Obviously it wasn't just me having that one conversation, but they were having conversations with each other. We were talking about it in meetings, we had goals set around it, we were celebrating the wins along the way. So little by little there were these different elements that were swaying them or helping them shift their thinking and shift their habits. Okay, this is good. I'm getting more comfortable with it. I'm seeing that my customers are liking it and it's making my job easier. All these benefits coming into play, but that took time. It was just one little small shift at a time.

At a minimum, implementing change can take three to six months. Anywhere as long as nine to eighteen months to see an even bigger shift. And this goes back to size: it's easier to turn a small boat than a bigger boat. But it's going to take time and it's going to take energy invested intentionally for a lot longer than you probably want it to. Over the process of that timeline, everybody is going to shift and grow and get more comfortable at different paces.

What I learned to do was work with the early adopters first, the people who were the most open, the most excited, the least resistant. Instead of focusing all my time and energy on everyone equally or choosing the harder ones first, I went for wins. What can I do to get as much traction as possible early on in the process? Because winning people over is a ripple effect. It starts with you, and then there comes this next circle. But once you have this next circle on board, they're helping you. The people who are more resistant are then looking at these other people and thinking, oh, what do you think? Oh, you're excited about it. Oh, it worked for you. So it's not just this one person pushing it now. Now it's more people.

It's the same concept as word of mouth and reviews, but internally with your team or your customers when you're trying to implement change. You want to get as many people on board on your team as possible so that they become ambassadors for change. That helps break down the walls of the people in the next ring and the next ring. I would not worry about the people who are the most resistant at all, especially not at the beginning. At the beginning, you are looking for proof of concept. You are looking to test and prove that this change is good. Use the people and the situations where you are the most likely to get wins and traction, because that's going to build momentum. And you need momentum.

Think about it like a snowball. You start out with this small thing, probably you and your vision and your prayers and your willpower. But then it keeps rolling and you gather more proof, more feedback, more success, more people, and they help you do that work and it continues to spread. So it is not you going around doing this all yourself. It's you helping these people get on board and then taking it out and out and out until you see that transformation.

With that, you have to be intentional, consistent, and persistent. Change requires perseverance, and it helps when you're building in systems and accountability to actually make sure this is becoming a part of your organization, a part of your operations. When we were implementing e-commerce, it came up in weekly meetings. It became a regular topic. We were setting goals around it. It became part of how we were measuring success, part of our strategic planning, part of our KPIs for tracking growth. We factored it into incentives and reviews and conversations. It wasn't something optional. We were ingraining it into how we do business.

If you're implementing a CRM, you are using it every week or every conversation when talking with your sales team. You're not just saying here's our CRM, go use it. You're saying here's our CRM, you're using it. We review it each week. I look at the open opportunities within it. We're pulling information from it for our reports. We're setting goals around what's in there. You're making it so that it's a part of how you do business. And on top of that, just talking about it all the time, to annoying levels. Talk about it, joke about it, make fun of yourself for talking about it. Be shameless about it. Celebrate it, bring it up, do shout-outs, ask questions, send reminders. The more front and center it is, the harder it is to slide it under the rug.

When implementing change, we want to be able to measure adoption. When I was implementing e-commerce, I was measuring inputs: how many days in the field did I spend to promote this? How many campaigns did I run? How many promotional videos did I create? It was in emails, social media, flyers, stores, me out there in person at every opportunity. But then we were also measuring outcomes: how many customers did we have using it? How many new customers were we gaining each month? How many were continuing to consistently order? What was the number of transactions going through the system? What was the dollar amount? What was the percentage of dollars coming through e-commerce compared to overall sales?

We were tracking progress month over month. I had a spreadsheet and was tracking it. I could find the patterns and see: okay, we're growing at this rate. This is consistent and steady. And I was able to look back and be like, we are growing, even when it doesn't feel like it, even if I hear resistance or I'm dealing with opposition, even if it feels slow. I have numbers, I have tangible data to look at and prove that this is working. That was encouraging. That kept me going and helped me not give up.

Even when those wins were small, I learned to celebrate every single small win. Every single one. Every time a new customer ordered for the very first time, I would email the salesperson, let them know, acknowledge it, mention it in the weekly meeting, mention it in the highlights, let everybody on the team know about it. I wrote down success stories. This day I went and had a ride along with this salesperson. We saw these people and talked about these things, and I saw them do this, and it was awesome. And then six months later, we went out and I saw this growth, and this customer that we talked about the very first time now has ordered every month since. And we can prove that it paid off.

By me tracking all of those wins, it was encouraging for me, but it also helped build confidence and belief from the team as well. They saw that I recognized them, I acknowledged their effort, I celebrated their effort publicly in front of the team and the boss and the customers. And it built belief and motivation in the other people hearing these stories, knowing: oh wow, that happened for you. Oh, that's cool. Maybe it can happen for me too. Maybe I could do it with this customer. So start early and celebrate often. Every single little win.

The other thing I learned to do was create an environment where people could be open and honest about how they felt, where people could express their concerns and their ideas, and they would be acknowledged and addressed. A lot of times overcoming mindset and resistance is just letting there be room for it to be okay to be not sure you want to change. That's okay, that's normal. Tell me why you're concerned, tell me why you're afraid. In order to have that conversation, there has to be a level of trust, there has to be a level of interaction. Which is why I was putting all this time and energy into people and into the time I spent with them, so we could have some trust, some safety to be able to talk about those things.

An environment and opportunity of just being in the truck talking, and for them to be like: you know, when I first heard about this, this is how I felt. But now I'm seeing it's not as bad as I thought. And I'd be like: okay, that's okay. I'm glad you told me. I'm glad you were able to recognize that, and I'm also super happy to hear that your thoughts on it are changing. And also I don't have an expectation for how you coming on board should look. I'm just respecting your process and your pace at which you want to change, as long as even if it's slow, you're open and you're willing and I'm seeing progress. That's all I'm looking for.

Being able to have that relationship and that environment where we can talk about that stuff, it helps people in this mindset shift. Most of us are just afraid of change because it's new and we don't know what to expect. Part of overcoming that is rewriting those false beliefs and giving it time and proving to them that it's successful, that it's okay, that it's possible. Like when we implemented a new hiring process, some of the resistance was: I don't have time to do all these steps. And we would have those conversations and let them see it proven. Hey, by following this process, look at the hire you ended up with. Even though it seemed like more time up front, you just reallocated your time. Instead of investing time after the fact coaching the wrong person and dealing with drama and then starting over, you did more work up front and now you have this great team member. And now they're like: okay, I believe this.

For some people, believing is seeing, and for some people, seeing is believing. There are your visionaries who can believe it before they see it, and then you have the people who are like: prove it to me. And that's part of implementing change: being able to prove that it's good, that it's beneficial, that it's worth the resistance, worth the journey, worth the effort and the time, and that in the end, life is better and business is better.

It ends up being this ripple effect. It starts with you, just a pebble that drops. It's solid and it's committed: I'm going to do this, I'm going to give it whatever I've got, I'm committed, I'm all in. Then you influence that first ring of people, and then they help you influence the second, and then that momentum starts to build, and then eventually you experience the change and you experience the transformation. And that process, looking back and seeing okay, this is where we were, this is all the things we did, but this is what came out of that, it builds up your own confidence and your own ability.

Once we understand the principles of implementing change, of what to expect and how to do it, whatever it is you're implementing, it doesn't matter. I used mostly an e-commerce example, but the same principles hold true for implementing new hiring processes, implementing strategic planning processes, implementing core values and brand transformation and culture, implementing new structure. It's the same because ninety percent of it is just dealing with people. And a lot of that is: what does it take to influence and shift people? What are the obstacles you're going to face? But if you follow these things, you will be successful. And then you'll be able to tackle your next challenge. Make sure to join us for the next episode on opposition, because that's one of the biggest obstacles that keeps people from successfully implementing change. You can learn more at clearauthenticbrands.com. I will see you next time.