Issue Selling

1
Issue Selling

• Taking Risks and Motivating Change in Teams and
  Organizations

2
What is Issue Selling?

• Defined Influencing change from the middle of
  the organization, either as a team or as an
  individual.
• Important for the organization
• Increased complexity and uncertainty means
  organizations benefit from ideas which come from
  the bottom or middle of the organization.
• Flatter organizational structures mean
  organizations have multiple avenues for new ideas
  to emerge.
• Important for teams and team members
• The ability to effectively sell ideas within a
  firm is critical to career success.
• Issue selling is an important part of upward
  management.

3
Why Issue Selling?

• Issue selling
• Enables and empowers you to present ideas for
  organizational improvement.
• Increases your visibility within the
  organization.
• Provides opportunities for challenging and
  interesting work.
• Enhances your chance for promotion and
  recognition.
• Key Questions for effective issue selling
• How can your idea help the organization achieve
  its goals?
• How can your idea help your boss achieve his/her
  goals?

4
Effective Issue Selling

• To sell issues, demonstrate how your ideas
  benefit the most important stakeholders.
• First, identify the primary stakeholders.
• Second, think about how to best explain and
  present your ideas to demonstrate how they will
  help the stakeholders achieve their goals.
• Third, recruit others to provide support to your
  efforts.

5
Principles of Issue Selling

• Sell issues that are congruent with your
  knowledge, expertise, role in the organization.
• Communicate frequently.
• Clearly identify the specific resources needed
  and short- and long-term payoffs for the issue.
• Enlist others to support your issue.
• Get feedback as you make progress in influencing
  others to adopt your ideas.

6
Organizational Politics and Issue Selling

• Political actions include behavior that is
  outside of your job description.
• How can office politics be used to help you sell
  issues?
• Sell ideas as benefiting the most people possible
  even if they benefit in different ways.
• Ask for opinions and use influence to change
  minds.
• Recruit champions and allies.
• Expand your sense of what you have to offer in
  exchange for support.
• Personal relationships are key.
• Prepare for and expect opposition and deal with
  it.
• Prepare for the aftermath of success.

7
Journal Assignment

• Ask your community partner about Issue Selling.
• When have they had to sell an idea or issue to
  others?
• This could be inside their organization, or
  outside in the larger community.
• What have they done that was successful?
• What have they learned NOT to do?
• Define issue selling if you need to, and have a
  discussion about how this applies to
  organizations and teams in general.