If you own a business or manage a sales department, you know all the indicators of strong performance. You need your team to meet their quotas, maintain high conversion rates, and generate consistent leads. A productive sales team equals a productive business; but what is less clear is how to create the right environment for your team to meet those goals.
Top Characteristics Of A Successful Sales Culture
As a leader of a sales team, it is important to identify the traits that lead to growth and commitment; but managers also have to consider elements that will produce a healthy environment. Below are the top characteristics built into a successful sales culture.
Sales Teams Know How To Utilize Data
Businesses are collecting more information as cloud computing becomes universal; with this abundance of data, data science is being deployed across all aspects of organizations. The shift impacts risk analysts and sales personnel alike.
Sales managers do not need to become expert analyzers of data; however, successful sales cultures leverage big data to make decisions and predictions about trends, empowering sales teams.
Continuous Growth Through Learning
Any employee can become frustrated with a lack of opportunity for development. This frustration can bleed into morale and spread across your team. Giving your team members paths toward growth, will keep them motivated.
One way to provide opportunities for continuous growth is through education and training. There are countless tools available to businesses to help their employees develop such as, platforms like LinkedIn Learning or Udemy have enterprise packages. When members of a sales team have the tools needed to stay ahead of best practices and industry trends, they feel valued and they want to return the commitment you’ve made.
Sales Goals Align With Business Goals
The nature of a sales career provides strong motivation for team members. A constant feed of quotas and goals leaves no shortage of opportunities; ensure those sales goals align with business goals, or your sales team could feel like they are paddling upstream.
To ensure your sales team has the support of your organization, make sure that your team’s goals align with those of the business. When other departments feel your team’s impact, it facilitates cross-collaboration. Sales members feel a greater commitment to the team rather than individual goals.
Sales Team Work In Tandem With Marketing Team
Different departments within a business will have different objectives, but if departments are to work toward common goals, they need to collaborate. This is especially true for the relationship between sales and marketing.
Sales teams need to establish two-way relationships with marketing departments exchanging information about pain points and goals. If this line of communication is clear and consistent, customer needs are accurately addressed.
Employees Are Self-Motivated & Able To Motivate Others
Successful motivation should come from a variety of sources within the business structure. Identify the members of your team that are self-motivated.
These individuals not only drive themselves, they drive their teammates. Their mindset and drive deserves recognition and cultivates similar habits in others.
Complete Transparency
A successful sales culture relies on transparency; sales representatives need to have the confidence that they can trust their managers. Trust is not only about being honest in your communication it is also about providing as much relevant information as possible to your team.
If your company produces quarterly results on sales performance, share the insights with the sales team. If there are any concerns, your team needs to feel comfortable discussing them. You also need to keep sales personnel in the loop on any major company developments.
Strong Sense Of Competition
A strong sense of competition is healthy and productive for any sales team, after all, comparing ourselves to our peers is one of the most effective ways to measure performance. Improper motivation can create a negative environment of competition, but positive motivation can go a long way.
There are many ways to foster healthy competition among sales teams. Some managers may have the budget to reward the month’s highest seller with a bonus or in other situations, recognition for achievements can drum up competition.
Open & Honest Feedback
Managing a team requires leadership. Your team members will look to you for guidance and advice. If you are not open and clear with feedback, your sales culture will suffer dramatically.
A lack of honest feedback stifles development; team members cannot improve in areas in which they have no awareness of their faults leading to confusion about their performance and ultimately decrease morale.
Speak With A Sales Culture Consultant
A successful sales culture is key to the enablement of a sales team. Businesses with healthy sales cultures foster development and healthy competition. The result is sales growth that allows businesses to scale with customer demands. If you want to know what a successful sales culture looks like for your business, contact an RCG Consultant today. Call by phone at (703) 939-9773 or contact us online.
