Is your company struggling to hit its revenue growth targets? Is sales viewed as a necessary evil inside your business? How do people’s attitudes reflect upon the sales department? What do they think of the individuals and the leadership in that part of your company? Do people generally distrust the sales and marketing people at your company? Are people hesitant to talk about sales and/or participate in the sales process or be associated with it? These are the symptoms that I find at companies that need to transform themselves and to develop a more healthy sales culture.
There are lots of companies that are striving for excellence in everything they do, yet they completely miss the mark in sales. Why is this? Well, often times companies which are headed by technologists, engineers, operations, or finance people lack a level of experience in sales that is commensurate with their other core strengths. Companies that excel however, are ones that embrace the importance of having a healthy, strong sales culture as part of their company values. They work to foster and develop a spirit of achievement, competitiveness, accountability, a drive to win and other significant values that embody a positive sales culture.
If your company is looking to create that sort of culture and is lacking it, start by looking within. Do a gap analysis. Figure out what it is that you’re missing. Is it leadership? Often times this is the critical missing ingredient. Acquiring and integrating top-level sales leadership into your executive team is absolutely critical to a company that wants to develop a strong sales culture. Is it management’s own attitudes about sales? Sometimes management just looks down on sales and as a result, even though the sales people are doing their jobs, they’re not viewed as an important part of the company and its overall success.
If your company is suffering from a lack of high energy, commitment, and motivation from your sales team or if sales isn’t celebrated inside your business, think again about how this reflects upon your overall competitiveness, your profitability, and your own ability to achieve your company’s objectives. Companies with healthy sales cultures are the ones that win in today’s day and age. Healthy sales cultures start with leadership that’s committed to emphasizing the importance of sales and embracing it as core part of their values.
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