Are you accelerating through this economy or is your company just a few percentage points ahead of inflation? If you could wave a magic wand and recreate your sales and business development team, what would it look like?
These are questions every executive and owner should be asking themselves, at least semiannually. A conscious effort needs to be made to continually tweak the culture of your sales management and sales force.
What Is Your Corporate Culture?
Before you go adjusting your sales team, you need to understand what the culture of your company is currently and then determine if your sales team supports it. You can not have a sales culture that is contrary to the corporate culture. Gather your executives and review and /or reestablish the core values and mission statement of the company.
Identify the culture:
- What is the balance of task vs. relationship oriented individuals.
- Is it a sales or manufacturing or people or engineering driven organization.
- Cutting edge innovative or conservative technology.
- An image of low-cost producer or high quality perfection, etc.
You may be disciplined at making these assessments with your existing staff. However, frequently an objective, unemotionally involved third party can be a tremendous asset at facilitating such an undertaking.
Identify Your Sales Culture
Start with your sales management. What drives them to be effective managers? Do they believe in and support the corporate culture?
Your management needs to be nurturing enough to mentor, tough enough to coach and supervise, and intelligent enough to be trainers. Your can teach them to be trainers and supervisors, but coaches and mentors earn those positions through experience, knowledge and action.
Now evaluate your sales staff. Determine how you want them to act and perform. You may prefer them to be employees or behave as independent contractors in charge of their own destinies. Decide on the type of relationship your company needs to have with your customers/clients. Long term loyal relationships or "one time sales" experts are both appropriate in the right industry and as long as the corporate culture is reflected in their actions.
There are several common and necessary characteristics that sales people need to possess in all cultures.
Inherent:
- A positive attitude.
- Personal integrity.
- A desire and commitment to constantly improve personally and in their sales results.
Trainable:
- A reproducible selling system that can be managed effectively.
- Product knowledge.
- A clear and concise understanding of the corporate culture.
- An ability to communicate with all types of personalities.
Build It
Once you have identified the ideal sales culture, write it down for all to see and understand. Begin molding and correcting your existing sales culture by hiring and removing individuals with this culture in mind. You should see dramatic changes in your sales results once this process is complete.