How would you describe your organization’s culture? Would you classify it as stressful or competitive? Or would you say it’s more supportive and transparent? Sales cultures look different at every organization, but successful sales cultures usually share a few commonalities. Aja Frost, head of content SEO at HubSpot, says the best sales cultures bring out the best in salespeople. They promote collaboration and knowledge sharing, and they embrace continual learning and development.

If your sales team experiences low motivation or high turnover, you could be dealing with a culture issue. In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we share Frost’s suggestions on ways to improve your sales culture so that trust and respect remain at the forefront.

Embrace friendly competition. Sales is a competitive field, but that doesn’t mean your culture has to become cutthroat. It should never get to a point where sales reps badmouth each other or try to steal leads from others. You can foster friendly competition in a few ways, Frost says. First, give your sales team an external competitor. Try to outsell your biggest competitor in the market. Second, challenge sales reps to beat their own personal bests. You could also change up your sales contests and incentives to give different reps a chance to win.

Celebrate individual achievements. Another way to build a healthy sales culture is to commend individual sales reps when they get a win. If someone hits a big goal or excels in a specific area, take a moment to recognize them, says Frost. These moments help sales reps feel valued and seen, and it encourages everyone to keep striving for excellence.

Make collaboration easy. In healthy sales cultures, people help each other. They share tips and insight and communicate with each other regularly. Leaders can help create opportunities to collaborate by creating contests that involve teams working collectively instead of individually. Leaders can also consider adding sales reps to Slack or another chat platform that makes it easy to send a quick note to the whole team, notes Frost.

Promote accountability. Healthy teams require team members who stay accountable for their responsibilities. When poor performance is tolerated, reps will begin to feel like quotas are suggested than required. Frost recommends clearly defining your expectations and stepping in to help anyone who may be struggling. Sometimes, you may need to put a sales rep on a performance improvement plan. This can address the problem and give the sales rep the tools they need to succeed in their role.

Address turnover. If your organization is constantly losing salespeople, this is a major red flag for candidates, says Frost. It’s also costly to find and train new sales reps. You can address high turnover by being selective in your hiring process and then giving new hires ample coaching and support. This means not just onboarding them but providing support throughout their tenure. Also, Frost says it’s important to outline clear promotion paths for your team members. Help them see how they can grow and advance at your company.
Building the kind of culture that motivates sales reps to do their best requires effort and intentional actions. You can work to create a healthier sales culture at your organization by applying the tips above.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers

Source: Aja Frost is HubSpot’s head of content SEO.