Develop a positive sales Culture: 10 Things Your Reps want you to know

Did you know it takes an average of 18 calls before a salesperson connects with their lead? Multiply that by every lead in the salesperson's funnel, and that's a gigantic amount of time spent chasing down sales. Yet, there's often a perception among company leadership that salespeople have it easy. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If your company doesn't properly value or take the time to understand its sales team, it can affect every facet of your business. Fostering a sales-positive culture helps you obtain long-term success. 

The Benefit of a Sales-Positive Culture

Success begins with understanding, and understanding comes from the top down. Your company's leadership must set an example by demonstrating respect, appreciation and insight as to how their sales reps operate. 

It's easy to see how misconceptions are born. For those who've never been a salesperson, speaking to clients seems like a soft skill, chatting and schmoozing followed by a lot of downtime. In reality, the sales rep spends only about 30% of their time talking directly with clients. The rest of that time is spent on administrative tasks like scheduling, paperwork and training. 

Still, the misconception persists: that no one really understands what sales does, that sales seems easy, and that if the company needs more revenue, sales just needs to sell better or call more people to increase it. Unless your leadership takes measures to stop the anti-sales attitude from taking root, your company's morale and profitability could be in serious trouble.  

10 Things Leadership Needs to Know About Its Sales People

It's a more effective strategy to build a bridge than it is a fence. Keeping your company's individual departments synchronized boosts morale and overall prosperity. After years of interacting with professional salespeople, these are the most essential things every salesperson wishes their CEO knew about them.  

1. Trust us. Sales people are professionals, and speaking to clients is more than just a soft skill. It requires investment and training, but it can be developed with the right support. Leadership needs to approach us with a certain level of faith, but if they see room for improvement, give us opportunities for professional development too. With the right tools and support, we'll deliver. 
2. Clarity and clear boundaries are better than blue skies. Even the most driven of self-starters needs boundaries and guidance. One of the more common complaints that non-sales people have about the sales team is that they over-utilize resources. From treating potential clients to expensive dinners, giving away samples too freely, to authorizing discounts on products, there's a perception that salespeople waste company assets. We thrive when you trust us, but make sure to set appropriate boundaries for us to work within. Giving a rep total freedom may seem like a good idea, but sometimes a wide open sky can be debilitating. 
3. We're all different, but kind of the same. There are traits common to every salesperson. According to the Harvard Business Review, successful reps are modest, curious and not easily embarrassed. According to Entrepreneur, all good sales professionals are passionate and knowledgeable about their products. But remember: every salesperson is an individual. Our style and level of skill may vary. Meet us halfway, and appreciate our unique abilities. 
4. Learn who we are and what makes us tick. A sales team is like a sports team; we don't all play the same position. Everyone has individual strengths and weaknesses, and a one-size-fits-all approach to management won't work. If your company's leadership takes the time to understand what motivates each individual member of the team, it can pay dividends going forward. 
5. We love when you implement systems of reward and recognition. Sales is naturally competitive. On a large scale, that means competition against other companies for market share. On a local level, it's good-natured competition against one another. Salespeople thrive on systems of reward that recognize both types of achievement. Recognizing your sales force as a whole, while rewarding top performers individually, makes everyone feel appreciated.  
6. We are the eyes, the ears and sometimes the brain of the company. Salespeople are your customers' first point of contact. We have a lot of actionable information to share with leadership (and everyone else). But we have to have a safe and appropriate opportunity to share it with you. It helps to reserve a block of time weekly where you really listen to your salespeople and get a view of your business from the ground up. 
7. We're human, and sometimes we need your help to get back in the game. Even the most outgoing salesperson has bad days and periods of low confidence. Days without a sale, or a bad customer experience, can put us off our game. Remind us not to dwell on the past, but to focus on the strength of the company's sales funnel. Every day is a brand-new opportunity. Help us look forward. 
8. Take the time to be a friend and mentor. Being a good salesperson and having confidence go hand-in-hand. That doesn't mean that salespeople don't need support. We do our best work when there's consistent feedback from leadership. Take time to reward our successes but also to coach us on areas of opportunity. Salespeople need a healthy way to vent frustration. After all, sales can be a wild ride sometimes. 
9. Ask us to help solve challenges and problems. Sales people provide solutions. Solving customer problems is a huge part of sales. We love to approach the sale process in the role of problem solver. Use that to incorporate us into the larger company culture. Our frontline experience may give the rest of the team unique insight regarding a difficult problem. 
10. Momentum is essential to our success. Momentum is crucial to sales. When we're talking to customers, we "get in the zone," and it helps if we carry that energy between sales calls. The more administrative tasks and staff meetings you schedule, the more we lose our momentum. It's hard to overcome inertia and start back up again. Streamline your administrative processes as much as possible to avoid unnecessary interruptions. 

Building Bridges

Your sales department is the driving force behind your revenue and prosperity, but they're often misunderstood by fellow employees and company leadership. It's important to view your sales team as essential and look for ways to enfranchise them. It's always better to build a bridge than it is a fence. 

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