Recently, we conducted one of our
most interesting interviews of the year with a sales leader that shared some
great thoughts on how to create the right sales culture that supports and
drives top performers. This interview was with Donald S. Berkman, Head of
Sales with Dun & Bradstreet and he shared some fresh thinking on:
1.
The right sales culture is the core foundation for world-class
performance
2.
Screen New Team Members for Coaching Receptivity
3.
The Four C’s
4.
The Right Culture Supports a Positive Outlook
5.
Transform Your Training Approach
Early in the interview, Donald said
something that really framed the rest of our conversation,
“Once you have
built a team sales culture that uses a successful process, you can sell almost
anything.”
When the sales culture attracts the
right people, repels the people who are a poor fit, and quickly accelerates the
learning process, the odds of success for the entire team are increased
significantly. Donald added how important happiness is to the culture formula,
“One thing that can
be even more important than the training of your sales team, is the culture
that you build. Having a culture of happiness can help salespeople connect with
their clients almost immediately.”
The sales leaders we work with on
projects at the SalesGym often ask us what is the best way to change the team
culture so that performance accelerates as quickly as possible. Some of the
things we typically share with them include:
·
Begin by committing to coaching the coaches
·
Build a serious practice culture that approaches training the
way elite sports teams do
·
The culture must support and encourage a positive attitude and
general happiness
·
Accountability needs to be balanced with an equally important
element of celebration
Screen New Team
Members for Coaching Receptivity
Although nearly all salesperson we
meet say they would love to get more coaching and want to be in a culture of
positive accountability, often they are simply unaware of what that really
means, as Donald explains,
“It is hard to get
people to commit to a culture of practice and coaching if they haven’t been in
one before. That is why it is so important to have this type of culture from
day one and to hire the correct people that will fit into that culture.”
The Four C’s
Donald explained his Four C’s of building
a strong sales team,
“This part of the
sales process can not be overstated. I’ve always said there are four C’s to a
successful sales team: Culture, Coaching, Certification, and Consistency. The
on-going coaching aspect of sales not only keeps our teams stay sharp and
focused on best-demonstrated practices, but it reinforces the notion that as a
management team, we care about you, about your success and about your earnings
to achieve whatever personal goals you may have. The psychological effect of this
is tremendous.”
Ultimately, all the sales leader can
do is create the conditions for salespeople to thrive and succeed, but they
have to make it happen. Donald explains how the right sales culture is a shared
responsibility,
“While the sales
leaders set the tone, it’s the salespeople that bring this vision to life.
Every now and then the sales leader needs to tweak or modify the team culture,
but the right work environment should be viewed as something that each person
has ownership of. I always tell my teams that you spend as much or more time
with your work family than your home family, so why have an environment that
makes you not want to be there? Life is too short to spend any significant
portion being unhappy if you have control.”
The Right Culture Supports
a Positive Outlook
Successful selling is largely about
creating a positive buying experience and that often comes from the attitude of
the salesperson, as Donald explains,
“In today’s world,
salespeople on the phones or in person need to instantly build a real
relationship with the client. That process needs to start well before the phone
call … it starts with a positive outlook from the salesperson.”
Having met thousands of
top-performing sales leaders over the last several decades, we agree with Donald
that the right culture promotes positive attitudes that can be heard and felt
in the sales interaction. When the sales leader is overly focused on pressuring
the sales team or burdening them with excessive reporting and tracking tasks,
it’s easy to lose focus on what’s actually happening when salespeople are
face-to-face or voice-to-voice with real decision-makers.
“Almost everything
that a sales organization does should heighten the mental state of their sales
teams. I call this “Saleschology”. If team members feel valued and rewarded,
then they will approach their jobs with more excitement and everyone wins.”
The right coaching on what matters
most is one of the most powerful performance levers the sales leader has, as
Donald explains,
“Frequent teaching
and coaching on what salespeople want to learn helps them feel like the company
is investing in them. They feel valued. It also allows the leaders and trainers
to communicate vital information without resistance from their team.”
Transform Your
Training Approach
At SalesGym, we’ve studied
extensively the way salespeople learn and improve and have determined it is
best to train and coach them similar to how elite athletes are trained. Donald
has come to a similar conclusion,
“Short and frequent
practice sessions help salespeople to receive training and still have time in
their day to work and get things done.”
The problem with the way most sales
training is delivered, is salespeople have a hard time remembering all the
ideas, models and tips when they’re crammed into a 1-2 day program as Donald
explains,
“The days of
half-day training should go out the window. It is far more effective to break
up information into smaller portions and have the salespeople focus on
mastering those instead of mastering everything at once.”
We’ve found that most salespeople
need a lot more training, coaching and practice on the absolute basics until
they can execute them skillfully, under pressure. These core fundamentals are
where more time needs to be spent with more salespeople:
·
Beginning each sales interaction with an effective agenda
·
Summarizing previous meetings and bringing in helpful challenger
level insights
·
Asking better questions in a more interesting and insightful way
·
Communicating powerful differentiating factors in a relevant,
tailored way
·
Responding to likely concerns or objections
·
How to end a sales interaction so positive actions steps are
identified
These are the skills, that more often
than not, need more coaching and practice to impact performance. Once the
salesperson masters these skills, then move to more complex aspects of account
development, selling to different personalities and the more refined aspects of
the sales process.
Master the fundamentals first.
SalesGym is a research, consulting,
and training company that works with and learns from sales teams all over the
world and has refined a coaching and training process that trains sales teams
the way elite athletes are trained. More insights and articles from us
can be found on our RESOURCES PAGE.
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