Fostering a motivated sales team

Many businesses continue to follow outdated sales practices that have become ineffective over time. SUE BARRETT examines the advantages of embracing a more empathetic sales culture.

I want you to imagine a team of 10 salespeople, each of whom has their own well-defined sales responsibilities.

These ‘territories’ could be product-based or services-based or perhaps defined by other terms; it doesn’t matter.

Each member of the staff has sales targets. They have access to sales support and customer service. This sales team, including sales support, meets virtually and occasionally in person every month to workshop their plans.

These meetings examine what’s working and what’s not. They are focused on moving forward, how to improve sales traction, and how to deliver results.

It’s in these monthly meetings that the magic happens, not just in sales and deals but also in culture.

Each staff member is united around a common purpose, and the business strategy is clear and easy to understand. It is broken down into individual territories.

They know what they are selling to whom and why. This sales team culture has something extra everyone abides by — the principle of “leave no one behind.”

In retail, we all face challenges from time to time — disinterested customers, sales struggles, or perhaps personal circumstances that make it difficult to complete a busy schedule.

If it emerges that a salesperson is facing challenges, all the other staff and sales support work with that member to help them recover and get through that patch. 

Whether it’s coaching, mentoring, taking over the reins, or making calls on their behalf, everyone is vested in getting that individual and the team to deliver.

Sounds like an ideal work environment, doesn’t it?

Popularisation of unhealthy culture”Unfortunately, this type of culture has been promoted for too long as the ideal for a sales team."

By contrast, businesses that promote selling as a highly competitive, aggressive operation tend to run into surprising issues.

It’s easy to think of some business and salespeople cliches popularised by films and television that embody these kinds of work cultures.

• All the salespeople compete with each other for the ‘top spot’, and the least successful staff members by volume are culled.
• Managers encourage a cut-throat and high-pressure, 'take-no-prisoners' culture to drive their financial success.
• Customers are seen as targets, and attempts to close a sale are referred to as 'going in for the kill'.
• Customers are regarded as objects to be possessed or trophies placed on a cabinet, shown off and admired like stuffed animals on a wall above a fireplace.

If you’re the kind of manager who promotes any of the above behaviour or is still taking inspiration from films such as Glengarry Glen Ross, then you’ve found the right article. A growing body of research suggests these dog-eat-dog cultures are extremely harmful to productivity, retention, and staff well-being.

Unfortunately, this type of culture has been promoted for too long as the ideal for a sales team.

The costs associated with these toxic, high-pressure cultures include:

• Blow out in health care expenditure due to workplace stress. Long-term issues with stress lead to higher chances of cardiovascular disease and even death from heart attacks.
• Employee disengagement includes high absenteeism, more errors, lower productivity, lower profitability, lower job growth, and lower sales performance.
• A lack of loyalty from staff members and, by extension, customers who correctly perceive an unhealthy work environment and choose to spend their money elsewhere.

A report from the Harvard Business Review - Proof Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive - underlined the final point regarding loyalty.

“Although there’s an assumption that stress and pressure push employees to perform more, better, and faster, what cut-throat organisations fail to recognise is the hidden costs incurred,” the report reads.

“This research on positive organisational psychology demonstrates that not only is a cut-throat environment harmful to productivity over time, but that a positive environment will lead to dramatic benefits for employers, employees, and the bottom line.”

Encouragement moving forward

The example shared at the beginning of this article doesn’t need to be a fantasy – it can become your reality.

The collegiate, collaborative, and caring approach taken by businesses that value their staff and encourage people to build genuine customer relationships will have the last laugh.