Being educated about sales isn’t just for the sales team. Everyone in your organization should be motivated and aligned with your sales goals, and this starts with the organization’s culture.

This is not something that happens overnight. If sales aren’t baked into your organization’s DNA at every level just yet, here are 5 tips to get you brainstorming on how to get sales at the forefront of every team member’s mind. 

1. Set clear sales goals and align them with company objectives.

Communication is key, and clear is kind. Be sure to get your team on the same page and layout important milestones for them. As the old saying goes, you eat an elephant one bite at a time. No matter how far you’re reaching with your goals, breaking them down into manageable actions and making sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to your grand plan is the first step in getting you where you need to go.

2. Foster a sales-oriented mindset across all departments.

Looking at it with an academic lens, sales is an interdisciplinary subject. All roads lead to sales if you will. This is why every department needs to ensure they guide their actions with a sales-oriented mindset. Sales don’t begin with the pitch or the cold call, it doesn’t even begin with marketing. It begins long before any of that, in the conception of your service or product, because sales are how you get your wonderful business out into the world. Make sure your team understands that. It may help them see sales in a whole new light.

3. Incentivize and motivate your team.

Commission for your sales team is, of course, the biggest motivator, but offering recognition when team members exceed expectations and fostering a supportive environment are great ways to incentivize your team, too. Recognition and a supportive environment work really well with our previous point about getting all departments to think sales – though other team members may not benefit from commission, everyone appreciates being told good job when they have done just that.

If there is room for growth within your organization, remember that promoting from within is a great way to keep great people.

4. Invest in ongoing sales training and development.

Get your team subscribed to platforms that will help them grow (like this one 😉) as salespeople and help them innovate and think of sales in new ways. Getting too comfortable can be dangerous when it comes to sales. As founders, we have to ensure we and our teams are on the cutting edge. 

5. Create a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.

This ties back into fostering a supportive environment. It’s important to be able to take a step back and examine why someone falls short when that happens, and how to help them improve. Sales gets a bad rap as being dog-eat-dog, but it doesn’t have to be that way. As founders, we set the example. Accountability means taking responsibility when things go wrong (or right), yes, but it also means getting to the root of why. It doesn’t need to be scary, and it shouldn’t be. Make taking accountability part of your everyday workplace culture and your team members will be able to grow without fear of their mistakes. 

Making sales isn’t for everyone, but making sales happen is the entire team’s responsibility. Sales touch every department, and without them, your company wouldn’t exist, so having a sales-driven culture is key to your business’s longevity.

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