Company culture can make or break a sales team. Sales leaders have seen promising sales representatives start off strong, then plateau and ultimately burn out more times than they can count. Tough days of rejection in the field are challenging to overcome and are major contributors to the high attrition rate associated with sales positions.
A study conducted by the University of Southern California used neuro-imagery to show that when evaluating brands, consumers primarily use emotions rather than information. Do your sales emails and marketing pieces motivate your would-be customers with clear, compelling calls to action, or is your message dismissed and overlooked? Testing a new CTA, or simply making small changes to your existing one, is the best way to answer this question.
Sales representatives need a strong sense of connection and purpose to recover from those tough days and rebound with a driven, winning attitude. Building trust is key to building this kind of workplace culture. Unfortunately, many communication practices we’ve been taught result in misunderstanding and conflict. Consider making these adjustments to help your good intentions result in meaningful, positive change for your team.
Stop ignoring break-up behaviors. According to noted relationship expert Dr. John Gottam, four communication qualities that predict a couple will break up are criticism, defensiveness, contempt and stonewalling. These qualities are not necessarily symptoms of unhappiness, but the instigators of trouble. When we choose these behaviors, we pick up the hammer and pick and actively chip away at our once rock-solid trust.
Stop sandwiching all feedback. When you sandwich feedback, you place the issue at hand between two compliments. While the compliments may be true, this method is painfully transparent and leaves people feeling manipulated. If you always serve up feedback as a sandwich, you risk diminishing the value of everything you want to convey.
Stop venting on the sidelines. When we express frustrations solely on the sidelines rather than directly and respectfully, we become focused on fueling the issue rather than on achieving a resolution. Encourage your team to ask questions like, “Why have we done it this way in the past?” and “What is at risk if we try a different approach?” when they have concerns over something brought up in a staff meeting. This kind of transparency builds trust and can make your meetings more valuable and productive.
Strong workplace culture doesn’t happen overnight, but small meaningful changes can help you build an environment your team will want to come back to every day.
Originally published in The Memphis Daily News.