How do I get my senior people to do a crash course in building a terrific sales culture?

Dear Aunty B,

I have just joined a business that has developed a very unfortunate culture where the sales people are treated as second-class citizens. We are a design studio and the people who create our products are the stars (they are artists) and the people who sell are treated like the help. Actually, they are treated worse than the help because people are quite nice to the help these days as they don’t want them to leave!

Not only does this “us and them” stuff annoy the sales team, it also results in miscommunication and the sales team not being able to influence the development of products.

The latest outrage? One of my staff told one of the members of the sales team not to talk to him or walk onto his area of the floor. And I just learnt that another sales team member was boasting that they were going to absolutely to smash their budget only to be told by this senior member of staff not to do that as the budget was high anyway and it would just mean more work for his team!! Can you believe it? Who in their right mind would tell a sales person not to bother beating their budget??

Fortunately the sales person is a “can do” type and ignored that daft comment. But Aunty, how do I get rid of this “us and them” attitude? And how do I get my senior people to do a crash course in building a terrific sales culture?

Diana B

Dear Diana B,

Let me guess. The owners of this business used to be in operations. Huh?? Thought so. Fortunately many businesses don’t suffer from the problem. The reason? When you start a business you are often from the operations side because you think you can do the job better than your former boss. Then you become a sales person from sheer necessity because you have to get cash in the door. This gives you a very healthy respect for the skillful and hard working sales people on your frontline who work hard day in, day out to get that money in the door that supports the current operation and underpins future growth.

I am not sure what your position is but you sound like you can influence your culture. So here is what you must do. First, gather up your senior operations folk and tell them the earth just shifted. The sales team are now a central part of operations and the “us and them” days are over. I once pointed out to some snooty operations person that the sales person they objected to was responsible for the size of their pay rise that year. Worked a treat!

I am sure that a simple direct conversation may shift a lot of entrenched attitudes, as sometimes is might come as a shock to some staff who have not even realised they were acting in this way.

Next, set up a weekly meeting with both sales and operations people. Make sure sales staff are included in everything from social events to operations meetings. For example, at any meeting include an update on sales. Appoint a strategy manager or a business development manager who liaises with both the sales staff and the design folk. And make sure that the design staff understand that feedback from the sales people about the marketplace can help them develop better products, not compromise their integrity.

You can turn a culture like that around very quickly so get to it.

Be smart,
Your Aunty B

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