What is your firm’s culture? It might include a compelling value proposition or describe how you provide the best service or have cutting-edge technology. But what about your sales culture? 

Too often a defined culture for a sales team is omitted from the equation, despite its necessity in a growth-driven firm. While company culture focuses on the holistic approach of a firm’s mission and conduct, a sales culture focuses specifically on the components that drive value creation. It establishes the foundation for a sales team to push growth boundaries. A business cannot grow without generating revenue, so why are production and sales never mentioned in culture discussions?

Agencies and brokers that successfully exhibit a sales culture are data-focused, have aligned goals across the organization, engage in professional development and coaching, and are continuously reinforcing that culture. A true sales culture enables agencies to bring in new, high-performing salespeople that hit the ground running.

Tracking sales activity and results is paramount to establishing a sales culture. Many firms track performance metrics internally and share the sales results on a weekly and monthly basis. High-growth firms take the metrics and data a step further, deriving actionable insights from the results. They have a well-defined sales process and can see where breakdowns occur in the process to improve. 

Top organizations are also constantly reinvesting in their team via professional development. Over 60% of high-growth firms implement a formal training process for producers, according to MarshBerry’s proprietary database, compared to just over 50% of average firms. Coaching makes employees better in their job, reinforces a consistent culture, and can help with recruiting and retaining top talent. When agencies are coaching and training employees, they should review the metrics of the employees—the truth is always in the numbers.

To gain actionable insight from metrics, expectations must be set from the start. New business goals for producers should be set on an annual basis and should stem from the organization’s overall goals. Importantly, each department and each employee’s growth goals should align with the organization’s goals.

Once a sales culture is established, support it. It is insufficient to have a monthly sales meeting and claim there is a sales culture because of a reoccurring meeting. 

Sales culture is created and sustained because practices are reinforced. During meetings, high-growth firms are transparent with their metrics, pipeline management and sales processes. They share a leaderboard of top sales performances and celebrate successes. A sense of competition and urgency is created by recognizing those who are successful and eliminating complacency. Every decision made within the firm needs to consider the question: “Does this decision lead to revenue generation with a new or existing client?”

Without an established sales culture, even top talent cannot perform at the highest level. The rockstar salesperson ends up becoming frustrated due to the lack of a sales process, support and overall culture—and typically ends up leaving. This results in further damage to a company’s culture and retention abilities.

To experience continued and consistent growth, firms must focus on their sales culture. So, next time you are asked to describe your culture, will you describe it as a sales culture? 

Brandon Hardesty is vice president at MarshBerry.