7 Ways to Establish a Winning Sales Culture

Some of you may not know who Craig McRae is.? He is the coach of Collingwood, an Australian Football League (AFL) team.? Some of you probably don’t know what AFL is.? It’s a popular football code in Australia.? For the Irish readers, it’s a lot like GA.? For Americans, think NFL, but without any protective clothing.? And for the English and European readers, imagine a massive fight kicking off outside a pub late on a Friday night.

The point is, Head Coach McRae has established a winning culture at Collingwood in just two years, taking them from 17th to winning the Premiership 5 days ago.? It is a remarkable turnaround.

?

The way he did it was to establish a winning culture.? There are many parallels with Sales (and Leadership, Customer Experience, and any other team environment).

?

Here are seven of the ways he did it, with both sporting and Sales lenses applied.? Because, like or not, we are all in sales, and every day is a sales day.

?

1.? Winners have a longer-term outlook

From the moment he started, McRae outlined a long-term outlook for Collingwood.? No-one was expecting a Premiership in year one, although the team came agonisingly close with a one-point loss in McRae’s first year that would have booked them a place in the Grand Final. Instead, he painted a picture of success over a 2–5-year period, starting with a winning culture summed up as “Everything we say and everything we do”.? Compare that to Sales, where there’s a lot of ‘short-termism’.? At Natural Training we see it all the time; a mad scramble for this month’s numbers, followed by either disappointment or jubilation, then it starts again next month.?

?

Constant resetting of targets and the feelings of self-worth that accompany it is a tough environment to thrive in, which is why only the top 20% of salespeople can do it, and the rest cannot.? In itself, there’s nothing wrong with a short-term target, particularly when that target pulses in a similar buying heartbeat to your prospect.? However, we rarely see a longer-term outlook, or a bigger picture (or Vision) for two years like McRae’s journey with the team.?

?

With a two-year vision, everyone is building to the same agreed outcome.? It’s worth pausing to talk about Vision.? A Vision is a mental picture that you can vividly see when you close your eyes and imagine the world of success that awaits.? It answers these types of questions:

?

• In two years’ time when I look at the sales floor, what am I looking at?? How many people?? What types of conversations are they having?? What aren’t they doing?
• What is your mix of prospects and clients?? For example, is the ratio of enterprise and transactional clients reversed?
• How are other departments interacting with Sales?? Are they all supporting the sales engine?? Is there mutual respect and understanding?

?

Creating a longer-term goal (and vision of that goal) helps everyone to buy-in to the bigger picture, which aids retention of your people too.? Yes, there are ‘blips’, but the overall pathway is clear, well bought-into, and therefore keeps everyone on track.?

?

McRae’s long-term outlook is simple: to create a winning culture.? His goal is simple – to win a Premiership.? His vision of the Collingwood football club is full engagement of the entire team, not just the players, but everyone who contributes to the goal.?

?

There is a longer-term outlook, goal and vision there for you, too - you may just need to find it.

??

2.? Winners behave like winners

One of McRae’s famous mantras is “It’s okay to lose, but it’s not acceptable to behave like a loser”.? For example, if the team gets beaten, individuals are strongly encouraged not to slump to the ground and appear like losers.? Instead, they hold their heads high, walk off the ground, live in the moment, and get to work to win the next game.? Recently, after a game when he saw some of this losing behaviour, McRae said “For me, that’s not a winner. That’s acting like a loser. We lost the game, but we’re not losers. There is a difference.”

?

When reporters ask McRae about topics that might drag down his winning culture, he replies with “Interesting observation, but we don’t live in that world.”? Then he outlines the world they do live in; improvement, positivity, embracing change, looking forward to the next challenge, and wanting to be the best.

?

All teams lose a game, or don’t win a Premiership in the first year of new management.? (Tottenham fans take note – Ange will thrive if you give him a couple of years to establish a winning culture – a couple of losses in the interim is fine!).? This is BIG in Sales. We lose much more than we win, so it’s our resilient ability to act like winners that will pave the way for success.

? The CRM which should be the nerve centre of the sales operation rather than being the world’s most expensive phone book.

How do you encourage winning behaviours in your Sales team?? The starting point is a Winning Behaviours Audit, which can be done in a few minutes a week.

?

Begin simply by using your eyes, as objectively as you can.? Imagine you’re a stranger who has just walked onto your Sales floor.? Does it LOOK like the team is winning or losing?? Look for signs of cleanliness, order, professionalism and pride in their craft.? This includes their use of resources - the tools of the job.? For example, the way Sales updates their CRM with valuable information that directs the sale.? The CRM which should be the nerve centre of the sales operation rather than being the world’s most expensive phone book.

?

The look and atmosphere is critical – is it jaded, or vibrant? What’s on the walls?? What are the working conditions like?? Is there a well-maintained results board, so we can all keep an eye on progress?? Are the voices low and hushed, or proud and loud?? Is this a room full of people displaying winning behaviours?? Do they act like winners when winning, losing, and when deals are stalling?

?

Do this frequently.? A winning atmosphere can change quicker than you can imagine, so you need to ‘spot the weeds’ and do a regular inventory.

?

3.? Winning leaders leave their ego out

McRae has virtually no ego, because he firmly believes it’s his management team of 3-4 assistant coaches, and the entire staff of Collingwood who all contribute in their way to the club’s success.? For example, after the Premiership win, he refused to wear his Premiership medal because it only recognises him, rather than everyone.?

“Play with freedom, play with fun, smile and enjoy this”?

Spend as much time as you can to recruit the finest deputies you can afford.? Show them your values, your standards, and your team members.? You will know whether they buy into these.? Consider leaders who are educators over anyone else – they will have a passion for improving others.? Be wary of promoting successful salespeople to Managers, as the skillset to get them there may not line up with the skillset to be a Manager.? And educate the rest of your company on the importance of the Sales engine, as it provides bread for us all to eat.? Everyone can treat customers like gold and recognise opportunities with the right awareness and a small bit of training.

?

Because it’s not about just ‘me’, McRae has opened the doors and allowed the club to be fun – a great place to hang out with their mates and families.? He is quoted as saying “Play with freedom, play with fun, smile and enjoy this”.?? Once the players cross the white line they train and play with intensity and ferocity.? But they can relax and switch off at other times.

?

We have seen many Sales operations where teams are required to be constantly selling.? Psychologically, this is tough, and will break more sellers than it makes.? Downtime is important, and some of the more tuned-in Sales Managers will have set periods of ‘switching off’ where it’s okay to do what you need to do to stay sane, motivated and making connections with each other, beyond the job.

???

4.? Winners have Standards

McRae and the team have a series of Standards in place that act as a governing hand, with or without him in the room.?

?

He is not alone.? For example the All-Blacks have credited team Standards with their success.? One of their famous mantras is called “Sweep the Sheds”, which means it doesn’t matter if you are on a $50,000 or $5m contract, it’s everyone’s job to keep the change rooms tidy.?

If there are individuals who repeatedly break the Standards, then they probably don’t have a place on the team in the future.

When you establish Standards, the team should build them, not just the Leaders.? That sort of ownership encourages better accountability, meaning that the team may self-govern, freeing up valuable management time.? A starting point is to ask the sales team:

?

• What do we stand for?
• What do we no longer tolerate?

?

Then, it’s everyone’s job to point to these Standards when people are behaving out of line.? If there are individuals who repeatedly break the Standards, then they probably don’t have a place on the team in the future.? It’s worth noting at this point that there seems to be fear of getting rid of salespeople who have got a big number next to their name, but are otherwise toxic.? Our best advice is to not fear losing them, because their standards drag down everyone else’s, giving excuses for poor performance. In our experience, it takes about a week for people to move from “I miss Jonny”, to “Who’s Jonny?”? Others will fill the void left in the sales numbers, and you may well find opportunities with clients and territories that have previously been uncovered by Jonny.

?

The final point about Standards is to publish them and display them clearly.? If one of your Standards is “We return calls unbelievably fast”, then a team member should be able to point to the wall and bring the others into line, reminding them of the Standard.?

?

5.? Winners improve

McRae constantly talks about improvement.? He and the team learn from the losses, but also the wins.? After each win, he will celebrate it with the team, but also mention that they need to ‘Get to work’ on some improvement areas.? Instead of dwelling on losses in a meaningless way, adopt a process for analysing and distilling down the three key areas of improvement for next time.?

?

‘Improvement’ is the language of sales growth, success and winning cultures.? People must feel there are always ways to get better.

?

It’s detrimental to a winning Sales culture to have individuals who think they have mastered the art of selling.? They simply haven’t – there is always another level.? The quicker you can cultivate a culture of improvement, the better.?

?

Feedback is critical.? As always, it’s ‘data before decisions’, so everything that is fed back to people needs to be with evidence, rather than general feelings.?

?

The way we give feedback is important; whether positive or negative.? Ideally, it should follow this type of format, remembered with the acronym AID:

?

• Action:? What was the action that you are feeding back?
• Impact:? What was the consequence of the action?
• Do Next:? What can they do next time for less or more of the same type of impact?

?

A winning sales culture orbits around a dedication to continual, proud improvement. The oil that lubricates improvement is feedback: being comfortable giving and receiving feedback that guides individuals on how to reach the next level of performance.

?

6.? Winners live in the moment

McRae encourages the team to ‘play the moments’.? That is, to live for right now, and ask the question “How can I impact this play?”? This is the same as Sales; “How can I impact this call, this conversation, this meeting?”? Being in the moment as a winner requires self-talk such as “What is happening right now, what is the evidence telling me, and how can I adapt and win?”?

?? “Life is full of infinite moments so what you are teaching is decision-making”

The key to living in the moment is to not dwell on the past, unless it is productively learning to improve.? McRae has a ‘windscreen wiper’ analogy, which means that once the blade has passed, everything is wiped clean and a fresh start, or reset, can occur.? There’s no point wondering what the windscreen wiper has done - that’s in the past.? Instead, let’s wipe clean, move forward, and impact the next moment.? And then, by being in the moment rather than haunted by the past, individuals can make clearer, better-informed choices.?

“Life is full of infinite moments so what you are teaching is decision-making”, says McRae.?

This is very relevant to Sales, because it’s a role full of choices, prospect reactions and our response to the many spinning plates brought on by multiple tasks, contacts and personalities.? Better decisions mean more sales wins.

?

That’s what ‘living in the moment’ means, and that’s what McRae has fostered, and is also evidenced in winners like Sam Kerr, Rafael Nadal and Lewis Hamilton.

?

7.? Winning leaders communicate with ‘fresh repetition’

McRae is a great communicator, due mainly to his simple and effective messaging.? McRae knows the messages that are central to developing his winning culture, developed in line with his Vision, and Standards for success.

?

The key to his messaging success is that he:

a.???? Keeps it simple:? McRae doesn’t over-complicate. The benefit is that his messaging is much more likely to be understood throughout the group, and can therefore be executed on game day.? Importantly, simple messaging means that they can be transferred through the group as well, repeated with accuracy from one player to another.

b.???? Keeps it fresh:? McRae really only says a handful of key messages.? However the way he does it is important.? Rather than ‘parroting’ the same message over and over, he gives his messaging a makeover each time, keeping it fresh. The way he does this is by crafting new ways to say old things. We call this ‘fresh repetition’, and it’s the hallmark of a great communicator who realises they don’t need to reinvent, but they do need to keep it fresh.

“How can I repeat that message in a fresh way?”?

If your stall is set and you all know what to do, sales culture is best fed by leaders who have a dedication to continually reinforcing what makes us great.? That’s where your messaging really counts.

?

The first step is to determine your Vision and your Standards.? That should then lead to clear and memorable messaging to communicate and reiterate what those are.? ?Once you have your core set of messages, then each week, each month, ask yourself “How can I repeat that message in a fresh way?”?

?

For example, messaging can be freshened up with storytelling, examples, evidence, analogies and metaphors.? More creatively, you can find quotes and case studies from other worlds – sports, politics, pop culture – that bring your messages to light in all sorts of new and interesting ways.

?

‘Fresh repetition’ is a hallmark of a great Sales Leader who spends that extra time working on new ways to present the same messages.

?

McRae could be successful anywhere

While McRae has been effective in Melbourne, Australia, in a sporting code that few understand, he could probably be equally impactful in every type of corporate leadership role too.? That’s due to his approach, and the method that he uses to establish a winning culture.? A winning culture works – from receptionist to CEO - because we all love a win, and we love being in an environment where we improve, grow and thrive.

?

Want to establish a winning culture, but need a helping hand?? Bring in Natural Training – we’ve been helping our customers win since 2005.? We will help you keep and fortify the behaviours that are contributing to wins, introduce a new winning culture, and just like McRae, you can enjoy the results that follow.?