In OOH sales, a company's culture plays a pivotal role in shaping its success trajectory. As someone with years of experience in optimizing sales strategies, I've witnessed firsthand the significant impact of culture on sales performance. Whether your sales culture is driving your team toward unprecedented record setting performance or dragging them down into a cycle of mediocrity, recognizing the signs is crucial for steering your OOH company in the right direction.
So, how do you determine whether you have a high-performing sales culture or a broken one?
Let’s take a look at the following few thoughts:
Clarity of Purpose and Values
High-Performing Culture: A cohesive OOH sales team aligns effortlessly with the company's mission and values. In other words, there is a shared understanding of the 'why' behind the sales efforts, fostering motivation and commitment.
Broken Culture: Lack of clarity regarding company goals and values leads to confusion and disengagement among salespeople. Without a clear purpose, sales teams struggle to stay focused and driven.
Open Communication
High-Performing Culture: Healthy communication flows freely within the team and between leadership and sales reps. Feedback is welcomed, conflicts are resolved constructively, and ideas are openly shared and discussed.
Broken Culture: In today’s fast moving/changing OOH landscape, we are required to be nimble and open to an ever-evolving set of challenges and opportunities. Communication barriers hinder collaboration and innovation. In a culture where feedback is rare and conflicts are swept under the rug, resentment festers, and morale plummets.
Continuous Learning/Development
High-Performing Culture: Learning is viewed as a continuous journey, with ample opportunities for skill development and growth. Leadership invests in training programs, mentorship, and resources to empower their teams.
Broken Culture: Stagnation reigns in an environment where learning is undervalued. Sales reps feel unsupported and uninspired, leading to skill atrophy and decreased performance over time.
Data-Driven Decision Making
High-Performing Culture: Data is leveraged effectively to drive sales strategies and decision-making processes. Analytics tools are utilized to track performance metrics, identify trends, and make informed adjustments.
Broken Culture: Decisions based on intuition rather than data often lead to misguided strategies and missed opportunities. Without reliable data, sales teams operate blindly, unable to course-correct effectively.
Recognition and Reward
High-Performing Culture: Achievements are celebrated, and contributions are acknowledged through a robust recognition and performance based reward system. Salespeople feel valued and motivated to excel, fostering a culture of excellence.
Broken Culture: Lack of recognition breeds disillusionment and apathy among sales professionals. When demanding work goes unnoticed and rewards are scarce, morale plummets making even the best of your people “flight risks”.
Adaptability and Resilience
High Performing Culture: Agile and adaptable OOH sales teams thrive in an ever-evolving landscape. They embrace change, learn from setbacks, and leverage challenges as opportunities for growth.
Broken Culture: Resistance to change and a fear of failure stifle innovation and progress. In a culture that punishes mistakes rather than learning from them, sales teams struggle to navigate obstacles and adapt to new realities.
Determining whether your sales culture is high-performing or broken requires a keen understanding of these key indicators. By assessing the clarity of purpose, communication dynamics, emphasis on learning and development, data-driven practices, recognition systems, and adaptability, you can fairly and objectively judge the health of your sales culture. None of this just happens—it's intentionally implemented through continuous and thoughtful efforts.
Need help with sales skills or coaching to take your out of home company to the next level. Learn more about OOH Sales Mastery at oohmastery.com or Contact Dan Nausley at dan.nausley@sandler.com, 423.702.5579.
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Lisa & Dan Nausley and Reggie Piercy of Sandler Chattanooga have developed the OOH Sales Mastery Program after more than a decade of training/coaching thousands of OOH Operators across the country in sales, leadership, and executive coaching.
