Sales Growth Isn’t Just a Numbers Game

What if sales growth wasn’t tied to numbers?

In other words, what if you measured sales growth by something other than KPIs or the amount of closed business?

Although this sounds like a far-fetched concept, sales growth is more than just numbers game.

What is Sales Growth?

How do you identify “growth” as it relates to your sales team?

As of now, it probably looks a little something like this:

1. Sales team met quarterly goals by X.
2. Inside sales reps made X cold calls.
3. Top performers closed X amount of deals.
4. Sales team increased the size of the deals closed this quarter by X.
5. Sales team added X new clients.

Although tracking metrics is a key part of sustaining growth, everything shouldn't just be measured by metrics alone.

At Criteria for Success, we believe that there are a number of other factors that should be considered and celebrated as sales growth “wins.”

Examples of Sales Growth Wins

In addition to hitting your numbers, here are a few examples of sales growth “wins” you should celebrate with your team:

1. Sales breakthroughs.
2. Team members contributing new best practices to their Sales PlayBook.
3. Individuals actively using their Sales PlayBook to track goals and improve processes.
4. Collaboration efforts that result in increased sales (i.e. top performers working to encourage others, sharing of best practices.)
5. When members of your sales team reach out for individual coaching (or, help coach others.)
6. Initiatives the improve work culture.

The examples above all contribute to sales growth.

Why? Well, everything from sales breakthroughs to effective team collaboration has an impact on sales.

Sales reps need to time to experiment, learn, and work with others to improve their processes.

This way, sales will improve and sales growth can indeed be possible!

Check out our eBook on how to establish a learning culture within your organization.

Culture is Everything

Work culture determines the success of any one of your employees.

Part of building a winning sales culture is by making sure that you have the right people on the bus. Your hiring and on-boarding processes need to be fine-tuned to the expectations you have for your work culture.

We’ve also discovered that teams that work together see more success than those who don’t.

And, we're not the only ones that believe strong culture leads to growth!

Cisco’s Diane Huang said that “A strong corporate culture that is compatible with the environment will drive better financial results compared with a weaker corporate culture.”

Here are some numbers to show how valuable it can be to focus on developing your team:

Over an eleven-year period:

• A companies with performance-enhancing cultures saw a 682% increase in revenue growth. Over that same period, companies without performance-enhancing cultures saw a 166% increase in revenue growth.
• B companies with performance-enhancing cultures saw a 282% increase in employment growth. Over that same period, companies without performance-enhancing cultures saw a 36% increase in employment growth.
• C companies with performance-enhancing cultures saw a 901% increase in stock price growth. Over that same period, companies without performance-enhancing cultures saw a 74% increase in stock price growth.
• D companies with performance-enhancing cultures saw a 756% increase in net income growth. Over that same period, companies without performance-enhancing cultures saw a 1% increase in net income growth.

Convinced? I hope so! As a sales leader, developing a healthy sales culture is of utmost importance.

In fact, we'd argue that it is the most important part of your business.

Why? Because culture most important asset that your company has. Successful cultures allow for sales growth to occur.

Ready to make your company the best place to work? In this guide you'll discover the 8 steps you'll need to develop a healthy sales culture in your organization.