4 Key Traits to Build a #NoMatterWhat Sales Culture

A #NoMatterWhat sales culture sets excuses aside to grow regardless of the circumstances.

Sounds great, right?

…Well it isn’t just a theory; we’re working with companies and their leadership to get sales results in the midst of inflation, looming depression, global instability and all the other constant chaos in the world. From healthcare to consumer goods and from tech to manufacturing here’s what stands out in our sales culture work. 

01 | Trade goals for #NoMatterWhats

Goals are common for just about every sales team. What’s not common is a commitment to those goals #NoMatterWhat. It’s not an excuse to compromise safety for sales or ethics for efficiency – core values are important guideposts for growth. But when you’re committed to something #NoMatterWhat, it calls forward determination, creativity and new approaches that often can’t be seen prior. A fast-growing medical device company scrapped all their “sales goals” when we started our engagement and together we created “sales #NoMatterWhats”. If you want to take your sales to the next level, you’ll do the same. 

02 | Problems draw the starting line

We all have problems achieving our aims; if we didn’t we’d have achieved them already! Problems aren’t actually the problem (see what I did there…) Problems only get in the way when they stop any forward action. Sales teams that list out problems as to why they can’t achieve results will be stuck with a problem culture. Sales teams that acknowledge problems, but don’t use them as excuses (as valid as they may be) will be able to continue to put wins on the board regardless of the circumstances. 

03 | Courageous accountability 

Holding someone accountable isn’t easy. And it’s probably not comfortable to be held accountable yourself. We all know accountability leads to higher performance (95% more likely to achieve your goals), but when it comes down to it, it’s easier to skip those conversations or let details slide. #NoMatterWhat Sales Cultures have the courage never to skip it. There’s a level of personal and organizational accountability designed to help teams hit their goals and support them when they miss to discover why and how to adjust. Instead of leaving it to chance, a global supply chain company we worked with built a standardized process of meetings and reports to build their #NoMatterWhat Sales Culture. Teams practicing this level of accountability are 4x as likely to achieve their goals.

04 | #NoMatterWhat Alignment

Sales teams are often focused on their sales (as they should be) but sometimes it can blind them to a bigger picture: that every sale they make is driving aspirations their customers have. “Customers have #NoMatterWhats as well!” Executive Vice President and Head of N. America Sales at Husqvarna, John Castillo, told me.

“As we can align our #NoMatterWhats with our customers, everyone wins”. Aligning your goals with your customers' goals makes you unstoppable in your work together.

I interviewed John about our work together creating a #NoMatterWhat Sales culture inside of Husqvarna. It’s a short case study to assess process, results and overall impact. If you have a sales team, run a sales team or are part of a sales team, you don’t want to miss checking this out here. 

Of course, there’s more to making a #NoMatterWhat Sales Culture, but these 4 elements are at the core of it. High performing sales cultures don’t just default into place. They’re designed, built and inspired by those intentional enough to know where the difference gets made. Your default is giving you the sales results you have right now. Whether you’re setting records or massively challenged, I invite you to let go of how you’ve always done sales and step up to these 4 practices to create Sales #NoMatterWhat.