I´m going to be quite bold here by stating something that´s bound to be a rather ugly truth for some, but one that´s blindingly obvious to others. No matter whether you run a business consultancy, a multinational corporation or a small charity, you´re there to make money. Yes, I know, surprise from some who are currently picking themselves up off the floor, and “we know” shouted at the screens from others, but it´s important that we all start from the same page. Some people are convinced that they are in business to educate or to inspire, to invent or to improve the lives of others, but in reality none of that would be possible without sales-generated revenue.

A winning sales culture is one where your team feels valued and adequately rewarded, supported and trained. This will ensure that your salespeople thrive and as a result your business will grow – something I think we can all agree is a worthwhile goal to strive for.

But how can you achieve this pinnacle of corporate accomplishment, this business utopia? Well, if you were to contact a business consultancy they would probably give you the following ten tips. Though any consultancy worthy of your time should then caution you to consider them as mere guides and not as a business strategy, which can only be formed after a complete and professional review of your business and all the many influences on it.

Ten top tips to a winning sales culture

1.Hierarchical clarity

The business consultancy favourite from this list is the development or redevelopment of a clear company structure. Recent years have seen a trend towards the planned flattening of company hierarchies (something that can happen naturally over time as promotions and recruitment necessitate the creation of sub-levels between grades in the company´s hierarchy), shrinking the gap between the managers and the managed. The problem with this is that lines of command and communication can become blurred and ever more confusing. A sales team needs clear direction, and the only way to achieve this is for a sales leader to be the sole authority.

2. Consistent management style

Any business consultancy will tell you that inconsistency in either command or action will lead to salespeople questioning the authority of their sales leader or the sales culture they have created. Nobody likes to be told to do one thing then for that order to be changed in favour of another, seemingly on a whim. It shows commitment weakness and that is something no sales leader should present to their team.

3. Fairness not favouritism

There´s nothing in any business consultancy manual about not making friends at work, but if your sales team feels that favouritism is being shown to one among their number then this can lead to animosity, which can lead to a productivity downturn (which can lead to the dark side!). Keep your personal and corporate lives separated by an air of professionalism and always show fairness never favouritism.

4. Team development

An effective sales culture is one that encourages development and growth in its salespeople. Managers are responsible for allocating time and budget to training. This improves morale, increases productivity and ensures that your salespeople feel rewarded in career development potential. This is so important that there is a whole sector within business consultancy dedicated to this essential means of getting the most from your workforce. The powers-that-be need to be completely behind this strategy as it will entail a cost and a short-term reduction in targets during training. Though hopefully they´ll realise that this calculated risk will result in higher future returns and improved talent retention.

5. Team bonding

This is almost a sector in its own right, with event management and activity companies more than willing to offer you everything from sky diving to paintballing, prestigious dinners to cerebrally challenging team competition days. I´m sure if you look hard enough you´ll even find a business consultancy or two that specialise in advising in this arena. Though this may engender images of Phil from accounting camouflaged and acting out his Rambo fantasy, once you get behind the commercialisation of what was a good idea there are real benefits to helping a team grow together and really get behind a sales culture.

6. Ring fence downtime

“Work/life balance” is an overused and over abused term in my book, but one thing a sales leader can do to help create a productive sales culture is genuinely allow their sales team the downtime they deserve and need to recharge. A happy sales team is an effective sales team, so don´t have them working all hours for no reward. Most of us have lives outside of work that we like to visit once in a while.

7. Reward success

Another business consultancy favourite is the topic of incentive-driven sales. Sales people are energised by the thrill of the deal, but they also need to feel adequately valued. This is achieved by recognition through appraisals, salary increases, bonuses and promotions. Anything that publicly or privately shows the company´s appreciation for their hard work and successes will be good for egos and morale.

8. Mirror your culture

If those in charge don´t live and breathe their own sales culture then why should the average salesperson? If a sales leader is going to tell his or her team to act in accordance with a certain set of rules they must commit to presenting the ideal face of that culture every day at work.

9. Open and effective communication

There´s nothing worse than an environment where everything happens behind closed doors and the only effective communication is that driven by the office gossip. The uncertainty this produces will translate into lower personal commitment, loss of talent and reduced productivity. While some information requires carefully timed dissemination (something a business consultancy would have the expertise to advise you on), the best way to run a sales department is with an air of openness and honesty as this will encourage the same from those you manage.

10. Company and leadership as one

Company policy, those who create it and the sales leaders who maintain it all need to be pulling in the same direction for a sales culture to be effective.

Whether you decide to tackle the creation of a sales culture yourself or ask for help from a business consultancy, there needs to be a coordinated and consistent approach to developing the right environment for getting the best from your sales engine. Your friendly local business consultancy would need to spend some time with your decision makers and decision takers in order to formulate the right approach, but the results can be surprisingly profitable.