Sales Culture Vs. Sales Methodology

[Music]

hi

i'm darius lahuti fat today we are going

to talk about

sales culture versus sales methodology

people often confuse sales culture

with sales methodology used within a

sales culture

sales culture is a set of habits and

behaviors

of a sales team in a consistent way

that's both internally and externally

internally the culture is defined

through the relationship among sales

people themselves

as well as those between sellers and

their managers their vps

externally the culture is defined

through the relationship between

sales people and the customers sometimes

through the way

terms and conditions and contracts are

applied in the field

usually companies with great sales

culture are known as such in the

industry

by the clients by the competitors by

people when they're recruiting people

that's how the reputation of a company's

sales team is built

people are rarely indifferent to

companies

with strong cultures some are attracted

by them and some dislike them

examples of companies with strong sales

cultures

are ibm xerox ptc

oracle and many others a sales

methodology on the other hand

is about strategies techniques and

techniques

used during a sales campaign it's a way

of doing

business essays methodology is neutral

in regards with

culture its focus is on business

it's a bit like religions and diets

a sales methodology to a sales culture

is a bit like a diet to a religion

let's take some examples eating fish

once a week which is

a good diet is called friday fast for

christians

eating fish once a week which is good

for you

will not make you a christian fasting

for a month

with no food from sunrise to sunset

which is a good healthy diet is the

ramadan for muslims

fasting will not make you a muslim

a good healthy diet is not just good for

you but it's

necessary for your health just like a

good sales methodology is necessary for

running a healthy business

it can be adapted inside a sales culture

usually together with the sales process

but it's not mandatory actually the way

given methodology such as medic

is applied to sales process a at company

a

with their culture a is not the same as

it's adapted in company b

who has a culture b and has figured

their winning sales process which is

process b the only habit common in

all these sales cultures that you need

for a good sales methodology

is discipline the same way you need a

discipline

for a diet to lead to a healthy

lifestyle

you need discipline in the execution of

your winning

sales methodology no matter what it is

sometimes customers ask

well medic came from ptc does that mean

that we need to adopt a ptc type

culture the answer is no at ptc where we

invented medic

there was also a strong sales culture

but the way i teach medic

is not related to that culture at all

and i actually didn't approve everything

in that culture

for instance i was the first manager to

successfully promote a sales engineer to

a sales reposition

it was not in the culture of the company

i had to literally

fight for it and do it right after we

signed an 8 million dollar contract with

the customer

and appoint the sales engineer to

account manager in that account that he

knew well

so that i knew that i was taking minimum

risk

and it worked so that was not in the

culture

another example i hired the first female

sales rep

in europe while there were already about

100

sales reps in europe so it was not in

the culture

of the company it was not that there was

a

established rules against women but the

fact was that

there were no women in sales but i

absolutely

loved the go-getter culture i immensely

love the culture of discipline

hard working positive attitude

entrepreneurship startup stock options

so there are a lot of things in that

culture that i love

but not everything so a culture you may

like and

feel yourself inside that culture or not

that's debatable and depends on your

personality and your style

while a methodology is a process it's

almost mathematic

and it's interesting sometimes during

our medic workshops

i'm asked how do you ask this how

exactly do you tell them this hard thing

and i reply this is how i ask it

and i give them my answer the way i do

it

but if based on your culture and your

personality

you feel more comfortable asking in

another way

then go for it be yourself apply your

style

apply your culture but you need to

ask that question that's not negotiable

the question needs to be asked you need

that answer for your own business

the same sculpture has also a geographic

dimension we don't

build rapport with clients after hours

the same way in asia versus europe

versus the us

this comes from someone who has lived in

asia in europe and

in the us the fundamental reasons for

decision makers

are the same in different cultures but

the way you ask

questions and present things are

different

that's why high-end sales jobs are being

compensated this well that's why with

all the automation going on

sales jobs in high-end high-value

competitive markets are the last to

automate

we need the analytical and the rational

mind

to understand the client and the

personal style and the right culture

to ask questions and deliver the message

i hope this distinction between sales

culture

and sales methodology makes sense if

you're a sales leader

i encourage you to keep your company's

culture

but apply the winning methodology

if you are an individual contributor

watching this a salesperson

i encourage you to keep your style

be yourself but understand how medic

works

learn it make it a habit and win with it

thank you

you