Sales Culture Development Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Sales Managers, Heads of Sales and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-S-077

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience in a sales, account management, commercial leadership, sales operations or sales enablement role.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Sales results rarely improve for long through targets, commissions or product training alone. A productive sales culture sets clear behavioural expectations, makes customer value central to selling, uses evidence rather than opinion in performance conversations, and gives managers a repeatable way to coach. Without these conditions, teams can become dependent on individual high performers, discount unnecessarily, neglect pipeline discipline and treat CRM reporting as administration rather than a management tool.

This course examines how leaders and sales managers build the norms, systems and management routines that support sustained commercial performance. Participants assess the current culture using the Cultural Web and Denison organisational culture model, define observable sales behaviours, align hiring and onboarding with the desired culture, and connect sales process standards to CRM data, forecast quality and account planning. The programme also covers coaching, recognition, accountability, incentive governance, cross-functional working and leading change through Kotter's Eight-Step Process and ADKAR.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with sector-based cases, facilitated group work, sales-management simulations and structured peer review. Cases reflect common commercial settings such as corporate banking relationship teams, B2B technology sales, pharmaceutical account management, public-sector suppliers and NGO partnership development. Participants build a Sales Culture Development Plan, including a culture diagnosis, behavioural standards, management cadence, measures, ownership and a 90-day implementation roadmap. A certificate of completion is awarded to participants who complete the course.

The course suits managers responsible for sales teams, commercial leaders strengthening performance systems, and HR or enablement professionals supporting sales transformation. It is particularly useful where leadership wants consistent customer-centred selling rather than isolated individual success.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose sales-culture strengths and gaps using the Cultural Web and evidence sources
  • Define observable sales behaviours linked to customer value, sales process and commercial strategy
  • Design a sales-management cadence using pipeline reviews, coaching sessions and forecast governance
  • Apply GROW coaching and feedback models to improve seller capability and accountability
  • Build performance scorecards combining leading indicators, lagging indicators and customer measures
  • Align recruitment, onboarding, recognition and incentives with required sales behaviours
  • Lead sales-culture change using Kotter's Eight-Step Process and the ADKAR model
  • Produce a 90-day Sales Culture Development Plan with measures, owners and review points

Benefits of attending

For you

  • A defensible method for diagnosing the sales culture behind performance patterns
  • Practical coaching language for pipeline, opportunity and account-review conversations
  • A clearer way to distinguish activity, quality, conversion and revenue measures
  • Confidence leading difficult accountability conversations without relying on pressure alone
  • A 90-day plan for improving team habits, management routines and adoption

For your organisation

  • More consistent sales behaviours across managers, territories and customer segments
  • Improved forecast reliability through disciplined pipeline definitions and review routines
  • Reduced dependence on individual star performers and informal sales practices
  • Stronger CRM data quality for opportunity management, capacity planning and reporting
  • Better retention of customer value through consultative selling and coordinated account ownership

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain how sales culture affects customer outcomes, seller behaviour and commercial results.

  • Sales culture defined through shared norms, behaviours, routines and decision rules
  • Commercial outcomes linked to customer trust, conversion, retention and margin
  • Visible leadership signals shaping what salespeople prioritise and tolerate
  • High-performance cultures distinguished from pressure-led, activity-heavy sales environments
  • Customer-centred selling contrasted with product pushing and discount dependency
  • Sales culture risks: hero selling, siloed accounts, weak data discipline

Participants can assess a sales culture using structured evidence rather than informal impressions.

  • Cultural Web analysis of stories, rituals, symbols, controls and power
  • Denison model dimensions: mission, involvement, consistency and adaptability
  • Culture evidence gathered from interviews, CRM records, meetings and customer feedback
  • Sales meeting observation criteria identifying norms, language and decision patterns
  • Gap analysis compares stated values with observed commercial behaviours
  • Root-cause analysis separates cultural causes from process, capability and capacity issues

Participants can translate commercial strategy into observable behaviours for sales roles.

  • Behavioural standards linked to customer value propositions and target segments
  • MEDDICC qualification criteria establish disciplined opportunity assessment and mutual commitment
  • SPIN Selling questions structure discovery around customer needs and value
  • Account plans define stakeholder coverage, objectives, risks and next actions
  • Sales stage exit criteria prevent unsupported opportunities entering forecasts
  • Behavioural anchors distinguish effective consultative selling from superficial activity

Participants can establish management routines that reinforce desired sales behaviours.

  • Weekly pipeline reviews separate opportunity coaching from forecast inspection
  • Monthly business reviews connect territory performance, conversion and customer risks
  • One-to-one agendas balance capability development, wellbeing and accountability
  • Manager standard work specifies recurring leadership actions and meeting rhythms
  • Escalation rules clarify when stalled deals require executive sponsorship
  • Recognition practices reinforce quality selling, collaboration and customer stewardship

Participants can conduct structured coaching conversations that improve seller performance.

  • GROW model structures coaching around goals, reality, options and commitments
  • Situation-Behaviour-Impact feedback addresses specific observable sales behaviours
  • Call coaching reviews preparation, questioning, listening, value and next steps
  • Deal coaching tests assumptions, stakeholders, competitive position and decision process
  • Coaching contracts establish responsibilities between manager and salesperson
  • Performance conversations distinguish skill gaps, will gaps and system barriers

Participants can design balanced performance measures and use CRM data for management action.

  • Leading indicators include discovery quality, meetings, progression and stakeholder coverage
  • Lagging indicators track revenue, margin, win rate and retention
  • Balanced scorecards combine commercial, customer, process and capability measures
  • CRM hygiene standards specify required fields, evidence and update frequency
  • Forecast categories use probability definitions, evidence thresholds and management judgement
  • Pipeline coverage ratios test whether opportunity volume supports revenue targets

Participants can align people practices with the behaviours required in the sales culture.

  • Structured interviews test customer orientation, resilience, curiosity and commercial judgement
  • Behavioural interview questions use the STAR method and scoring guides
  • Onboarding plans sequence market knowledge, sales process, systems and field support
  • Sales playbooks codify messaging, qualification, account planning and objection handling
  • Certification criteria test application before independent territory or account responsibility
  • Peer mentoring transfers unwritten knowledge while reinforcing agreed sales standards

Participants can align recognition and reward mechanisms with sustainable commercial conduct.

  • Recognition criteria reward customer outcomes, collaboration, learning and revenue quality
  • Incentive plan measures balance individual results with team and retention outcomes
  • Compensation governance identifies unintended behaviours created by quota and commission design
  • Discount approval controls protect margin, pricing discipline and customer fairness
  • Ethical selling standards address disclosure, conflicts, data handling and commitments
  • Speak-up channels support early reporting of misconduct and inappropriate sales pressure

Participants can improve collaboration between sales and functions influencing customer delivery.

  • RACI matrices clarify ownership across sales, marketing, service and operations
  • Service-level agreements define handoffs, response times and information requirements
  • Voice-of-customer loops convert feedback into account actions and process improvements
  • Joint account reviews resolve delivery risks before customer confidence declines
  • Marketing-sales service-level agreements align lead definitions, follow-up and feedback
  • Conflict protocols address priority disputes using customer impact and commercial evidence

Participants can prepare a practical plan to introduce and sustain sales-culture improvements.

  • Kotter's Eight-Step Process builds urgency, coalition, vision and reinforcement
  • ADKAR assesses awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement requirements
  • Stakeholder mapping identifies sponsors, influencers, resisters and affected groups
  • Change communications explain behavioural expectations, rationale and manager responsibilities
  • Pilot measures test new routines before wider sales-force implementation
  • Ninety-day action plans assign milestones, owners, indicators and review dates

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Sales Culture Diagnostic template
  2. Observable Sales Behaviours framework
  3. Sales Management Cadence planner
  4. GROW Coaching Conversation guide
  5. Sales Performance Scorecard template
  6. 90-Day Sales Culture Development Plan

Who should attend

  • Sales Managers — need consistent coaching, accountability and team performance routines
  • Heads of Sales — need to set cultural standards across teams and territories
  • Commercial Directors — need sales behaviours aligned with growth and customer strategy
  • Key Account Directors — need stronger account discipline and collaborative customer engagement
  • Sales Enablement Managers — need to embed learning, process and CRM adoption
  • HR Business Partners — need to support recruitment, reward and change in sales functions

Skills and tools covered

Sales culture diagnosisManager coachingPerformance managementPipeline governanceChange leadershipBehavioural scorecards

Tools and standards

Cultural Web, Denison Organisational Culture Model, GROW Model, ADKAR Model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The programme uses short briefings to introduce models, followed by case analysis, group exercises, role-based simulations and peer critique. Participants examine realistic sales-management decisions: a weak pipeline review, inconsistent coaching, discount pressure, poor CRM adoption and conflict between sales and service teams. Facilitated discussions connect each method to participants' own operating context. Individual application planning is built throughout the five days, allowing participants to leave with a documented culture diagnosis, management cadence and implementation priorities.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience in a sales, account management, commercial leadership, sales operations or sales enablement role. They should understand their organisation's sales cycle, customer segments, revenue measures and basic CRM reporting. Experience managing people is helpful but not essential; aspiring managers and cross-functional partners can participate. No prior study of organisational culture, formal change management, psychometric tools or advanced data analysis is required. Participants will benefit from bringing examples of current sales measures, team routines and recurring performance issues.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand a sales cycle and have exposure to customer, pipeline or commercial performance discussions. Prior formal study of sales management or organisational culture is not required.

Bring examples of current sales targets, pipeline measures, team meeting agendas or performance challenges where confidentiality permits. Participants do not need to bring a laptop, although it can help with personal application planning.

The course is designed primarily for sales managers, heads of sales, commercial leaders and account directors. Sales enablement, operations and HR professionals supporting commercial teams will also benefit.

Sales techniques courses focus on individual selling conversations, while key account programmes focus on managing strategic customers. This course focuses on the leadership systems, behaviours and routines that make good selling repeatable across a team.

Participants leave with a culture diagnosis and a 90-day action plan for their team or sales function. The plan can be used to revise meeting rhythms, coaching priorities, scorecards, recognition criteria and CRM standards.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, cases, group analysis, simulations, peer feedback and application planning across the ten modules.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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