If the phrase ‘sales community’ makes you want to do an eye roll, stay with me. I get it. Community can sound soft. A little kumbaya. Not exactly a hard-driving revenue strategy because there doesn’t seem to be a visible impact to the top or bottom line.
You might be thinking my team can go back to their neighborhoods and do that community thing.
But what if I told you that building a community drives revenue and retention even more than building a team?
Here’s why.
Point #1: Competition + Collaboration
A typical sales team is focused on each salesperson achieving their individual goals, “hitting their number.” It’s an I’m hitting quota culture.
A sales community is focused on everyone achieving their goals. “I’ll help you hit your numbers.” This is a we’re hitting quota culture.
A culture of community doesn’t eliminate healthy competition. After all, salespeople are competitive. They like to win.
It creates a culture of competition AND collaboration because it eliminates destructive competition. Remember…
The real competition is OUTSIDE THE BUILDING, not inside the building.
A sales community is built when sales leaders hire individuals who embrace the idea of “we’re hitting quota” vs “I’m hitting quota.” These smart sales professionals understand that one rock star cannot scale a company.
Point #2: Peer Sharing and Caring
A typical sales team is often manager driven.
A sales community is one of shared ownership.
In this current environment of rapid change, even the best sales managers are struggling to keep up. The sales manager of the future recognizes that they can’t and don’t need to be the only person offering advice and support.
They encourage peer-to-peer learning and one of the ways they do that is by changing their group sales meetings. Instead of running meetings full of pipeline reviews and operational complaints, they:
- Have their team break into groups and conduct ten minutes of peer problem-solving.
- Assign each salesperson to bring an answer as to how they handle a frequent problem experienced by all members of the team. E.g., How are you using AI to actually drive revenue, not just jump on the latest tech bus?
- Begin their sales meetings by asking, “Who did you help flourish this week?” What gets measured improves. By asking this question, you demonstrate to your team that you are measuring their actions in helping others.
Point #3: Belonging and Retention
A typical sales team focuses on performance.
A sales community creates belonging.
And belonging matters more than most leaders realize. This isn’t about neediness.
This is about feeling connected in a world that has become increasingly disconnected because of technology. (Kind of ironic, isn’t it?)
It’s about being supported and valued—not just compensated. Gallop research has shown for years that having a best friend at work creates more engagement and higher productivity at work.
In today’s world of remote work, rapid change and AI overload, people crave connection more than ever. A sales community creates that connection.
It happens when experienced salespeople help shorten the learning curve of new hires.
It happens when someone says, “I struggled with that objection too—here’s what worked for me.”
It happens when a top performer stops seeing knowledge as power and starts sharing knowledge, creating a multiplier effect.
Here’s the good news: building a community AND mentorship culture doesn’t require one more formal program or another item on the to-do list.
Mentorship often happens informally through five-minute conversations.
It can be a seasoned salesperson staying after a meeting to answer questions.
It happens when a new salesperson joins an experienced rep on sales calls and learns not only from the meeting—but from the conversation after the meeting. “Here’s why I said or did this.”
Mentorship happens during national sales meetings over coffee, lunch, or cocktails. It’s where people build business friendships and a stronger sense of belonging.
Belonging leads to retention and retention leads to increased revenue. Clients don’t like “onboarding” a new salesperson every year. They like working with salespeople with whom they trust and like.
Community matters.
A sales team can hit quota.
A sales community hits quota and builds sustainable success.
Good Selling and Leading!