Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making

by Tony Fadell

If you already have a transaction-oriented sales org and want to make the shift to a relationship-based one, it’ll be trickier. People will probably leave. A lot of them will tell you you’re crazy. But it can be done. First set up a mini–internal board populated by those other teams—customer support, customer success, operations—to approve each sales deal. That will start shifting the mindset from lone-wolf salesperson to being part of a team. Then start talking about the change to commissions. Don’t say you’re getting rid of them—that messes with people’s heads—just say that you’re doing them differently. Boost the size of the commission but start vesting it over time. And tell the sales team they’ll lose the remainder of the commission if the customer leaves. You can also offer an even larger commission if they’ll take stock over cash. Once commissions are vested on a schedule that prioritizes customer relationships, a lot of the ugliness that usually defines sales cultures disappears. Salespeople do a better job qualifying customers, the hypercompetition eases up, the backslapping fades, the teams align their expectations and their goals.