Great sales cultures don’t happen by accident—they’re built with intention and a focus on helping people thrive. For sales managers and leaders, creating a high-performance culture means more than hitting targets—it’s about fostering a team where accountability is empowering, resilience is second nature, and growth is a shared mission.

In this Q&A, NextRoll’s CRO, Laura Zwahlen, shares powerful insights on what it really takes to build and sustain a winning sales culture. From driving operational excellence and navigating challenging markets to recognizing and rewarding success, this conversation is a playbook for sales leaders ready to inspire their teams to go further, together.

What are the foundational elements of a high-performance sales culture?

Laura: A high performance sales culture can vary from one organization to the next but in my experience, most share a few core traits: 

1. Non punitive culture:  As humans, we are going to make mistakes. It’s about owning the mistake and learning from it. Cultures that celebrate that learning lead to stronger outcomes. At numerous phases of company growth, we actually SHOULD be making mistakes because we are having to make certain bets. Not every bet is going to fall our way, but some will. You don’t see companies hit scale who take zero risk/make no mistakes. You do, however, see them not making the same mistakes twice. If I see no mistakes being made in my revenue org, I would question the culture I’ve built and ask myself as a leader, have I created a culture where self reporting of errors is valued? Are we making big enough bets/taking large enough risks to really scale this business? Of course, that doesn’t mean you are not judicious in your risk taking. But, you should have line of sight into mistakes and subsequent learnings. This is healthy!

2. Accountability: Highly accountable leaders who judge their own success by the success of their teams. As leaders, it is our duty to set our teams up to do their best work. No room for excuses and finger pointing. At the end of the day, every single person in the organization needs to own their result. Companies with accountability cultures far outperform those wrought with blame or/finger pointing.  

3. Continuous improvement and learning: We should never be “done” as it relates to our path to excellence. The environment will always be changing and as such, we are constantly needing to evolve. 

4. Clarity Around the Path to Quota: Each rep responsible for a revenue target should have a clear understanding of their path to quota. What percentage of opps are being driven by marketing? What percentage are coming from SDRs or the rep themself, etc? What specific activities need to be done on a weekly basis to ensure there is enough pipeline to propel a rep to 100%+ attainment? Having a clear understanding of the path to targets is a key piece missed in many organizations. 

In today’s market, resilience is more important than ever. What are some of the strategies you’ve used to help your teams stay motivated and focused—especially during tough quarters?

Authentic leadership is the first thing that pops to mind. Selling is not easy and you will certainly not win 100% of the time. Being open with my team about my own failures and learnings as a former rep myself has been helpful to the teams I partner with. I know very few top reps who would tell you they have never had a down quarter. That’s not realistic and some of our most critical periods of reflection occur when things are slower. You can use those slower periods to ensure the following quarter doesn’t suffer the same fate by actually leaning in vs. disengaging. The simplest thing we can control as reps is our own activity level. 

Part of that authentic leadership is making sure you set time aside to connect with your team. Have a good time. We spend far too much of our lives working to take ourselves too seriously. So in both good and bad times, reserve the right to have fun with one another. Ultimately, we do our best work when we are happy and supported and taking time out of our day to connect with each other is a key piece in that.

Bad quarters don’t last forever, assuming you lean in during the tough times. And when you see that rebound on the horizon, and that huge deal crosses the finish line, those difficult times become just a bit sweeter as it becomes clear that the challenge has set the stage for growth.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re leading a small team or overseeing a global sales org, one thing’s clear: culture drives performance. As Laura reminds us, creating a space where people are allowed to make a mistake, continually learn, and hold each other accountable is the real differentiator.

Looking to join a team with a strong culture? Check out our open roles on the NextRoll sales team—we’re always looking for driven, curious, and collaborative people to roll with us.