Business books and consultants say it’s imperative to have the right people in the right seats on the bus in your organization. Have you thought how that affects your company’s sales department? A successful hiring process must be applied to ensure you have people who can and will sell. While this is an important first step, it is only one of many steps in the process of becoming a sales-driven company. Consider these other crucial steps.

Create a culture where business development is an equal partner with every other professional endeavor. Developing that culture and professional attitude takes resources and time. You may have people who can sell, but can they also change? Everyone at the company must be ready to move to the next professional level. If you’re still selling the way it’s always been done, you will also have to expect the same old results but more importantly your people may feel unchallenged and bored. This can lead to complacency and procrastination.

Provide frequent training. When people aren’t learning, they become dissatisfied and as a result their productivity drops. Learning increases commitment. Training motivates employees and helps them develop a path to their personal and career goals. They become committed to learning and improving as a result. The mind has to be activated before the body engages. The bonus for the company is two-fold. You have happy, goal-oriented achievers on your team, plus you don’t have to incur the time and money to replace staff.

Remember: A sales-driven company takes time. People need time to apply what they have learned. No one goes from zero to hero in two hours or two days. Education must be nurtured and coached. We all “know” better than we “do,” so we need to spend more time adapting what we know into productive behavior. The sales-driven company understands it’s OK to mess up, so long as you are willing to correct it next time.

Create common goals and develop a desire to achieve them. It takes dedication and commitment to be a sales-driven company. Here’s an example: Two men watched as a tightrope walker began to cross Niagara Falls on a one-inch cable. He had no net or safety harness to save him if he slipped. There was a breeze and the mist from the falls made the cable slippery. The tightrope walker asked the men, “Do you think I can do it?” They didn’t believe he could. But he successfully completed the walk across the falls, and the two men were in awe. He asked, “Do you think I can walk across with someone on my shoulders?” They both expressed a total belief that he had the talent and could do it. He said, “Great, hop on.” Belief takes more than words, it takes action.

Brent Middleton, owner of Salt Lake City-based Sandler Sales Institute, can be reached at brent@thesbdgroup.com.