Motivating a sales teams is no easy task. It can be difficult to encourage employees while numbers are down and moral is low. Motivation tends to drop off during the winter months, especially after spending a year in quarantine. In this blog, we will discuss 3 ways to inspire your sales team to perform at highest level!

Understanding Motivation 

First, it is important to understand which behaviors and management style that your employees respond positively too. This process develops overtime and looks differently for each employee. Some of your sales team may value a monetary incentive, while others prefer to have their efforts recognized in front of the team. Taking the time to truly understand what inspires your sales team is essential to pushing through the rough patches. In addition to boosting your bottom-line, this will also increase your employee retention rate. Most sales teams have a high turnover rate due to the aggressive nature of the role. Keeping your team motivated will increase the likelihood of retaining talent on your team for as long as possible.

After furthering your understanding of what motivates the individuals on your sales team, the next step is to provide them with effective tools and training. The same way that its impossible to prescribe a one-size-fits-all motivation tool, it can be equally as challenging to identify the skills that each individual on your sales team needs to improve. For some, sales comes naturally. Have you ever heard somebody say "That guy is a natural salesman?" I consider this one of the greatest compliments that a manager can give, because it acknowledges an innate ability to understand a buyers decision making process. If your sales team fails to understand what makes their product or service valuable, then how is the buyer on the other end of the line supposed to get excited about their purchase? It is important to describe the unique value proposition of your business to your sales team and discuss how it makes the world a better place.

Equip The Team

Similarly, it is important for sales managers to provide their team with the right tools they need to excel. Asking "What tools can we provide you with?" will encourage discussion amongst sales teams and managers, that will ultimately lead to better numbers. Investing an appropriate amount of time and money into equipping your team for battle is the best way to show the team that you are out there on the front lines with them. Whether these tools come in the form of laptops, mobile devices, iPads, high-quality presentation materials, CRM systems and other means of tracking the sales process and progress, all are necessary for continuous improvement.

Collaborate

Collaborative goal setting addresses two needs: the company’s and the salesperson’s. Goal setting by itself is a two-edged sword. Sales objectives provide a highpoint to aim for, but they need to be fine-tuned for differing individual performance IQs. The top performers on your sales team will require less of your attention than the majority of core members. While money is one form of motivation, salespeople at all ends of the spectrum need to feel appreciated and rewarded for who they are and what they bring to their profession. That’s why a transparent, collaborative environment of trust, creativity, and innovation is paramount.

Successful sales teams focus on driving interaction between the top performers and the rest of the core members. Some businesses do this by roleplaying a cold call, while others require new hires to shadow a tenured top performer. It is a sales managers goal to have a team full of top performers in order to reach their quotas.

How Can We Help One Another?

Sales managers need to be champions of encouragement, support, and validation for the teams they manage. One way to start is to make sure every salesperson knows the company’s mission and vision and their role in achieving those aims. When salespeople know and understand the “why,” they are likely to become more performance driven. Second, sales managers need to demonstrate their support consistently, even when sales don’t meet expectations.

It can be tempting to point fingers at times when sales fall short but doing so doesn’t serve a useful purpose. A better alternative to playing the blame game is to have open dialogues, review sales individuals’ motivating factors, hone old skills and embrace new technologies, and implement positive changes that will keep the dollars flowing!

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