How to motivate the sales team

Video: The 5 Best Ways To Motivate Sales Team Members

Content

Steps
Method 1 of 2: Improve Your Work Environment
Method 2 of 2: Motivating Strategies
Warnings
What do you need

Sales executives must continually look for ways to motivate salespeople. These people are constantly under intense pressure: compliance, market changes, new marketplaces, etc. If you are a sales leader looking for ways to create a more motivating workplace for your employees, you must first acknowledge that this is really in your power - you are able to create a more favorable environment and increase sales. Proper motivation consists equally of some support, recognition and reward. Listen carefully to your team and adapt their goals to what matters to them. We invite you to figure out how to motivate your sales team.

Steps

Method 1 of 2: Improve Your Work Environment

1 Meet regularly with the sales team. Instead of constantly focusing on what they are doing wrong, a certain proportion of one-on-one meetings should be devoted to discussing concerns, pain points and problems in the work environment. You will most likely identify motivation issues before they affect overall performance and performance targets - by identifying them, try to relieve the team of negative work pressures.
- During these meetings, ask salespeople what motivates them. You may find that they are motivated by monetary rewards, while some will note the encouragement and supportive atmosphere in the team. Write down what motivates each of them.
2 Train your salespeople. There are several ways to plan your workouts that will increase your motivation.
- Assign salespeople as trainers to your colleagues. This is a great way to recognize their special skills and improve communication within your team. Ask one of your salespeople to take a couple of hours away from sales and plan for an hour-long training session on a topic in which they are an expert.
- Go to the fields. Using your contacts, find a leader who would agree to take you as a supervisor to their successful sales team. Consider taking advantage of the experience of selling various products and even products from other industries (you can attend demonstration training sessions for this). For example, if your sales force has to be aggressive, take them to a conference where they see someone selling a product in a 30 second “elevator pitch”. Go back to the office and ask them to write a new sales opening speech.
- Pick an outside salesperson to train your team. Choose a person very carefully. Make sure he is an expert in his field, has excellent organizational skills and some sense of humor. Keep the practice sessions short and be sure to include a hands-on session with an invited expert.
- Assign a mentor to coach young members of your sales force. This will help budding professionals get through the hardships of a new job. Encourage the mentor to help them achieve their goals. This is a great way to improve the work environment that team building (building team spirit and useful teamwork) engages in.
3 Invest in new sales tools. Make sure your customer relationship management (CRM) system takes full advantage of the work environment, rather than suffers from it. Well-organized reporting, bulk email and mobile apps can improve salesperson performance, achieve goals, and motivate.
- Most new sites and customer relationship management (CRM) systems require an adaptation period. Someone masters it faster, someone - slower. To implement new tools, select a time during the working season when the stress in the work of employees is minimal.

Method 2 of 2: Motivating Strategies

1 Tailor a motivation plan for each employee. If you can adapt the incentive regimens, do so. Each employee's motivation is unique, so pick 1-3 things that will help the salesperson work harder, and write them down.
2 Develop a sensible and effective reward structure based on sales results. If multiple salespeople have met their goals, you should consider how they worked to motivate the rest of the workers. Review your commission or compliance premium. Lower them to a low level if the market is going down, and raise the commission percentage if the market is going up.
3 Enter daily, weekly, and monthly promotions. Offer top sellers weekly trips, time off, big gift cards, coffee, free lunch, gym or club memberships to help the rest of the team work harder. These milestones will help sellers meet their overall target by meeting milestones during the selling season.
- Incentives will also boost healthy, friendly competition. The daily struggle for the place of the best seller will force employees to try harder.Keep rewards at a level of value where they stimulate healthy competition, but don't make them too significant so as not to provoke sabotage among colleagues.
4 Create personal goals. Remember what motivates everyone and include in the reward what suits their desires. For example, if you know an employee has an anniversary, offer them a couple of extra days off to make their wish come true.
5 Stimulate team spirit. Salespeople often feel one-on-one with the goal they are working towards. Create a team environment that encourages everyone to help each other and share knowledge for a common goal.
6 Recognize the achievements of your sales force. The time you take to congratulate an employee for their success can determine how hard they will work towards the next quota. Consider this “recognition of merit” strategy.
- Congratulate them publicly. Raise the issue of achievement in a sales meeting. Be as detailed as possible about the specifics of their success. For example: “Sergey's ability to get clients by referral is exceptional. He ranks first in the company in this indicator, and this is what allows him to fulfill the norm. Sergey, could you tell us how you ask people to recommend you to friends and colleagues? "
- Write this person a letter. Don't wait for this meeting to acknowledge his success. Instead, send him a letter at home telling him how important he is to your company and include a gift card for his family.
- Introduce this person and their accomplishment to your boss. Recognition from senior management is not easy, especially if there is high turnover in sales positions. When someone overshoots their goals, schedule a meeting when that person can come to attend the strategic planning meeting.

Warnings

Beware of low motivated employees. People who have experienced several unsuccessful seasons in a row can interact with other workers and infect them with negative feelings about their work. Sometimes talent changes in the sales department can increase the overall motivation of your team.