How to motivate salespeople to bring in more sales

mcobb533

Yes!! Sometimes managers get so caught up on how to motivate, they don't even realize the things that happen that DEMOTIVATE the salespeople. Get rid of those first, and any steps you take towards motivation will be MUCH more effective.

Michael

Paulette Halpern

Motivating salespeople is easy, but most managers or business owners 'don't or won't' take the time to do it.

Sit down with your sales person, find out from THEM, what they don't have enough of NOW, that they want in the next 6 - 12 months. Break it down into smaller monthly pieces and build your compensation plan around it.

Motivation is an internal driving force that will cause actions to happen with the goal of accomplishing an end result.

You can't motivate someone else, but you CAN create a compensation plan that will give incent someone to work to accomplish something, and in the end, get what they also want.

That is then a win/win.

But most managers or owners, just raise the salespersons 'quota' hoping that will get the job done.

__________________
Paulette
www.noonangroup.sandler.com
paulette@sandler.com

Polysquared

Well said!

helisell

Make a 'bonus board' (big white wipe off board) and place it in a high visibility area where your sales meetings are held.

Salspeople are each motivated to different degrees by:

1. Security
2. Recognition
3. Achievement
4. Response

Security means they know their posistion in solid and that they are earning a decent living.

Reconition means they are seen by their peers to be a performer.

Achievement means they feel good regarless of what their peers think.

Response is the nice feeling of being congratulated by others (especially the 'boss')

Award points each day or week for different aspects of the job.

Make the points awardable for things like.

Most new contacts in a day/week
Most revenue generated
Best conversion rate
Most activity
Least cancellations
etc etc

This means that everyone in the team can be seen as a performer in 'some' area. You are now appealing to the 4 motivational areas in your salespeople.

They will start to compete....stuff happens.....try it.

Seth

How is motivating a salesperson to bring in more sales different from motivating a prospect to take action now?

Andrea

Threaten to fire them...

rich34232

I would like to reopen this for discussions to see more responses.

Personally I like the idea of goals or obejctives. Discover what the staff wants and help them get it.

I know the company objectives must be clear and precise with a plan to get there and this must a shared responsibility to reach the objective.

Paulette Halpern

"Threatening to fire them" and then 'following through on it" may leave you with hiring an even less motivated or capable individual....and you as the 'manager or owner' have not learned how to motivate the new sales person.

Vicious treadmill....for a company.

Instead, learn HOW to motivate each of your people to create their own 'internal drive' that will deliver to you the ability to get closer to reach your compan goals, and at the same time, get the employee to set his own goals and be working to achieve them.

Gary A Boye

Good topic, Rich.

Motivation obviously comes from the word motive. It's an inside job. Motivation is an overused and much maligned word. When someone asks how to motivate another, they are using the wrong word. Induce, incentivize, spur, or even goad are the external forces that might prompt constructive action in another person.

The internal force that "motivates" is a feeling of well being. Psychologists have pointed out that our feelings of well being are directly related to the amount of Control we feel we have over our lives. When we prepare ourselves, organize ourselves, and become our own person, we gain control, and we are able to act because we are acting from a feeling of well being even in difficult tasks.

__________________
Gary A. Boye
Senior Editor,
Selling Journal/SalesPractice

Paulette Halpern

Management needs to learn how to 'induce, incentivize or spur on to action' their sales team, by finding out exactly what will do that for each individual sales person.

If a person is too 'content' with the level of sales they are bringing in that corresponds to the amount of earnings they are making....they probably won't have the same 'incentive' to further grow their 'territory or sales in general' as much as if they, 'aren't living the lifestyle they want or are struggling to give their family what they need'.

But management needs to work together with their sales team to get everyone to have, goals that they are 'constantly reaching for on a personal level'...then everyone does better in the end.

Most managers, just don't know how, so they raise 'quotas' instead and use 'fear' as a motivator.