If you have a sales team, they are probably vital to the success of your business. However, there is only so much you can do to influence their performance. Management strategies that might work with other departments may also be counterproductive when applied to a sales team.
One key element managers should look to for improving performance is motivation. You might think their current pay and commissions should be enough, but human motivation is complex. Different people are motivated in different ways. Some salespeople might also be satisfied with making enough money while they could be making more.
But what can you do to motivate your salespeople? This post will explore tips and strategies to improve motivation among your sales team.
Give Them Goals
Having clear goals can do so much for a sales team. It gives them something to aim for and focus on. Long-term goals for the quarter or year are great, but short-term goals can be very effective as motivation. In many ways, a short-term goal can seem more tangible and attainable than a long-term goal. One thing you could do is set daily, weekly, or monthly sales targets. Along with serving as motivation, short-term goals can also help you keep track of employee performance.
Offer Cash Incentives
Competitive compensation is an important part of motivating a sales team. Even if they already get commissions, various cash incentives can still be powerful forms of compensation. For example, you could offer cash bonuses for meeting various goals or sales targets. The above-mentioned short-term goals could provide good opportunities for these bonuses. You could also offer tiered commissions. That means the commission percentage for the employee would go up as they hit certain targets.
Create Employee Awards
Cash is a good motivator, but it isn’t everything to every salesperson. Some people want recognition for their accomplishments. Employee awards can be an effective way to show that recognition. You have a variety of sales team award ideas you could try. Obvious ideas include awards for the highest number of sales during a period or the highest dollar value. You could also have awards for the most improved sales numbers. Another idea is to have an award for new client acquisition. Awards for career milestones might also be worth considering.
Get Competitive
Creating a competitive environment is like a motivation hack for sales teams. Without competition, you might set goals, but people might barely notice who is reaching them and who isn’t. Some of the employee awards from the previous section could be opportunities for competition. For example, salesperson of the month is a competition. Various employee goals could also be competitive. One idea is to offer a cash bonus or gift for the first person to meet a target. The key is to keep the competition friendly and healthy.
Focus on Employee Satisfaction
Employee satisfaction can do so much to impact motivation. If your employees are unhappy or unsatisfied, they won’t feel emotionally invested in the company’s success. That means employee satisfaction is crucial for long-term motivation. To start, you should be open and transparent. You should also create an environment with strong communication and where salespeople feel comfortable coming to you with their concerns. Another point is to build trust with your employees. They need to know that you trust them and that they can trust you.
Employee Development
One way to improve motivation and satisfaction is by investing in employee development. Development programs are a way of showing employees you are committed to them. They will appreciate the investment in their skills and see that the company wants to help them succeed. Employees will appreciate a company that invests in building their careers. Additionally, employee development increases the value of the employee for the company.
Build Team Bonds
With competition and awards, you can lose focus on the fact that it is a team of salespeople. The team atmosphere can do a lot to motivate individuals. You just need to build the bonds that will make them want to work hard for each other. One way to do this is through various team-building exercises. You could also arrange days to buy lunch for the team to encourage them to all eat together. Group awards or bonuses could also be effective at team building.
Motivate With Gifts
Beyond cash, various gifts can work to motivate salespeople. For example, you could give employees gift cards to popular restaurants or online shopping platforms. You also have classic sales gifts like watches and briefcases. Modern updates on those ideas could be new mobile phones or phone accessories. Some gifts could be part of an award, and others could be to show appreciation. Other options could include branded items like coffee cups or sweaters.
Managers have a lot of options for motivating sales teams. However, it is important to recognize that each team and individual is unique. What might motivate some may not work for others. That is why you should try different things. With a little experimentation, you’ll find what puts your sales team over the top.