How to Motivate Sales People

Motivate Your Team!        Motivate for Success!

Why are you reading this article? Why did I write it?

The answer to both questions is that something has motivated us to do so.

What is motivation?

Motivation has been defined as:  "The inner desire to take action".

Why does one salesperson or a whole sales team perform well? - The reason is, they have high motivation.

"In any field of achievement, the key determinants of success are motivation, motivation and motivation."

Knowledge and technical skills are necessary; but no matter how qualified people are, without motivation no one succeeds. 

Success comes from motivation, attitude and action.

What motivates us?

Is it money; the opportunity for success; to be valued and respected; the chance to develop our career?

The work of academic, Abraham Maslow shows that what motivates us most depends on the situation we find ourselves in and whether underlying, more fundamental motivations are being satisfied.

Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

An understanding of Maslow's Triangle helps in knowing what motivates people. Put simply, on the lowest level, people have to do what it takes to survive. They need to earn enough to live. But as soon as threats to their existence are no longer a worry, their concern is with the next higher level - and so on, going all the way up Maslow's diagram.

In business the matters in the middle levels will be the ones providing stimulus. Self-esteem, confidence, achievement and respect are highly influential. Good pay has a role in satisfying these factors and the ones in the lower levels, but money alone is definitely not enough for sustained motivation. The perceived value to self comes not just from material factors; when these are satisfied, the drive comes from intangibles. The respect felt for self and received from others is just as important.

Although one component of motivation is self-interest - people need to see and feel the reward or benefit to themselves of taking action - that is an incomplete picture. In some situations as much and sometimes far more motivation is derived by performing acts which are valuable to others. Why else would people do those things which involve self-sacrifice? Politicians, the military and charities exploit this human characteristic, as do skilled managers.

The benefits of motivation

By increasing your teams' motivation you increase their energy and desire to achieve, which leads to increased effort, action, and profit. People feel better and such inefficiencies as non-essential computer use, excessive breaks, disputes and absence due to sickness, reduce.

Motivated staff often have creative ideas for new products and improved operating methods which will help their company.

Things which tend to increase motivation

• Belief in the 'rightness' of what you are doing. This applies to all concerned, both managers and workers. Nothing is more powerful than 'belief in your cause'.

• Recognise good actions, performance and initiatives and reward them – even with something as simple as saying, 'Thank you'.

• Congratulate team members in front of their colleagues for good work. This is is a powerful reward which will increase their self-esteem and drive to continue their excellent performance.

• When they have done something especially well, give your employees an opportunity to explain to others how they performed the task.

• Get your company's president or a director, to send a personal note of thanks for doing a good job. Or have a senior person announce this at at a company event or or team meeting.

• Award prestigious titles; it costs nothing, but this recognition may mean a great deal to the individuals concerned and enhance their prestige amongst fellow-workers.

• Publish the photos of team members and mention their special actions or performance in the company newsletter or in a Wall of Fame”.

• Use positive words when talking to your team, not ones which communicate low expectations. Avoid using words which raise doubt about the outcome of a persons' actions.

• Keep people informed about how they and the company are doing. At meetings, tell your team about changes / new products and developments.

• Be honest; deceptions are found out sooner or later, and when this occurs the damage to trust takes a long time to repair. Mistrust poisons motivation.

• Don't 'move the goalposts', be consistent with all your employees in all that you do and say.

• Providing relevant training shows that you are willing to invest in employees' development. It brings new ideas and often provides a good opportunities to vent frustrations and allow all parties to discover the views and the roles of others.

• Do something which is fun and out of the ordinary - anything from (unexpected) doughnuts in the morning to a weekend in Paris.

• Make sure that anyone with ambition to progress within the organisation has the opportunity to do so and is informed about how they can.

• A sense of belonging motivates – the smaller the group to which someone belongs, the stronger the loyalty, motivation and effort. 

• Don't exclude the people around you from decisions in which their input can be useful. People feel more motivated when they feel their involvement in a project is important and valued.

• Challenge can be a powerful motivator, but the level of difficulty must be carefully appraised. If too great, people may believe that they are incapable of achieving the necessary level and give up trying too early.

• Pay increases, improved work conditions and facilities affect motivation; even small changes have a big effect.

You get more of what you reward

The reward principle states that you get more of the behaviour that you reward. So notice when people do something right and say or do something which congratulates them on it.