Different types of motivation can help your sales team climb mountains, break through roadblocks, and beat any challenge.
I often hear from sales managers that they need to give their salespeople a good kick every once in a while or have to scare the team to get results. If you have the proper foundation, scare tactics will never be needed to motivate your team. You might be able to use a scare tactic a few times, but it's not sustainable. Lay the proper foundation for sales success, and your team will pay you back over the long term for years to come.
If you don't actively work at building trust, implementing any of these motivation tactics will fall flat. Your team needs to believe that you have their back. You have to walk the walk. If you ask your team to work extra hours to achieve a goal, you better be working late with them, buying them pizzas, and cheering them on. Nothing kills motivation like a lack of trust between salespeople and their managers.
I once walked into a huge company, and their idea of rewarding their sales team for smashing a colossal goal was a Starbucks gift card. I am not saying Starbucks is not delicious but make sure the reward matches the level of effort, don't skimp on the rewards. Ask your team what kind of rewards would motivate them to achieve their goals. All people are different, and a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't always work. Some salespeople would value time with their kids over a celebration at a bar.
The most significant companies feature purpose-driven cultures that motivate their sales teams with a greater purpose than monetary gains. Building a purpose-driven company is not always easy, but if you start with a mindset of creating value, genuinely helping your customers, you can create purpose. If your company's only ambition is to make money, there is little to encourage your salespeople to provide real value to your customers.
Studies show that team spirit and peer pressure motivate employees more than money or management. The key for a sales manager is to show individual successes in real-time throughout the day, week, and month. This allows team members to see their peers succeed and self-motivate. This social motivation works far better than authoritarian demand. By consistently showing performance in real-time, you give everyone a chance to see how their peers are performing, and you lay the foundation for peers to step in and help or lead by example.
Competition is one of the most substantial factors contributing to a motivated sales team. You might say, "well, sure, but we should focus on team success vs. individual success." Fair enough, and you should make use of team-oriented goals. If the team performs well against another group or competes to surpass a goal, they are still competing; salespeople thrive under and love competition.
In Summary, properly motivating your team takes time and careful consideration to execute. If you want to take your sales team to the next level, take the time to understand each salesperson and what truly motivates them. What might work for one may not for another. Motivation isn't achieved through slogans and scare tactics; it's built by providing a culture that celebrates your sales team's success and gives them space to contribute to something bigger than themselves.
See also: Outbound Sales