Selling is a very challenging job and it is easy for your team of sales staff to get discouraged. If you have found that your employees are struggling to make targets and are uninspired on the job, it’s important to get their inspiration flowing again. But how can you motivate your sales staff to do their best?
You don’t want to encourage your employees to just do the minimum that it takes to get by, as this will not lead into better results and new levels of success for them and for your company. Instead, you want to inspire them to shoot for the moon and really improve their sales dramatically.
There are many ways that you can ignite an entire sales department with a passion for success, so that everyone will win. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Find Out What Your Staff Really Want
Providing your staff with rewards for their sales performance is a very popular and effective way to motivate them, but it doesn’t work if the rewards are not really desirable to your staff members. That is why it is important to customise these rewards so that they are more appealing.
What would be the carrot on the end of the stick that would motivate your staff members the most? Why not ask them and find out? Figure out what your staff are most interested in, whether it is luxurious reward items, cash bonuses or prizes. If your sales consultants are working toward goals in order to achieve rewards that they specifically want, they will be much more motivated to work harder.
Make People Feel Valued
There is nothing more powerful for motivation than positive encouragement, so make sure that you are letting your staff members know when they do a good job. If they feel like they are ignored and unappreciated they will not be inspired to perform, but if you show them recognition they will be more likely to take pride in a job well done.
There are many ways that you can show your staff that they have done well, from written feedback to verbal encouragement to rewards. Let each of your staff members know that they have their own unique and valuable set of skills and that you really appreciate what they bring to the team.
Hire a Motivational Speaker
Hiring a sales motivational speaker to give a talk to your employers can really be inspiring for them. There are many great speakers out there who have interesting stories to tell and who will offer deep and profound advice for sales staff. You can choose a speaker who has experience in your industry, or who focuses on a certain aspect of sales such as customer service or setting goals.
Turn the motivational talk into an event, with food and drinks served. Your staff will enjoy the experience and you will be able to talk about it together at the end.
Invest in Training
Perhaps your sales staff members are feeling stalled on their path to success because they are not being challenged or are not learning any new skills. Investing in your talented team will ensure that they feel valued and stimulated and will help to improve their performance. You can send your staff on a training course or offer workshops for them, so that they can unlock their full potential.
Keep Communication
The road to success is paved with good communication, so make sure that those channels are always open between you and your staff members. Check in with them frequently to make sure that they are happy and let them know that they can always discuss concerns and obstacles with you. It helps to start off every morning with a quick ten minute debrief so that you can give them any important information and get your staff members in the right mind-set for the day ahead of them. Also, checking in at the end of the day or week can help you to address any issues as they arise.
These are just a few of the ways that you can inspire your sales team on to success, so go ahead and put them into practice!
About the Author: Helen Walker has worked in the field of customer service and sales for 10 years. She writes a blog about her passion for sales and offers tips for others in her profession.
Photo credit: cjmartin
