Learning How to Motivate Sales People without spending more money on salaries and compensation packages is the only way to build a great sales team.

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boost sales, boost your bank balance
How To Motivate Sales People – Without
Money
December 11, 2013 by Iain Swanston – www.iainswanstononline.com
How to Motivate Sales People is a never ending challenge for
Business Owners and Sales VP’s. At one end of the scale the
worst case scenario might be sales people with little or no
motivation who have high levels of absenteeism and the best case
might be maintaining the motivation of high performers who do
hit targets, but need to take their sales game to the next
level. Regardless of the industry you serve or the products and
services you supply, how to motivate sales people can be the
difference between thriving and surviving. Whilst money via
compensation or commission plans is the “obvious” way to
motivate sales people, does this really work? Are there other ways we can motivate the sales
team to get the same results? The first thing we need to recognize is that How to Motivates
Sales People is as much an art as it is a science, and what motivates one sales person may not
motivate their colleagues. Often business owners tell me it is the responsibility of the sales
person to motivate themselves and whilst this may be true if they are not motivated, we as
leaders cannot stand by and allow them to stagnate.
·
Leadership – a motivated and well drilled sales team will outsell one twice it’s size, but
only if they have great sales leadership. Sales People are not motivated by Sales Managers,
they are motivated by Sales Leaders. Sales Leaders have a high degree of emotional
intelligence and are true experts in understanding how to motivate sales people. Imagine a
sales person as a knife. Every interaction a sales leader has with the sales person is at 45
degrees and sharpens the blade. Every interaction the sales manager has dulls the blade and
blunts the knife. These interactions are the day to day, seemingly innocuous small
conversations that happen. Sales people take their lead from those above them and if we
want them to be better we need to be better at leading them. Great sales leaders get the sales
people engaged and this engagement helps build and maintain motivation.
·
Goal Setting – no, not traditional goal setting that makes your sales people groan in
anticipation, but personal goal setting. The top sales people are always very goal orientated,
but what motivates sales people are rarely the business goals such as 20% growth, increased
sales targets, higher margins and increased market share. Sales people are motivated by
personal goals which have a direct relevance to them and their families. A bigger house, a
better car, a dream holiday, a weekend away are the obvious ones, but I have coached sales
people with goals like writing a book, passing a driving test, going back to college and all
manner of simple and often small goals. The key to How to Motivate Sales People is quite
simply to tie in the sales persons goals with the goals of the business. For inside sales you
could offer vouchers for driving lessons as an incentive when they hit certain sales

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targets. Use vouchers for weekend breaks for field sales people and their partners as rewards
for hitting sales targets.
·
Personal Development – Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs defines self-actualization as the
final stage of development. Learning, trouble shooting, creativity, the pursuit of inner talent
and self-fulfilment are all needs that can be harnessed if you are searching for How to
Motivate Sales People. Most sales people want to get better and more importantly, they do
not want to struggle. The Kelly workforce study survey indicates 66% of employees in the
UK are looking for additional training and education to forward their career. Sales people
rarely improve on their own but with the right leadership and the right training and coaching
they will improve.
How to Motivate Sales People consistently is certainly not an easy thing to do, but for sure
more money is usually not the answer. Sales people will nearly always leave a job for more
money, but money is the symptom not the root cause of the problem. The ability of sales
leaders to build and maintain a vibrant sales culture is much more important and less
expensive for any business.
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