The 5 Musts to Motivate Your Sales Team

Finding and maintaining the happy medium of motivation is critical to the success of you and your sales team. That said, while we all strive to obtain that balance, few sales managers are consistent in the endeavor.

Like many facets of the selling game, it does not take drastic measures to invoke positive change and results; it merely takes tweaks to the process. Most importantly, the dynamic of a sales team starts in the beginning. The right foundation must be set with mutual respect and partnership. Know your role as sales manager: you are there, like the fire and police departments, to serve and protect.

(1) Know your team. Spend time understanding what makes them tick, why they work here, what they want out of the role, their strengths and areas of opportunity.  Know their kids' names.  Know what is important to them.  While you are not attempting to make friends, it is important to them that they're important to you.  You will utilize your knowledge of their skill set and career aspirations to mold your approach toward managing them and supporting them.  How do they like to be coached?  Some managers take a blanket approach to their team, yet you must be unique in your approach to each unique personality you train and manage.  It will go a long way with your team when you extend them this consideration.  Also - how would you personally or did you personally want to be managed if you were once in their shoes?

(2) Show them respect - it's the only way to gain theirs.  Many managers come in, make drastic changes because they think they can have positive, immediate impact, and they glean absolutely no feedback from their team on what changes should be made!  It's a team, not a dictatorship.  Know their opinion on how things should be done; certainly, you will call the final shots, but if they are part of the decision-making process or the go-to-market strategy, they will have more buy in.  Furthermore, they earned their right to be in their role, so until they are jeopardizing their position, do not come in, have knee jerk reactions or tell them how to do things your way.  Ultimately, if you want them to change, you have to know their way of doing things, identify gaps in their process and legitimately sell them on changing, so let them do it their way to a point.  Show them the respect of some autonomy but absolutely be there to help eliminate legitimate obstacles to their success and have a good enough rapport to call them on it when they make excuses.

(3) Agree together on strategic, permanent, positive change. You need to meet with them regularly - often for the middle of the pack you can move and make a difference, occasionally for your superstars you want to keep on track, and enough with the bottom quartile to figure out if they can move into the aforementioned groupings and move forward accordingly. Your observations of their selling methods from prospecting to pitching and overcoming and closing are one thing; how you acknowledge their prior successes and areas of opportunity is critical. Lead through fear or criticizing and they will rightfully shut down - you'll never get their best. Lead with all knowledge of their aspirations and look for ways to guide and help - you have their heart. Like any interaction on the sales food chain, your role is to sell them on why they should give up on any fear of changing versus sticking with their comfortable ways of mediocrity or - in some cases - failing.  Agree on a strategy together; again, this collaboration gives a higher probability of success in execution.  Positive results are a result of strong process - period.  No amount of barking orders or telling them to do more of a widget will ever result in anything good.

(4) Follow through on your part of the commitment.  It's one thing to get a result and quite another to consistently deliver the result.  Like anything, your plan will need tweaks and course correction, but provided you have followed the previous steps and established the relationship, delved into common goals and worked together on the process and its execution, your probability at success will be at its optimum level.  When you hire a salesperson, you enter into a contract.  You agree to give them training - initial and ongoing - and support - elimination of their legitimate obstacles, being responsive, being available, and even if you can't get them the answer or the outcome they want, when they see you are always trying to do so they will believe in your leadership. You cannot always control if they live up to their end of the bargain (namely, being the person they promised to be on interview day) but you can control keeping up with your commitment and doing so is certainly more likely to garner a positive response.

(5) Work to get them what they want and where they want to go.  Many managers do not wish to proactively support their top producers because they fear the loss of productivity; however, if they actively promote those folks, others will rise to the challenge to take the mantle of top producer because they will believe in your support.  On the flip side, even if the job isn't a fit for a member of your team, don't cast them out and fail to live up to your commitments to them; get them the training and answers they need, even if you both ultimately come to the realization they would be better for another internal or external role.

A great deal of managing a sales team is akin to managing a household or a sports team or a business - everyone has their role to play.  Yours is responsible for safeguarding people and process, ensuring the right plays are set and called, watching the execution, sharing your notes on how the plays can be run better, being accountable, being transparent, being supportive, and being responsible.

Motivating your sales team comes down to determining what motivates them and using that knowledge as you set the gameplan and as you review the game tape; as you discuss what they want to be doing in their career and as you work with them to determine the path that will get them there.  It's up to you to keep them on the path.  Motivate your team properly and they will do great things for you.

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Carson V. Heady has written a book entitled "Birth of a Salesman" that has a unique spin that shows you proven sales principles designed to birth in you the top producer you were born to be. If you would like to strengthen your sales skills, go to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ICRVMI2/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_yGXKtb0G

Heady posts for "Consult Carson" serving as the "Dear Abby" of sales and sales leadership. You may post any question that puzzles you regarding sales and sales leadership careers: interviewing, the sales process, advancing and achieving. You will also be directly contributing to his third book, "A Salesman Forever."

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