What REALLY motivates a sales team? ??

This week I asked YOU: What's your biggest motivator in sales?

The results came as no shock to me.

It's why most people get into sales, right? (It's why I did all those years ago, I had a wedding to pay for.)

Weddings are expensive. IYKYK.

So if salespeople are driven by money, it should mean they are driven to hit their quota?

Right?

It's not always as simple as that.

Sellers know they NEED to hit quota.

They don't often have the SUPPORT to help them get there.

(And I'm not talking about motivating sellers with pizza. Pizza is nice, but sellers need more.) ??

So how do you ACTUALLY motivate a sales team?

You HELP them to unlock their potential by enabling them with ways to IMPROVE.

I think Max Cummins sums it up nicely here:

Here are some things to consider when motivating a sales team:

Sales is harder than ever

"This year, 75% of reps missed quota." Guy Rubin , Ebsta

They fact is, sales reps aren't getting the right support.

Our recent report tells us that 4/10 reps rarely get coaching. 1/7 never get coaching.

When results are down, the team is down.

This week, I caught up with MySalesCoach 's Scott Kingsbury .

He shared with me his framework for motivating a sales team during tough times;

1. Get to know how the team are feeling

It's crucial to first understand how they are feeling. By addressing and improving their mindset, you create a strong foundation for further motivation. Once their mindset is in the right place, you can then implement strategies to help with further motivation and stay focused, positive, and driven despite the tough times.

2. Strike a balance between accountability and encouragement

Set clear standards, expectations and fair KPIs that have been consistently communicated. This establishes a baseline for accountability, ensuring the team knows how they should be performing. On the encouragement part, for me, it's all about identifying the key parts of the process and behaviours that will have the biggest impact on the numbers. Then focusing on and encouraging the good work happening in these areas to influence & motivate other team members to be doing the same.

3. Build a long-term strategy

Focus on the team foundations and what I call the leadership fundamentals that impact this. Some of this includes creating a strong team vision that everyone buys into, understanding individual motivators, mindsets. The components of trust and how to build it is key, along with setting clear team objectives that involve shared accountability. Then the last part is having a strong coaching, training & developments plan for your team. Tip: Reading The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni is great around team environments.

For even morse insights on motivating your sales team, read our latest blog:

What would YOU add? ??

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