5 Management Tips to Help Motivate Your Sales Team

For any company that relies on sales to keep the profits coming in each day, there’s no doubt that having a motivated sales team is very important. However, due to numerous distractions and other events that happen during any given work day, management can sometimes forget to acknowledge the accomplishments of its sales force and let low sales slide. To ensure this doesn’t happen in your company, here are 5 tips to help your sales team stay motivated each and every day.

Be Specific

Rather than just telling a salesperson how well they did with a customer or an account, tell them specifically what you liked about their performance. For example, if you admire the way they can establish positive relationships with customers, tell them and point it out to other employees. By being specific, employees will know you’re paying close attention to their work and more can learn from their example.

Provide Public Recognition

If there is one thing everyone can appreciate, it’s public recognition. Providing that extra appreciation for those salespeople who do a great job will go far toward making them feel valued and respected. Some of the best ways to do this include complimenting the salesperson while in the presence of other employees and customers.

Along with this, if an extremely satisfied customer writes a testimonial letter, be sure to share this with others in the company. By doing so, you’ll be giving the salesperson added confidence and motivation to do a great job.

Let Them Teach

In companies that have regular sales meetings, it’s a great idea to let some of the star salespeople assume the role of teacher or coach. In companies that have outsourced call centers, this has proven to be a very effective way to train help desk support.

By devoting portions of a sales meeting to this, others can be motivated to do better in hopes of being given the chance to lead future meetings. In many situations, if the message in a meeting is coming from a peer, chances are, more employees will sit up and take notice as well.

Include the Family

While many workplaces say they are one big family, actually putting this into practice will work wonders when it comes to your sales force. Since many of your sales team work long hours entertaining clients or being on the road, their families often pay a price by not having them around from time to time.

To show families as well as the salespeople how much their hard work and sacrifices are appreciated, holding recognition dinners, family picnics, or holiday parties can show everyone they are indeed part of a big family that cares about them and their lives.

Monetary Awards

Needless to say, most everyone greatly appreciates monetary awards for a job well done. Whether that involves higher commissions, bonuses, or incentive pay for selling more than their quota in a particular month, having more money in their pocket at the end of the month is always a great motivational tool.

Along with financial bonuses, many companies are now offering other awards that are tailored to the individual salesperson. For example, if a salesperson plays golf, a company may provide a new set of clubs or pay for a membership at a local country club. No matter what type of monetary award is given, it’s sure to act as tremendous motivation.

By implementing these and other tips with your sales team, chances are you’ll discover numerous ways to keep them motivated from month to month. Whether it’s letting some of your star salespeople lead part of the next sales meeting or scheduling a company picnic to salute their friends and family, these tips will help to ensure you and your company will have continued sales success.

Author: Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most her time hiking, biking and gardening. For more information on getting better help desk support for your sales team check out options here or contact Brooke via Twitter @BrookeChaplan.