This list comes from Brian Tracy via the SellingPower.com Incentives newsletter. If you have ever managed salespeople, you know how important proper motivation is. Some days salespeople just don’t have it so you have to step in as their manager and give them that push they need.
The problems start when you find yourself stepping in daily. At this point, you clearly have a de-motivated salesperson. If you are at this point, here are some topics to consider:
1. Where am I going?
Salespeople lose their sense of direction when they are unclear on precisely what is expected of them on a daily basis, what their goals and quotas are, how their performance will be measured, and in what time frame. If, as the saying goes, clarity is 95 percent of success, the lack of clarity must be 95 percent of failure.
If you want to see this problem in spades, hire a new salesperson and leave these items undefined. We have seen it too often of late.
2. How am I doing?
Ken Blanchard says that feedback, not Wheaties, is the “Breakfast of Champions.” On a weekly, daily, even hourly basis, people need to know how their performance measures up against stated goals and quotas. When a rep makes a sale, pick up the phone and offer congratulations. During weekly sales meetings, take the time to summarize the week’s sales results and share how well different team members are doing.
We had one sales manager who did not offer any feedback to his salesperson. When we asked why, he said he was simply “observing him.” Frightening. The concern here is always the same – if you don’t interact with them, you can’t coach them. If you don’t coach them, they will do things their own way. It is at this point that the sales manager now loses touch with the critical pieces of information needed to do his or her role (forecasting, market adjustments, share competitive info with the team, new product/service suggestions, etc.).
You can read the entire article to learn all 7 de-motivators. I highly recommend it.