How sales motivation can help you drive better results

Sales team motivation is a necessity in today’s stressful and challenging sales environment. Most of the sales reps are losing enthusiasm and feeling stuck in a rut. This lack of interest reflects in their sales performance. They fail to meet monthly targets. 

To reach targets, the sales team needs to put in the effort. However, not all the effort should come from them; even the team managers need to do their best. A little motivation from the managers can change the scenario and help drive better sales results. 

Motivation in sales can make all the difference 

If a car engine is not oiled regularly, it won’t be able to deliver the expected performance. The same applies to your sales team; they are like the engine that requires regular oiling (motivation) to perform exceptionally well. 

Motivating employees to work at their full potential is the main premise of successful management – Eraldo Banavoc

So, motivate and empower your sales team. Here is how you can do it 

1. Public display of appreciations 

Humans need appreciation to fuel their confidence and self-esteem. Sales reps feel good when their hard work is noticed and appreciated. It encourages them to work harder.

Don’t forget a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated – H. Jackson Brown 

Create a culture of recognition. Give compliments and appreciate even small wins. 

Praise an individual in front of the whole team for his/her outstanding performance. Do not just send an email or a message. You can have an appreciation day in a month for recognizing the person who has performed exceptionally well in the current month. 

Such appreciations work as a morale booster. Not only for the individual you praised but also for others in the team. Even others in the team would want such applause, and praises and so even they would put in more effort and work harder. 

2. Build transparency within your team

The single most important ingredient in the recipe for success is transparency because transparency builds trust. – Denise Morrison

Most of the time, teammates steal each other’s deals to reach their targets.

For instance, a sales rep approaches a prospect and invests time in nurturing the deal. However, after a few contacts when the specific person is busy with something important or not present, the other rep connects with the prospect and tries to close the deal. 

It is disheartening when you work hard on a deal, and someone else takes the credit. Such behavior not only creates conflict but also demotivates a sales rep. This happens when there is a lack of transparency. 

So, try to build a positive environment of transparency within your team. It is difficult to bring synergy within the team in closed work culture. 

All hands need to be on the same deck to steer the team in the right direction. Everybody in the team should know which companies are being approached. Which deals are handled by each member of the team. Break the wall within your team by bringing your sales reps on a single platform. Take the help of the best CRM software that provides a 360-degree view of each deal. With a centralized database, all the members of the team will have easy access to crucial information. 

3. Spot issues and encourage sales rep to overcome them

Consistent poor performance demotivates a sales rep. They feel stuck in the maze of failure and cannot find a way out. As the head of the team, you need to analyze each sales rep’s performance to spot the performance gaps. 

Show your sales reps where they are headed. Encourage them to overcome the hurdles that are obstructing their path to success. 

Challenge your sales reps. Set a deadline to overcome the issues. With the help of sales reports, track their performance. Reward the sales rep if they manage to overcome the issue and improve their performance. 

4. Ownership and accountability 

“It’s easier to stand on the sidelines, criticize, and say why you shouldn’t do something. The sidelines are crowded. Get in the game.” Robert Kiyosaki, Author of Rich Dad Poor Dad

When you set goals for the sales reps, they might feel it is unrealistic or unreachable. So give the flexibility to your sales team to set their own goals and create plans to reach them. 

When sales reps set their own goals, they are more likely to go after them. However, make sure you monitor their performance to see if they are meeting their own goals. If not, then have a one-to-one meeting and find out where they are facing problems. Clear their way so they can quickly reach their goals. 

5. Build good rapport with sales reps 

Blur the line between a boss and the employee. Some sales reps fear the manager. They aren’t able to communicate freely about the challenges they are facing while closing the deals. The pressure keeps building where they aren’t able to close the deals. 

So try to have a good rapport with your sales reps. Make them comfortable so that they can easily communicate with you and share their problems. Conduct fun activities or go out on a team lunch once in a while to cheer up your sales reps. 

Wrapping up

Sales motivation is very powerful. It is the best way to keep your sales team on the path of success. So keep motivating your sales reps to perform well. Keep appreciating their hard work. Try to maintain a healthy relationship with them. Provide the tools they require to improve their performance. 

A smart tool like Salesmate CRM can help your sales reps in tracking and improving their performances. They can easily manage their deals and evaluate their performance using this advanced CRM. It can even help you track your sales team progress to give them real-time feedback and encourage them to work on improvement areas.