Individual Performance Motivation
A Sales Manager's career and income potential is inescapably intertwined with his/her ability to recruit, develop, and retain a top producing sales team.
Because there is no substitute for real sales talent, experience and skill, whether you find or develop it, a critical success factor of your Sales Leadership is in making sure you keep your talented people.
Why is it there are some Sales Managers who are able to consistently recruit and keep quality sales people, while others seem to have a revolving door? Excessive sales people turnover is not only unhealthy for the morale of your sales team, it is can also prove costly in terms of resources and eroding customer confidence and loyalty. Therefore, Sales Managers are placing an ever-growing premium on hiring and keeping a highly motivated and effective sales team.
So, what is it? Is it money? Are you paying your top producers enough? A selling career can be extremely lucrative for the sales professional who is able and willing to work hard and effectively develop their business. However, numerous employee satisfaction surveys over the years have all pointed to the fact that whilst compensation is important, it is just one piece in the career satisfaction puzzle. Your sales people will make their decision to stay or leave your organisation for an array of both professional and personal reasons.
Recognising the limitations of simply throwing money at the problem of finding and retaining good people, effective Sales Managers focus their attention on factors such as:
Leadership - Job exit surveys consistently suggest that job satisfaction is directly linked to the quality of the relationship sales people have with their Sales Manager. The best Sales Managers treat their sales people more as business partners than employees. These progressive Sales leaders choose to inspire and empower rather than direct and control their sales team. They lead by example, praise achievement, and strive to maintain open communications whilst building a relationship of respect and trust with their team.
Sales Performance Coaching - This is proven to deliver the fastest and most effective sales production tool in the arsenal of Sales Managers, driving their sales team’s production consistently upward. Effective coaching works with Sales Executives to develop their proficiency in selling capacities and planning and increase their individual sales productivity. Sales Performance Coaching creates awareness, purpose, competence and well being amongst participants. Top Sales Producers use one 2 one coaching as means of helping them achieve their own personal and sales goals and strategise their up-coming sales approaches.
Recruitment - The retention of quality sales people is not accidental and begins up front with the recruiting and selection process. Effective Sales Managers constantly review the type of sales people they employ and the process they use to find them, using assessment tools to assist with selecting the best candidate. Top Sales Managers invest the time to pre-determine the specific talents and skills required to be part of their sales team.
Training - Training is critically important for both the new and seasoned Sales Professional alike and is a key ingredient for staff retention. Experienced Sales Managers place a high premium on both product and selling skills training, and purposefully design their programs to be timely, relevant, and ongoing.
Professional growth opportunities – To keep their key sales performers, progressive companies proactively support the leadership development of their top sales people, offering them a clear career path. Sales people need to be growing both personally and professionally, and should be therefore be encouraged by providing them with a wide range of opportunities including ongoing training, coaching and personal development. This effort and stimulation often provides top producers and “solid citizens” with a strong incentive to stay with a company.
Recognition and Rewards – Logically, you may recognise that if money by itself were a sufficient motivation, your sales people would simply sell more without additional enticement. There are still many Sales Managers who mistakenly think that money is the prime motivator for driving their sales team. However, according to numerous surveys completed by a number of different companies over the years, money is consistently ranked fifth or lower by most employees. So, if money is not the best way to motivate your team, what is?
The 4 most important issues according to employee research are:
- Trust and respect,
- A sense of accomplishment,
- Ongoing support, and
- Recognition, both privately and publicly.
Yes, money is important but it is not as critical as these other components. Compensation structures based solely on commission don’t address these separate motivational factors and therefore, commission alone will not adequately motivate nor keep a sales team. To be effective, a sales incentive program should not only appeal to top producers, but it must also excite and engage your average to below average sales people as well.
Regular Sales Performance Coaching is one of the most critical tools in the Sales Manager’s arsenal for not just increasing individual sales productivity, but for giving regular feedback and engaging sales people at all performance levels within the team.
Contact us for more information
© Ian Segail