It takes incredible grit to be a top performing salesperson.
Every day, salespeople have to deal with vast amounts of rejection from leads and enquiries, no matter how warm they are or how far through the funnel, rejection is part of the job.
Yet as a salesperson, you must stay positive and push on.
One of the unspoken parts of sales, especially in B2C, is that even when a win, you're onto the next deal without too much celebration. Most salespeople have little time to sit back and enjoy the moment.
Sales is a tough job.
It's an even more formidable job for sales managers who must keep their team happy and moving forward.
This article is designed to add some ammunition to your sales motivation strategies and processes. While it is more focused on B2B companies, these same principles can also be used in B2C companies to boost sales.
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Let's dive in.
1) Enjoy The Process Over The Results
This strategy is a great way to remove sales pressure for sales reps.
For us here at Vouch, sales is like tennis. If you play against the scoreboard, you'll likely lose and despise every minute of it.
However, if you play each ball as it comes over the net and enjoy every moment of it, the scoreboard will go in your favour more often. Like tennis, you will always have hot streaks and lulls - the trick is to stay focused on the process.
Just hit the ball, and enjoy it.
Sure, it's a basic plan, yet enjoying the sales process can be a great sales motivator. A salesperson can influence a sale but can never really control the results and all of the client-side influencers.
You can, however, control the process. A mind shift that can help your salespeople reach new targets without feeling stressed.
Sales Motivator Tip:
Encourage your team to pitch their own processes, and work on ways to ensure your salespeople feel like they have control over the steps to success.
2) Show Genuine Appreciation, Even When Sales Are Down
Great salespeople may think differently from other employees, being driven by revenue. However, job satisfaction is directly tied to feeling appreciated by the wider team and company.
There is an underlying motivation in genuinely thanking your salespeople when they close deals, and, when they don't.
Genuine appreciation is just being a great human and a well-known strategy with many articles about showing appreciation to your sales team. For further reading, we love these articles on sales motivation through appreciation from Fortune and Business Insider.
Appreciation is crucial for generating happiness, employee loyalty, inspiration, and, of course, generating sales.
Even if sales are down, if you believe your salespeople have gone above and beyond, thank them. It's the best sales motivator for most companies and even more effective than reward structures.
Sales Motivator Tips:
- Genuinely celebrate the big and small wins.
- Let employees know you trust them through actions, not just words.
- Keep your door open and leading by example is key to building a totally transparent workplace.
- Say "Thank You" when you mean it, but never fake it.
- Think about a monthly “effort appreciation day” for a standout employee effort. Show them that you know how hard they work.
3) ABE: Always Be Educating
At Vouch, we believe sales education and knowledge sharing are everything.
We enable internal sales training easier through video, and little beats setting aside 1-2 hours a fortnight to train (and therefor motivate) your wider sales team.
Sharing knowledge internally can have exponential results, improve sales velocity and be a great sales motivator - especially in a competitive environment, or in a complex industry like tech where the needle is always moving.
Sales leaders need to ABE, Always Be Educating.
Sales Motivator Tip:
Sharing knowledge has traditionally been done through sharing PDFs, documents, emails, charts, etc. Today, sharing knowledge is much easier with tools like Vouch, where you can provide personalized education through video.
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4) Remove The Outside Noise
This sales motivator strategy works in two ways. First, make sure your salespeople have room to think and work in quiet - be it quiet zones for emailing or call booths; set up spaces your team feels comfortable in and where they can have productive experiences.
If your salespeople are on the road, help them find quiet spaces to do this kind of work, be it a cafe or subscribing to a shared workspace company.
The second part of this - which can be a bit controversial - is removing the company noise.
While salespeople need to understand every inch of your products or services, they can avoid getting caught up in politics or outside noise that many companies have, like attending too many internal meetings for example.
As the sales leader, try to take the grunt of the company noise for your team and leave their headspace free to work on closing deals.
Sales performance really is tied to having a clear mind with clear daily tasks and processes - and as soon as you throw in an outside influence, the entire day can quickly get off track.
Sales Motivator Tip:
Give your team the peace they need to focus on the job at hand. This could be quiet spaces or taking the grunt of the company communications.
5) Provide Health(ier) Option
Healthier employees are usually happier employees.
Companies like Salesforce in San Francisco understand the benefits of providing health benefits and programs. Salesforce gives a $100 p/m reimbursement for yoga classes, nutritional help, massages and more.
Your company might need more money for this level of health benefits; however, even small health initiatives can be a sales motivator.
At Vouch, we aim for regular team gym sessions and have regular team lunches that are on the healthier side.
Keeping energy and spirits high is the goal; the more you move, the more you move forward.
Sales Motivator Tip:
Small initiatives regarding your sales team's health can go a long way. Instead of pizza, order sushi or Thai food. Instead of having coffee at work - go for a short walk to a cafe.
6) Reduce The Boss To Employee Divide
Every organization needs structure. However, we are all adults at work.
One way to remove boundaries is by empowering your team. When a new project comes up, appoint a new team leader responsible for the process and outcome. Help guide that salesperson so they feel empowered.
The knock-on effect of your sales team feeling empowered is that they will likely have a new approach with clients with more confidence and authority as they feel like they are genuinely part of your company.
As a sales leader, you will also get more time back. That can be a major win in itself.
Sales Motivator Tip:
What upcoming projects or responsibilities could you delegate? This process also moves work off your plate and puts you in the mentor seat - the ideal place to be when we are talking about high-performing sales teams.
Ready To Become A Better Sales Motivator?
A sales organization can be complex, and by removing this complexity and empowering your salespeople, they will be more motivated to focus on deals, growing your team and going the extra mile.
It all comes down to giving your salespeople the feeling of ongoing job satisfaction, appreciation and accomplishment - even when sales are down.
Incentive plans are great, but nothing beats the feeling of being important. Salespeople are important. They keep your company going and growing - bringing in new customers and business each day while facing rejection and staying motivated. It's a tough job!
Salespeople (like engineers or other skilled areas) can also have their own micro company culture - and it's best not to hinder that. Instead, protect your salespeople from the wider company and make sure all of your salespeople feel comfortable spending time together at work and outside of work.
You will likely always have stand-out salespeople, so getting them to pass their energy and knowledge to your wider sales team is key. When the sea rises, all ships rise!
We hope these 6 strategies help lay your team's path to success.
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