It can be difficult to stay motivated in sales. After all, no matter how hard you work as a salesperson, there will be many instances in which you don’t succeed in making a sale. These kinds of letdowns can hurt motivation over time. Therefore, it’s important for managers of sales teams to find ways to consistently motivate their team and help them get through the challenging times when efforts aren’t paying off. Here are a few ways for how to motivate a sales team.
Ask Salespeople on Your Team What Management Style They Would Prefer
The last thing a salesperson wants when they aren’t doing well is to feel like their manager is pestering them to report on their lack of progress. Some salespeople like frequent meetings to discuss how things are going and seek out advice and encouragement.
Other salespeople would rather meet less frequently so that they can take the opportunity to feel encouraged by the successes that they’ve made in a month or several months and skim over the failures. To motivate your team best, ask them how often they’d like to meet and whether they would rather initiate meetings or have you remind them.
You can also ask your salespeople how they would prefer to get your feedback. Some people prefer face-to-face meetings to discuss feedback with you in real-time. Others would rather get the feedback over an email so they can react without feeling like you are reacting to their reaction.
Some people love to be praised in front of the group, while others find the experience cringe-worthy. Find out exactly what your sales team wants regarding communication from you.
Know What Motivates Your Team
It’s pretty hard to motivate someone unless you know what they find motivating. Talk to your team about what keeps them going so that you can keep these parameters in mind when praising them and giving them feedback.
Ask each team member about their motivations in the long and short term. Find out what they do to motivate themselves so you will have a better chance of motivating them. You can also ask them directly what they want you to do to motivate them more.
Encourage Your Team to Take Care of Themselves
Too often, managers get caught up in motivating their salespeople to do their jobs better without necessarily thinking about what else may be going on in their lives that could affect their performance at work.
Motivate the whole person, not just the salesperson. Ask about their life. Are they getting enough to eat and sleep throughout the day? Are they making time for exercise and relaxation? If they aren’t, encourage them to take care of that need immediately during the workday. Taking the time to take care of themselves throughout the workday may amaze you with how much better your sales team performs.
Motivate Your Team Better
Keeping a sales team motivated can be a challenge. Sales are often not intrinsically motivating, especially when the rejections pile up. However, by learning what works best regarding management for your team members, understanding what motivates them, and ensuring they’re taking care of themselves, you can do a lot to keep them focused and engaged, even during difficult times.
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