As a sales manager or director, to boost your sale you always have to be thinking about how to keep your sales team motivated. There are so many things that can affect motivation levels – from personal problems at home to disagreements within the team.

While motivating them as a team lead can sometimes seem like a daunting task, somehow, it’s your job to make sure that your sales team is always working at its best, and that means keeping them encouraged to get better sales results.

The key to having a highly driven sales team is to understand what inspires each person on your team. Some people are driven by money, while others might be more motivated by recognition or a sense of accomplishment.

Still, others might just need a little extra push to stay focused and on track. No matter what drives your team members, though, there are some proven strategies that can keep your entire team motivated.

6 Strategies to Motivate Your Sales Team

1. Make your team feel valued.

There are so many people out there in companies that exhale all of the stress or pressure on the team members. That can even make them leave the company.

The environment should be acceptable for working and should feel like home. To make your team members feel valued, give them a voice – ask for their opinions on the company’s minor decisions, and listen to what they have to say. Make sure they know that their input is appreciated and that their work is valuable to the company.

2. Connect them to their future career.

Many times, people lose motivation because they can’t see how their current work will help them in their careers. As a sales manager, you can help your team members see the connection between their current work and their future goals.

Help them understand how the skills they’re developing now will benefit them later on and encourage them to keep learning and growing. When they can see the connection between present roles and responsibilities and their aspirations, they’ll be more motivated to put in the effort now.

3. Fewer meetings, more breaks.

It’s important to have regular team meetings to check in on everyone’s progress and see how everyone is doing. However, too many meetings can actually kill motivation.

If your team is constantly meeting after meeting, they’ll start to feel like their time is being wasted. So, instead of scheduling a lot of small gatherings, try to have fewer, longer meetings. And make sure to build in some time for breaks – too much work can lead to burnout, which will kill their enthusiasm.

4. Plan on Incentives.

This is one of the most important elements of maintaining your team’s motivation. If your team members are driven by the prospect of earning more, then make sure to offer incentives for good work. Bonuses, commissions, and other financial rewards can go a long way in keeping your sales team enthusiastic.

Just make sure that the incentives are realistic and attainable – if they’re too high, people will get discouraged, and if they’re too low, people won’t bother trying.

5. Give them a sense of ownership.

Many people are motivated by a sense of ownership and responsibility. If you can give your team members a sense of ownership over their work, they’ll be more likely to care about the quality of their work and try to do their best. Since, at the end of the day, they’ll be the ones responsible for the results.

6. Correct them in private, and praise them in public.

Correcting them in private will let them know that you’re paying attention to their work and that you expect them to do their best. However, giving them feedback in public, on the other hand, will only embarrass them and make them feel like they’re not doing a good enough job.

Praising them among your peers will make them feel appreciated and motivated to keep up the performance. Also, they’ll always want to maintain that rhythm so they can feel appreciated again.

Conclusion

So, having all the responsibilities of a sales manager or director can be tough. And it requires a lot of skills, patience, and the ability to motivate your sales team.

But if you use these strategies while making sure your team feels valued or connecting them to their career, having fewer meetings but more breaks, planning on incentives, giving them a sense of ownership or correcting them in private, and praising them in public, you will be on your way to a more motivated team that can close more sales.

 

If you’re looking for professional sales team management help, you’ve come to the right place. The TodNovak Group — run by Tod Novak, a veteran sales training consultant — is a sales training and development company that specializes in helping businesses and managers take their sales game to the next level.

Successful sales team management requires a lot of hard work and dedication. However, with the above tips, you can set your team up for success. Implement these tips and you’ll be well on your way to achieving your goals.