The Real Secret to Motivating Sales Professionals

How do I motivate my salespeople to sell more? If I had a dime for every time I’ve been asked that question I’d probably be on one of Forbes richest people lists. There is a secret to motivating salespeople that really works but it’s probably not what you think.

Eric, a Sales Manager from Kentucky, wrote us with this question:

I wear many hats in my company and one of the hats is Sales Manager. The salespeople I manage don’t seem to be very motivated by money.  I have tried everything, from incentives to daily encouragement, to light a fire under them but cannot get them to go out and sell. They are making good salaries and I have told my boss that we need to reduce their base salaries to make them hungry enough to sell more.  But he is afraid of cutting into their base too much because they might leave. I cannot find the formula to get the best out of them. Any suggestions?

Eric, you’ve run head first into the single biggest challenge Sales Managers face: How to motivate their salespeople to sell more. This problem is so big that entire industries are dedicated to solving it. There are companies who develop incentive programs designed to motivate salespeople. There are organizations that help companies develop compensation plans designed to motivated salespeople. There are people like me who get paid to speak to sales teams to motivate salespeople.

However, even though many of these smart people and companies claim to have the ultimate formula, it turns out, as you have discovered, that motivating salespeople is a complicated process. For starters, not all salespeople are the same. They each have different sets of wants and needs that don’t always coincide with the incentive plans or goals put in place by the company. This is actually the root of the problem. Sales organizations have the tendency to create generalized compensation and incentive programs designed to elicit certain behaviors. But because of the size and scope of these programs there is simply no way that they can effectively motivate everyone.

This is where sales managers fit into the picture. It is the sales manager’s job to take the larger incentive and compensation programs and use them as motivational tools. However, to do this effectively you must first understand the basics of motivating salespeople and get to know each salesperson individually.

There are thousands of scientific studies on human motivation. You’ve likely reviewed some of these motivation theories in school. Since this is a five minute podcast I’ll just cut to the chase. People are motivated to take action for basic two reasons: the desire to avoid pain or the desire to gain pleasure. Behaviors that are negatively reinforced through pain will tend to decrease in frequency and behaviors that are positively reinforced with rewards or pleasure tend to increase in frequency. Both negative and positive consequences work to change behavior but positive reinforcement is far more powerful over the long-term.

Now what I’m about to reveal next is vitally important to motivating salespeople so pay close attention. The two most powerful positive reinforcements for Sales Professionals are achievement and the recognition of that achievement. I’ll say it again the two most powerful positive reinforcements for Sales Professionals are achievement and the recognition of that achievement.

What this means in the real world is if you want to really motivate your salespeople to sell more you have to work with them to set meaningful targets and goals, big and small, personal and business, and then help them achieve those targets. Then, as they achieve those targets recognize that achievement in the way that is most motivating to each individual salesperson. For some salespeople recognition is best delivered as a pat on the back, praise in front of peers, or in the form of formal trophies or awards. For others spiffs, commissions, trips and other monetary compensation is the best recognition. For most though it will be a combination of things. Regardless of the corporate incentive programs your job as a sales manager is to find ways within the current system to recognize your salespeople in the way that is most meaningful and motivating to them.

All of this begins with achievement.

Without achievement there is no positive behavior to reinforce with recognition. The secret to achievement is goals. Not your goals or the company’s goals but the salesperson’s goals. Now you may be thinking, “Well what about quotas and activity targets, salespeople don’t get to set those targets!” You are right salespeople don’t get to set quotas. However, they do get to set their own individual goals for what they want to achieve personally and professionally. As the sales manager it is your job to help them define these goals and then tie sales numbers back to those goals. So then instead of having a target to sell a million dollars in new business which is your goal, the salesperson has a goal to install a new swimming pool or go on a vacation which is their goal.

Once you have helped each salesperson on your team develop and set their own personal goals, you will know exactly what motivates them. Now all you need to do is keep them focused on those goals through your daily interaction and coaching. Then recognize each level of achievement that gets them closer to those goals – no matter how small.

Each time there is achievement and you recognize that achievement it positively reinforces the behavior you want – sell more. Soon you will have the respect of a high-performing team of Sales Professionals who are growing personally and professionally because you had the discipline to find out what they wanted, helped them achieve it, and recognized that achievement.

This is Jeb Blount, the Sales Guy. If you have a sales question please send it to salesguy@quickanddirtytips.com.

You’ll find more details on how this process works in chapter one of my books: Power Principles.