Every team has something different that makes them tick. Some get a rush out of finding new clients, while others think that building an existing base into bigger and bigger sales is the way to go. Some are internally motivated, while others need to be driven and want structure.
Understanding Your Sales Team
In order to maximize the success of your sales team, you need to be aware and understanding of each salespersons driving motivation and also their weaknesses.
Observation and Listening: The Cornerstones
To do so you must observe each person and listen to them when they speak. This will allow you to see when and where are they their best as well as their worst. While it may seem tedious to keep track of an entire team of salespeople like this, it will pay off and it will allow you to build closer and more trusting relationships with your salespeople.
Building Relationships Through Care
Caring for each person is even more rewarding than it may seem, as you may even be able to help your team in other aspects of their life through guidance in the workplace. All that is needed is a bit of observation and understanding.
A sales team is like a sports team in many regards, they have a common goal to win – or to make the most sales – but yet every player – or salesperson – also wants to be the best at what they do. As a manager, you are the coach who is responsible for ensuring that each person has the tools needed to do their best.
Motivation: The Coach’s Role
Be very careful of this leading to favouritism, but also be aware some individuals may need more or different motivation than others.
Knowing your salespeople can help you devise methods of motivating them all at once, thus minimizing the work for you without losing connection to the team. No matter most people’s personality types, healthy competition is an excellent motivation factor.
Finding Universal Motivators
Not competition so cut-throat that your salespeople are in fear of losing their jobs – although admittedly this can work quite effectively with very specific salespeople- but competition that is healthy in nature such that the overall goal is to get better sales, not bring down competing salespeople.
1. Establish a Shared Goal
To achieve this kind of competition in your sales team you will need to foster a culture of dedicated salespeople working independently but towards a shared goal.
The benefits of achieving healthy competition in your sales team will not only increase productivity and sales, but also help to prevent disputes and conflicts as team members are more driven to work together or at the very least to help each other out rather than bring each other down.
One way to foster this, is to create a team goal with individual rewards. For example, the sales team’s goal is to achieve x number of sales by the end of the month and if this amount is achieved by more or less equal distribution from each salesperson, then the whole team gets a reward.
2. Individual Rewards
To ensure that salespeople are still individually motivated, the manager can provide an additional reward for other, perhaps non-financial, accomplishments such as to the salesperson who found the most leads in the month. This can be customized per month to the needs of the business.
Creating a Culture of Healthy Competition
Through having a shared goal, the salespeople will not feel the need to push each other down creating an environment of healthier competition. A shared goal will also motivate those salespeople who are more skilled or who are putting in more effort to encourage those who are not.
Ensuring Everyone Feels Valued
To foster healthy competition, you will also need to ensure that even those who are not likely to win the most sales do feel as though they are accomplishing something and not just continually losing, which can be very demotivating.
This is where knowing your team can come in quite handy. If you understand what makes each person put in their maximal effort, then you can find ways to reward those specific things and help them contribute to the team’s overall goals.
Encouraging Fun and Productive Sales Competitions
To ensure that the competition you have in your team is healthy, consider meeting with individuals privately and hearing their opinions on the matter. It is important as a manager for your team to feel that you hear them and are willing to work to make the best conditions for them. This can also motivate salespeople, as people are more likely to put in more effort for someone, they know has their best interests in mind.
There are lots of ideas for fun yet instructive and productive sales competitions. This graphic below offers some helpful tips and places to start.
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