How do you motivate a sales team? If you're looking for effective and inexpensive ways to get the most production out of your sales team, then you'll love these five proven steps.
By Mike Brooks
Copyright (c) 2010 Mr. Inside Sales
Motivation seems to be one of the toughest areas to get a handle on. Many managers tell me that some of their reps are already motivated and don’t need their help in that area (usually the Top 20%), but that the majority seem to need constant motivating, mentoring, counseling, or out right babysitting. Sound familiar?
When asked what to do, I tell them there is only so much they can do because true motivation comes from within—in other words, each member of their team is already motivated. There are, however, 5 things you can do to get the most out of your sales team and keep motivation and morale high. Here’s what they are --
#1) Make your monthly revenue goal, and each reps part of that goal, crystal clear. I’m sure you have a monthly revenue goal, but does each member of your sales team know what their specific part of that goal is? (Hint—it’s not all equal). Recognize that some reps will produce much more of the overall goal than others, but also make sure each one is clear on what their part of that overall goal is.
#2) Individualize the bonuses or prizes. The problem with most bonus programs is that as soon as they are released, over one-half of the sales team knows they can’t win so they are more discouraged than encouraged to produce. Customize each reps bonus based on their individual production goal. This ensures every body has a chance to win and thus will be motivated.
#3) Get out of your office and close some deals. Most managers are way too busy in meetings, or reporting, or just plain hiding out to be really effective. Remember one thing—as the manager, you are the leader. And leaders lead by example. Want to motivate your team, make your numbers, and create real value for yourself?
Go onto the floor and close business for some of your sales reps and help them make their revenue goals. This is the most important thing you can do not only for your bottom line, but for your team's motivation as well.
#4) Invest $100 in a couple of trophies. The best money you’ll ever spend—make one a “Weekly most improved” or “Best effort” and hand it out each Monday morning. Each winner gets to keep it on their desk that week. The other trophy can be either “Most deals,” or “Most new clients” or whatever other category everyone has a chance to win (as long as it is revenue related).
Again, hand it out in your Monday morning sales meeting, and each week the winner gets to keep it on their desk. Rule #1 in motivating: recognition among peers is almost always more important than money.
#5) Have some fun! Go to a toy store and buy one of those beanbag tosses, and after lunch on Friday make some teams and have some fun playing as a team. Tack on $50 for good measure and watch the competition and fun build your team and dissolve stress. This works ? try it!
So there you have it. Inexpensive, proven techniques to build morale, motivate and make more money.
Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, helps sales reps close more business over the phone. Learn how to sell more today by downloading the Special Report, "Ten Techniques to Instantly Become a Better Closer".
Showing posts with label goal setting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goal setting. Show all posts
Monday, June 14, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Embrace Personal Accountability Or Choose Failure
Recently Dan Stamp the CEO of Priority Management Systems sent out an article titled," Ten Most Common Causes of Failure. " Number one on the list was, blaming other people for problems rather than accepting personal accountability.
By Ted Gulas
Twenty years in the professional development business can confirm that this blame game is indeed the road to failure. Here is a list of a few of the areas that lack of personal accountability, “blame game” creates failure in the workplace: sales development, time management, communication, emotional intelligence, project management, team work, goal setting, personnel recruiting, and change management.
Let’s explore three related areas where the” blame game” creates havoc for growing revenues. These areas are sales development, goal setting and time management. A typical sales person needs to grow revenues by maintaining existing accounts and adding new accounts to their portfolio. As a New Year begins some sales people realize just how time consuming it is just to maintain their existing accounts. They begin to rationalize that they can get no assistance from the corporation in the way of resources. This perceived lack of resources creates a feeling there is no need or no real sense of urgency to set meaningful goals for the New Year. In addition the last time they set some meaningful goals they did not happen, so why set themselves up for the guilt and failure.
The thinking is why should I break my back to prospect, I can just get the increases in sales from existing accounts so there is no need to face rejection and ask for new business. In fact if the company would provide me some training on prospecting and closing plus the staff to delegate too I could spend more time prospecting. The conclusion then is because they will not help me I now can blame them on my lack of success in opening new accounts in the New Year. This typical salesperson has just embraced complacency and failure for the next year.
Here are some reasons why complacency set in. Number one the sales person did not challenge their comfort zone by creating a dream to motivate them in a way to overcome any barriers to sales production. From that dream create a goals setting event with a action items, dates ,rewards and deadlines. Despite the lack of resources this sales person could use creativity and innovation to discover ways to leverage the existing staff with delegation and collaboration skills.
Pointing fingers and blaming the company will not lead to any new development skills in and around prospecting, delegation and time management. What if this sales person invested in themselves? For instance most banks now pays 1 to 2% return on your money. If the sales person would take some of their own savings savings and invested it in themselves to learn how time management could provide an additional hour a day of productive time. During that additional twenty hours a month the sales person could prospect for new business and set a goal to open ten new accounts per month for a total of 120 new accounts annually. Assuming the sales person receives a 20% commission an average sale of $5000 per account that is total revenue of $50,000 times twelve months for total revenue of $600,000 times 20% or $120,000 on this initial investment. By sulking and blaming the company for not providing the resources and not investing in you this sales person lost $120,000 Most of us would classify that as choosing failure.
What could you do in this New Year that is fast approaching to invest in yourself?
Want more information on classes that can make you more creative and innovative Working Smart with Microsoft Outlook Working Smart with Lotus Notes
By Ted Gulas
Twenty years in the professional development business can confirm that this blame game is indeed the road to failure. Here is a list of a few of the areas that lack of personal accountability, “blame game” creates failure in the workplace: sales development, time management, communication, emotional intelligence, project management, team work, goal setting, personnel recruiting, and change management.
Let’s explore three related areas where the” blame game” creates havoc for growing revenues. These areas are sales development, goal setting and time management. A typical sales person needs to grow revenues by maintaining existing accounts and adding new accounts to their portfolio. As a New Year begins some sales people realize just how time consuming it is just to maintain their existing accounts. They begin to rationalize that they can get no assistance from the corporation in the way of resources. This perceived lack of resources creates a feeling there is no need or no real sense of urgency to set meaningful goals for the New Year. In addition the last time they set some meaningful goals they did not happen, so why set themselves up for the guilt and failure.
The thinking is why should I break my back to prospect, I can just get the increases in sales from existing accounts so there is no need to face rejection and ask for new business. In fact if the company would provide me some training on prospecting and closing plus the staff to delegate too I could spend more time prospecting. The conclusion then is because they will not help me I now can blame them on my lack of success in opening new accounts in the New Year. This typical salesperson has just embraced complacency and failure for the next year.
Here are some reasons why complacency set in. Number one the sales person did not challenge their comfort zone by creating a dream to motivate them in a way to overcome any barriers to sales production. From that dream create a goals setting event with a action items, dates ,rewards and deadlines. Despite the lack of resources this sales person could use creativity and innovation to discover ways to leverage the existing staff with delegation and collaboration skills.
Pointing fingers and blaming the company will not lead to any new development skills in and around prospecting, delegation and time management. What if this sales person invested in themselves? For instance most banks now pays 1 to 2% return on your money. If the sales person would take some of their own savings savings and invested it in themselves to learn how time management could provide an additional hour a day of productive time. During that additional twenty hours a month the sales person could prospect for new business and set a goal to open ten new accounts per month for a total of 120 new accounts annually. Assuming the sales person receives a 20% commission an average sale of $5000 per account that is total revenue of $50,000 times twelve months for total revenue of $600,000 times 20% or $120,000 on this initial investment. By sulking and blaming the company for not providing the resources and not investing in you this sales person lost $120,000 Most of us would classify that as choosing failure.
What could you do in this New Year that is fast approaching to invest in yourself?
Want more information on classes that can make you more creative and innovative Working Smart with Microsoft Outlook Working Smart with Lotus Notes
Monday, April 5, 2010
Declaring What You Don't Want Causes Self Sabotage
Are you putting more energy into declaring what you DON'T WANT than you are into declaring what you DO WANT? When you make a declaration of any kind, you are giving it your full attention and putting yourself into alignment with creating even more of it. For example, if say that you really DON'T WANT to have money problems, then "money problems" is what your mind is focused on and, as the popular saying goes, "What you focus on will E X P A N D."
By Troyann Williams
What happens when you put more focus on what you DON’T WANT than what you actually DO WANT?
When you make a declaration, you put yourself into alignment with that declaration and you create even more of it. For example, if say that you really DON’T WANT to have money problems, then “money problems” is what your mind is focused on and, as the popular saying goes, “What you focus on will E X P A N D.”
So it stands to reason that any declaration you make regarding what you DON’T WANT, i.e., unhealthy relationships, to be overweight, stress and anxiety, etc., is telling your mind to pay strict attention to and E X P A N D upon what you actually DON’T WANT. Making a declaration about what you DON’T WANT only serves to create a ripe opportunity for you to sabotage your efforts to have what you actually DO WANT.
Perhaps you are thinking to yourself, “Well, I say I don’t want money problems, but my mind knows the difference. It knows what I mean.” Perhaps somewhere inside yourself you know that when you say you “don’t want money problems” it actually means that you DO want financial prosperity, however, by making your declaration focused on the negative, you have given your emotional power over to the very thing you say you DON’T WANT; i.e., “money problems.”
Whenever I begin working with a new client, I always start by asking them to give me a full description of what they WANT. More often than not, they will give me a very lengthy list of all the things they DON’T WANT. When I point out to them that they only told me about what they DON’T WANT, they have a great deal of trouble telling me about what they actually DO WANT.
So consider this scenario; pretend for a moment that you are out in the country and you happen to be in a barn. The barn catches on fire and out of a sense of fear and self preservation you begin running AWAY from the burning barn. As you run away from the danger and threat of the burning barn you continue to turn back and look at what you are running away from. As you are running forward and continuing to look backward you trip on a rock and fall down, or perhaps you run right off a cliff, or you run into the street and get hit by a car. My point here is that looking back at what you are trying to get AWAY from will only cause you to feel the fear of what you are trying to get AWAY from; i.e., the danger of the burning barn. As you give all of your attention and focus to the burning barn you might assume that you are moving toward safety, when in reality you are doing nothing more than running away from the burning barn. If you are lucky you may make your way to the safety you desire, however, was it the specific place of safety you really wanted for yourself.
In order to E X P A N D the good stuff into your life you must get VERY CLEAR about what you DO WANT and work to stay focused on moving TOWARD that which you DO WANT.
Recently, one of my clients emailed me to tell me that, as a result of getting very clear on how much money he wanted to make on an annual basis, he almost immediately began to see signs of moving forward, TOWARD the money he wants to attract. Most significantly, the week after clarifying and declaring his money goals a friend called him - completely out of the blue - and asked if he would come to work for him - and get this - at the exact salary that my client wrote down the week before. Now, it doesn’t usually work quite that specifically, however, I will tell you that you will ALWAYS get MORE of what you DO WANT if you are very CLEAR about what you DO WANT and you FOCUS on getting more of what you DO WANT.
What are you currently declaring for yourself? Are you making declarations about what you “DON’T WANT”? Money problems, health problems, relationship problems, job problems?
It is vital that you clarify what you DO WANT. Do you want to create financial prosperity, an abundance of phyical energy and well-being, happy and loving relationships, or perhaps a way of feeling like your life has meaning and purpose? What you actually WANT will not come into your life until you begin to purposely move toward it.
Problems are what you get when you take your eyes off the goal. So get clear on your goal and stay focused on it until it E X P A N D S and fills up your life!
I hope you find joy and happiness on your journey! Troyann
Troyann Williams is a highly renowned SuccessEsteem Coach. Troyann has devoted her life to developing products and services that help people shift their self-sabotage behaviors into SuccessEsteem for reaching greater levels of happiness and prosperity. For a FREE GUIDE: Recognizing the 5 Most Significant Ways You May Be Sabotaging Your Own Efforts to Be Successful, go to ==> http://selfsabotagebehavior.com/freegiftoffer01.htm
By Troyann Williams
What happens when you put more focus on what you DON’T WANT than what you actually DO WANT?
When you make a declaration, you put yourself into alignment with that declaration and you create even more of it. For example, if say that you really DON’T WANT to have money problems, then “money problems” is what your mind is focused on and, as the popular saying goes, “What you focus on will E X P A N D.”
So it stands to reason that any declaration you make regarding what you DON’T WANT, i.e., unhealthy relationships, to be overweight, stress and anxiety, etc., is telling your mind to pay strict attention to and E X P A N D upon what you actually DON’T WANT. Making a declaration about what you DON’T WANT only serves to create a ripe opportunity for you to sabotage your efforts to have what you actually DO WANT.
Perhaps you are thinking to yourself, “Well, I say I don’t want money problems, but my mind knows the difference. It knows what I mean.” Perhaps somewhere inside yourself you know that when you say you “don’t want money problems” it actually means that you DO want financial prosperity, however, by making your declaration focused on the negative, you have given your emotional power over to the very thing you say you DON’T WANT; i.e., “money problems.”
Whenever I begin working with a new client, I always start by asking them to give me a full description of what they WANT. More often than not, they will give me a very lengthy list of all the things they DON’T WANT. When I point out to them that they only told me about what they DON’T WANT, they have a great deal of trouble telling me about what they actually DO WANT.
So consider this scenario; pretend for a moment that you are out in the country and you happen to be in a barn. The barn catches on fire and out of a sense of fear and self preservation you begin running AWAY from the burning barn. As you run away from the danger and threat of the burning barn you continue to turn back and look at what you are running away from. As you are running forward and continuing to look backward you trip on a rock and fall down, or perhaps you run right off a cliff, or you run into the street and get hit by a car. My point here is that looking back at what you are trying to get AWAY from will only cause you to feel the fear of what you are trying to get AWAY from; i.e., the danger of the burning barn. As you give all of your attention and focus to the burning barn you might assume that you are moving toward safety, when in reality you are doing nothing more than running away from the burning barn. If you are lucky you may make your way to the safety you desire, however, was it the specific place of safety you really wanted for yourself.
In order to E X P A N D the good stuff into your life you must get VERY CLEAR about what you DO WANT and work to stay focused on moving TOWARD that which you DO WANT.
Recently, one of my clients emailed me to tell me that, as a result of getting very clear on how much money he wanted to make on an annual basis, he almost immediately began to see signs of moving forward, TOWARD the money he wants to attract. Most significantly, the week after clarifying and declaring his money goals a friend called him - completely out of the blue - and asked if he would come to work for him - and get this - at the exact salary that my client wrote down the week before. Now, it doesn’t usually work quite that specifically, however, I will tell you that you will ALWAYS get MORE of what you DO WANT if you are very CLEAR about what you DO WANT and you FOCUS on getting more of what you DO WANT.
What are you currently declaring for yourself? Are you making declarations about what you “DON’T WANT”? Money problems, health problems, relationship problems, job problems?
It is vital that you clarify what you DO WANT. Do you want to create financial prosperity, an abundance of phyical energy and well-being, happy and loving relationships, or perhaps a way of feeling like your life has meaning and purpose? What you actually WANT will not come into your life until you begin to purposely move toward it.
Problems are what you get when you take your eyes off the goal. So get clear on your goal and stay focused on it until it E X P A N D S and fills up your life!
I hope you find joy and happiness on your journey! Troyann
Troyann Williams is a highly renowned SuccessEsteem Coach. Troyann has devoted her life to developing products and services that help people shift their self-sabotage behaviors into SuccessEsteem for reaching greater levels of happiness and prosperity. For a FREE GUIDE: Recognizing the 5 Most Significant Ways You May Be Sabotaging Your Own Efforts to Be Successful, go to ==> http://selfsabotagebehavior.com/freegiftoffer01.htm
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