There! I said it. Owners of Companies, Presidents, VPs of Sales & Sales Managers ... HEAR THIS... You can’t Motivate Anyone! C A N ' T. Stop trying to motivate your sales people – doesn't work. It's no use. Salespeople have to want it for themselves. You can’t give it to them, no matter how hard you try. Do you ever get the feeling you want success for your salespeople more than they want it for themselves? That’s because from time to time YOU DO! It happens more often than you think. If your salespeople don’t have the fire in the belly & the passion in their heart to want to succeed it is game over.
You can't motivate your sales people.
Motivation only works for a short period of time (if it worked any longer do you think the Lions would have had at least one winning season in the last 12 years?) What you should do is:
1. Find salespeople with a desire to be the best – and a commitment to do whatever it takes to be the best. They’re out there. They’re competing with you every day of the week – & they’re the ones winning the business.
2. Understand your salespeople’s goals. Get to know them & learn what motivates them - individually. You could be totally dropping the ball when it comes to managing these people. Motivation is their driver (recognition is a big one).
Sales management is a tough job. You’ve got the top coming down on you & salespeople coming up at you! Give yourself a chance. Hire the right people & once you do you’d better continue to understand what motivates them. A lot of sales people are motivated by moving toward cool things (money, recognition, awards, etc.) others by moving away from crappy things (punishment, penalization, fines, etc).
One thing is certain: If you are what motivates them & you have to do it constantly then you have the wrong sales person.
Get in the Game. Get to know your very valuable assets.
