When your compensation and incentive programs aren't getting the job done, it's time to look beyond the traditional motivational programs and get creative. There are a number of other ways to motivate salespeople and I'll discuss three of them here. I'd love to have you comment with your personal favorites.
1) Nothing is more motivational than when a salesperson closes a sale - not any sale - a first sale, their biggest sale, their most challenging sale, their fastest sale, their slump breaking sale, their "I beat the competition" sale, or even their contest winning sale. Immediately following that success, is when your salespeople are most likely to have another success. Their confidence is at an all time high, their courage is strong too, and as a result, they'll take the greatest risks within 24 hours of that success. By risks I mean that these are the times when they are most likely to do the things they have the greatest difficulty doing.
2) A surprising motivator is anger. Getting your salespeople just pissed off enough to ratchet it up as much as it takes to get the job done, but not so pissed off that they walk out on you. This method is a little more difficult than example number one, but in many cases, salespeople won't do the things they haven't been able to do until they get angry.
3) I have discussed fear as a motivator before. When your salespeople are afraid of losing their job, losing a residual commission, losing part of their territory, losing a client or losing your respect, they will often perform in a more inspired manner.
What have you tried to motivate your salespeople? Leave your comments below.
(c) Copyright 2008 Dave Kurlan