|
If
you ask any salesperson if they are motivated, they'll usually
reply "of course I am!" However, if you follow it up with the
question "How often?" you might get a few uncomfortable looks!
Motivation is another important aspect of selling and can
dramatically affect the behaviour of an individual salesperson
at any given moment. Most salespeople and companies say that
motivation is important, yet fail to do much about it. It's an
important part of our sales workshops (especially our cold
calling workshop) and managers and salespeople often say that's
one of the most important things either that made them book the
workshop in the first place, or that they got from the workshop.
However, I'm often astounded when this isn't carried out in the
workplace by either the managers or the salespeople themselves!
Salespeople seem to think that motivation is something that is
just there or it isn't!
You'll notice by the way, that the attribute I've listed above
is not just "Motivation" but "Self Motivation". For me, the key
is in the first part of the word! Most average salespeople rely
on things outside of themselves to motivate them - their manager
(and we know how dangerous that can be) a "lucky" sales call or
email, a sales competition, a sunny day, a stroke of luck with a
client etc. Now that probably sounds ridiculous while you're
reading this, but if you were to take a closer look at yourself
or members of your team right now, you'd see how often that is
the case!
My
belief is that motivation has to come from yourself, rather than
"hoping" that something else is going to do it for you. Sales
Mangers have asked themselves the question for years "How do I
motivate my sales team?" Let's look at one of the traditional
options, versus the salespeople motivating themselves.
Sales Competitions - often the "motivation" has to come from the
salesperson wanting the cash incentives, vouchers, holidays or
whatever the "incentive" is that the company is hoping will
motivate them to better performance. However, this often proves
not to have the desired effect, driving the Sales Manager crazy!
There
could be a number of issues at work here. For example, if the
salesperson doesn't believe that they can achieve the desired
level in order to earn the "incentive" or bonus then it could
actually demotivate the salesperson and have the opposite effect
to that desired in the first place! Similarly if the salesperson
feels as though the competition is going to be won by someone
else (as in the "single winner" incentives) then this might also
result in them "switching off".
In
addition, very often sales competitions and incentives are set
by management with no thought as to whether the "incentive" is
actually something which will inspire the team - very often in
the competition idea stalling before it even had a chance to get
going! Then the very subject of sales competitions quickly
becomes a standing joke within the sales team, reducing the
chances of any similar future incentives working.
Remember - the top salespeople take charge of their own
motivation and do whatever it takes to stay motivated, rather
than whinge to everyone within earshot what a bad day they're
having!
Andy's Top Tips for Self-Motivation:
Have a
Compelling Reason
Frighteningly, most salespeople don't know the reason why they
chose to be in sales! It shouldn't be just be "to earn more
money", but be a solid, emotionally compelling reason why you do
what you do.
There
are various resources for helping you to find your "compelling
reason" - a particularly good one is "Achieve Your Goals"
written by Andy Smith which you can find out more about at
http://tinyurl.com/r9rjw
Remind
Yourself Of Your Compelling Reason!
Sales
is full of knock-backs isn't it? There are times when it is
easy and times when it is tough. One tip would be to constantly
remind yourself of your compelling reason - especially when
things are going badly! If your goal is a new car, or a
particular holiday destination (goals do not need to be
material, either way is fine) get a picture of it on your desk,
screen saver, in your wallet etc and watch the effect is has on
your motivation and your sales figures!
Take
Responsibility
Your
own motivation should be your responsibility! Focus on your
goals and what you want to achieve and refuse to let yourself be
distracted by the weather, your competition, things that happen
in your day etc and go out there and make some sales!
Follow some of the tips above and watch your sales soar. I look
forward to hearing about your sales success and some of your
sales "learnings" - please email your experiences to
info@outstanding-results.co.uk.
Remember, go out there and sell like your life depends on it!
One day it just might...
To find out more about Andy or to discuss any
aspect of improving sales performance you can contact him on
+44 845 130 6779 or visit
www.outstanding-results.co.uk
Part 1:
Confidence
Part 2:
Self Motivation
Part 3:
Knowledge
Part 4:
Passion and Enthusiasm
Part 5:
Organising
Yourself
|
