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7 How’s and Why’s of Sales Force Motivation and Accountability

Published on Sep 18, 2017

Vince Lombardi said, “The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined efforts of each individual.” 

The combined efforts of an influential sales manager and a driven sales force can create an elite sales force. How do you galvanize your sales team? While money makes up part of your sales force compensation plan, as we discussed in our last blog Keeping Your Sales Team Motivated: Commission, Bonuses and other Incentives, the other influencers are motivation and accountability. 

Before we discuss the ways in which you as a manager can approach instilling motivation and accountability, it’s important to remember that top sales talent should be self-motivated and should not need much of a nudge to perform at high levels. Motivation comes from within. The right people demonstrate this over and over. That said, using these motivational strategies can help heighten motivation and develop a high-performance culture.

1.     Set Expectations

How: Before even offering a candidate the sales position, make sure they fully understand the role. Explain how their sales performance impacts their compensation plan. Ensure they know what their expected day-to-day sales activities will be and what sales targets they are expected to meet.

Why: This lays the foundation of motivation by setting expectations and building trust. It is difficult to inspire others if there is not a mutual trust.

2.     Development Plan

How: Develop a Performance Development Plan (PDP) for each sales rep on your sales team. The PDP should not only encompass targets and goals for their individual sales position, but also personal and professional goals that they want to achieve. Set daily, weekly and monthly goals. Revisit goals on an ongoing basis to hold sales reps accountable for either meeting or missing their performance goals.

Why: We all need goals to help us get to the next level. Your sales reps are no different. The PDP can help to establish goals and objectives to be matched against measurable results.

3.     Sales Enablement

How: You’ve established your sales rep’s PDP. Streamlining and removing unnecessary tasks allows them to focus on targeting optimal customers and close high-value sales. We call this sales enablement, and it’s crucial. 

Why: Sales enablement ensures your sales team is empowered with the resources and tools they need to succeed.

4.     Performance Evaluation

How: A sales performance evaluation can help to identify a sales rep’s strengths and weakness to determine what skills to focus on to maximize sales revenue. Encourage self-evaluation and manager feedback from your sales rep.

Why: Knowing your team, their strengths and weaknesses allows you to customize and prioritize training and coaching to help them perform better.

5.     Friendly Competition

How: Using gamification takes everyday sales activities and turns them into a contest for sales reps. Sales managers can establish scoring metrics for various sales activities (lead conversion, close-rates, speed to lead etc.). Sales reps can view or access a leaderboard to compare their standing to their peers.

Why: Sales reps are generally competitive by nature. Utilizing gamification and contest will igniting some friendly competition to bring out the best in your team. Try it, and watch the fun (and productivity) begin.  

6.     Recognize Performance

How: As mentioned in our previous blog, there are numerous ways to reward salespeople for their performance. Sure, money is a great motivator, but not the only one. Sometimes a simple recognition whether it’s a “shout-out” in an all-hands sales meeting or a certificate that can be displayed on their desk is reward enough.

Why: According to a recent industry survey, 66 percent of employees say they would likely leave their job if they didn’t feel appreciated. This is up significantly from 51 percent of employees who felt this way in 2012. Everyone appreciates praise and recognition for a job well done.

7.     Lead by Example

How: One of the most important ways to motivate your sales team is to exemplify the attributes you desire most in them. If you appreciate honesty, be honest. If you appreciate productivity, be productive. 

Why: Your sales reps will notice your attitude and work ethics. Inspire them with your example and expect them to follow suit.

Motivating your sales organization to meet sales goals and holding them accountable for areas of improvement are necessary to ensure organizational success. Revecent can complete a skills and competencies analysis of your sales force to identify areas of strength and weaknesses. Request a consult now.

Revecent is a national sales recruiting and sales enablement consulting firm. We help technology and professional service companies recruit and optimize sales talent to accelerate growth.  Contact us today to see how we can help your organization’s sales team exceed expectations.

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