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Motivating a sales force

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Motivating a sales force can be a very difficult task for any manager.A manager's ability to motivate their sales staff is the key to bringing in profits and establishing a client base.The difficulty with motivating a staff is that each individual employee is different and is motivated by different factors.Here are a few tips for motivating a sales force.

Buy In

Salespeople must feel like an integral part of a company if they are going to be motivated to sell that company's products.Selling can be a very tedious and defeating job, and it is easy for employees to feel more used than helpful.Giving a salesperson as much information about company growth and product strength as possible will help them feel like they are helping the company to grow.This will create a buy in for employees and help them to become passionate about the products they are selling.

Know the Staff

Managers must understand that money is not going to motivate all salespeople.Granted, money is a good place to start.Salespeople must be paid what they are worth or else they will find more money elsewhere.But often, money will not be enough.Managers should get to know each sales team member in order to understand what makes them move.This will allow managers to create individual incentives.Salespeople want to know what is in it for them, and individualized incentives can help them know exactly what is in it for them.

Make Reasonable Challenges

Many managers make the mistake of giving their sales staff unreachable goals.These goals do not give salespeople the "reach for the moon and you'll achieve the stars" mentality. Instead, unreachable goals can make a sales staff feel misunderstood or that they are working for some kind of dictator.

However, goals that are reached too easily can make salespeople bored, and bored salespeople will usually lead to distracted salespeople.Goals should be reachable, but challenging.Reachable but challenging goals can inspire healthy competition amongst employees and push employees to work a little harder to reach a goal.This will mean more sales and higher profits. It will also give employees a sense of accomplishment.

Travel with Staff

Sales managers should travel with their staff periodically in order to get a feel for their sales strategies, personality, and effectiveness.Not only will these trips allow a manager to get to know their staff, but it will give them an opportunity to demonstrate new techniques or point out where an employee could improve.This will help the sales staff know that the manager is genuinely interested in their individual success.

Performance Reviews

When managers consistently carry out performance reviews, it gives them an opportunity to get a feel for their staff.While this can also be accomplished through frequent travel with employees, performance reviews can also serve other purposes.Employees who know that they will be held accountable for their performance will be sure to maintain a good work ethic.Managers will also have an opportunity to praise a certain salesperson or understand some of the challenges that are hindering the performance of another.Performance reviews can also create an opportunity for learning and establishing individual incentives.

Managers have a huge job when it comes to motivating a sales staff.However, by applying the tips above, managers will find that their employees are more happy and motivated.When sales people are happy and motivated, companies usually remain healthy and growing.

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