4 Ways to Keep Sales Associates Motivated
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4 Ways to Keep Sales Associates Motivated
You might hope that a healthy number of leads and some closed sales will keep your sales team motivated, but sooner or later there’s bound to be some drop off in enthusiasm. New year resolutions are usually lost by the spring and a lost month can really take the shine off of salesperson’s excitement. That’s why it’s so important as a manager to understand the best ways to keep sales associates motivated. Even at the best of times, you’ll want to keep these strategies in mind.
Know What Motivates Them
Perhaps the simplest tool in your motivational toolkit is also the most overlooked. It’s easy to know what motivates you and you can always come up with a set of motivations for your team or company. But what about the things that motivate each individual on your team? Why do they get out of bed in the morning? Why do they come into work every day? What makes them pick up the phone to make one more phone call before calling it a day? The more you understand the answers to those questions, the easier it will be to help keep them motivated.
Maybe you’ll find out that one sales associate is trying to make enough money to put their kid through college, while another is trying to become financially independent. Each of your employees is motivated by different needs and that should inform the way you challenge them to stay focused and excited. When they need a boost, ask them questions related to those motivations to remind them what they’re doing this for. Keeping the company afloat might be your goal, but it is not as motivating as your employee’s goal not be as ensuring their child can attend the college of their choice.
Activate Activities
It’s one thing to understand the activities that will help a sales associate achieve their goals. It’s another thing for them to sit down, plan and actually and perform those activities. It starts with you in helping them understand the discipline and focus needed in order to hit their numbers consistently.
Be a role model when it comes to the activities a successful agent does in order to make a sale. Show them how you take notes, perform interviews, educate yourself, handle miscommunications, send out mailings, follow up with clients, and more. Once they understand what these activities entail, attach goals to each of them, giving associates an understanding of what they need to accomplish in order to reach singular and overall benchmarks.
Hand Out Rewards
Rewards are the most obvious of all motivational tactics with good reason. They’re effective. Providing a tangible reward for hard work is a quintessential motivational tool that works on people of all ages and all backgrounds. Everything feels a little bit more worthwhile when you end up with something for your efforts, even if it’s just a coffee shop gift card. But you can absolutely think bigger. Anything from trophies to plaques to vacations can be valuable incentives for the right financial goal.
Don’t be afraid to think big on the reward so long as you’re setting the bar at a realistic height that is worthwhile for you and your company. High bars also help give sales associates a chance to see where they stand in the big picture and how they can get a little bit closer.
Hand Out Recognition
Recognition isn’t quite as flashy as rewards, but it’s still an essential tool to motivate associates. In fact, many studies show that the simple act of consistently telling an employee they’re doing a great job is a hugely motivating.
There are three kinds of recognition you should consider when working with sales associates. Every week, you should recognize the achievements of those on your staff, even if they’re small things. Just a little bit of praise goes a long way. Second, recognize productive behaviors such as performing activities that increase lead and sale opportunities, which reinforces those behaviors all the more. Finally, don’t forget to recognize the attributes that each associate brings with them simply by being them.
Figure out what positive traits they bring to the team and make sure to call them out, whether it’s creativity, humor, work ethic, or even just friendliness. These are simple gestures but they have sizable impacts.
Consider Coaching
Some sales associates are simply rock stars who know what to do and don’t need you looking over their shoulder. Many others, however, are working hard but still need to learn tips, tools, and tricks to improve their numbers and become better salespeople. As a manager, it’s on you to provide the coaching they need to get there, and in doing so you’ll motivate them to improve as they recognize the effort you’re putting into their personal improvement.
Make sure you provide your entire team with shared goals and ways to reach those goals. Relying on one another is motivating as no one wants to let the team down. Since a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, it also helps you identify who that might be and how you can motivate and help them.
And of course, make sure you’re providing enough one-on-one coaching no matter what the sales associate’s level. Everyone can always benefit from some outside perspective in order to identify areas of improvement and ways to do even better. You want to relay the information in a way that’s positive as much as possible, which is more likely to be motivating than negative reinforcement.
Florida Business Law Attorneys in Broward County
Even with all of the planning in the world, it helps to have powerful resources by your side when the need arises. Matthew Fornaro, P.A. provides comprehensive business law services to individuals, companies, and businesses in Coral Springs, Parkland, and throughout South Florida. We encourage you to contact our law firm to speak with an experienced business law attorney.
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