Motivating your sales team is not merely a matter of reaching for your wallet and offering more money. In fact, money is one of the less effective predictors of employee success. Find out how to motivate your team using tools and behaviors other than monetary compensation.
Motivating your sales team is not merely a matter of reaching for your wallet and offering more money. In fact, money is one of the less effective predictors of employee success.
Instead, you can reach for a more lasting impact by considering the emotional and psychological factors that drive performance.
Maslow Has the Answer
At college, you may have studied Maslow's hierarchy in Psych 101; this familiar, colorful triangle demonstrated the fundamental human needs beginning at its base (physiological needs -- air, food and water, sleep) and ending at its point (self-actualization, or achieving wisdom).
Near the top of the triangle are two more layers: social needs and esteem needs. Down much lower on the hierarchy comes money, as part of the "safety needs" that include job security and medical insurance.
What does Maslow have to do with closing sales? You can use the hierarchy to get a better handle on motivating your sales team. And because different people are driven by different needs, you will call upon your human resource and managerial skills to recognize the motivators among your staff in these categories:
Does Money Talk?
So is there still a place for money as a motivator? Yes and no. A bonus or raise can prompt short-term performance, but money on its own is not a long-term motivator, even in a volatile job market. Once a sales rep reaches a comfortable living wage, he or she is less likely to see more money in the same desirable light as, for instance, more responsibility or more recognition.
Say It Right
In any recognition you offer, make your gestures sincere, specific and timely.
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