Motivation is dead...increase employee engagement.

Steve Carroll, The Office

Could you use an increase in sales numbers? Would you prefer if your sales reps always went the extra mile? If you answered No to these questions then don’t worry about reading on. If your answer is yes, then you need to understand how to motivate your sales people to produce long lasting sales results. First step; when you see motivate read "engage".

Managers in every business want to learn the secrets to attaining maximum results from their people. I do not consider that I have the answers that will work for every single industry; but these ideas work for selling. Often managers are sold on management training or motivational seminar and weekends all with the end result of learning the keys to motivating "engaging" our sales reps.

Many of the so-called motivational speakers spend more time recounting stories of personal conquest hoping to inpire; than tackling the pressing issue that everyone has come to find the solution for. If you are or ever have been looking for the secret to motivate "engage" your sales reps, I have the answer.

Sales people are not mules to be ridden to an end destination. Drug traffickers and farmers are the only people riding mules these days. You have to want to understand sales people, to find out how you can partner with them, so both of you achieve your goals. Maybe you want to be CEO one day. Or perhaps you want to become a deep sea fisherman. Who knows? But the essence to good management is that you need to know what your sales people aspire too.

Your job as a sales manager is to make the job of selling not feel like work. How you do that is by making your sales people feel that you and they are both working towards the same end. What you are really saying is, “I know you have goals and dreams, so do I. Let’s ensure we all reach our own collective goals.” The fatal flaw of most sales managers is that they don’t take the time to scratch the surface, let alone actually get to know their sales people.

Aligning your employees goals with your goals as a sales manager is call "engagement" not motivation.

Here are a few questions to see how well you know your sales people. Do you know the following information?

1. Spouses name?
2. Children’s names?
3. Place they live? (not just address, but type of house and neighbourhood)
4. Number of years they have worked/sold for? (not just from there resume)
5. Number of years they still expect to have to work/sell?
6. What job would they really love to have? (Sales or non sales related)
7. Hobbies?
8. Pastimes?
9. Birthday?
10. Spouses Birthday?
11. Major Anniversaries?

The list could easily continue but this gives you a clear example if you know each and everyone of your sales people individually; then your employees engagement is likely to be high as well. If you can't answer most of the above questions about your sales staff.....then YOU have some work to do.

Stop trying to motivate (read) "hanging a carrot in front of a donkey"

Start trying to engage (read) "aliging your sales staffs goals and dreams with yours"