Motivation
Have you ever been asked what your primary motivation is or what motivated you to complete a particular task? How do you answer that question? My guess is that you often think for a minute and either come up with an answer that people want to hear or you simply say I do not know why I did that. Relax, you are not alone, motivation is something that we all talk about but very few of us can really define what it means to each of us, let alone what it means to others.
Motivation is an integral part of sales. Motivated salespeople are the ones who are going to see the best results. I am a firm believer that real motivation comes from within and if someone is not internally motivated, then all the motivational speeches and techniques in the world are not going to help. Most, if not all, salespeople do possess that internal sense of motivation and the job of any sales manager is to find out what motivates each person, and then use it.
You may have some salespeople who are only motivated by the commission that they will receive from whatever they sell; you may have others who are motivated by the relationships that they establish with their customers. Finally, you may have others who are motivated by the Mexico trip that goes to the top salesperson at the end of the year. The conversations that you have with each of these salespeople are going to differ greatly based on what their motivation is. You may remind the person who is motivated by sales goals what the all-time record is and that they have a shot at it if they push themselves. A thank-you note from a satisfied customer will probably motivate the salesperson who enjoys the relationships with customers, and a simple postcard of Mexico will probably be enough motivation for the other salesperson.
You get the idea; there are no magical techniques to motivation. You simply have to know the people that you work with to truly understand what motivates them so they will be the best they can be. Some people need a pat on the back and others may not need anything. Selling is like everything else, the more motivated the salesperson is, the better the results
FINAO – Brad Huisken, President – IAS TRAINING
