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Understanding what motivates your sales team

Written by: Debbie Robinson

Article Overview: In these rapidly changing times it is vital for managers to understand what it is that motivate their sales teams in order to optimise performance and create loyalty. It is a vital managerial skill in the 21st century.

Understanding what motivates your sales team

So many sales managers and executives lament the fact that their sales people are not like them. “Why aren’t they as driven and motivated as I am?” “Why don’t they work as hard and with as much commitment as I do?” “Why are they content and comfortable in their comfort zones and not ambitious for growth like I am?” Well sorry to break it to you they just aren’t the same as you, so get over it and manage it! The role of a manager today is to understand each individual’s motivation and work to ensure that this is matched and optimised. No two people‘s motivation will be the same. Understanding what it is that makes each team member ‘tick’ is vital to managerial success. One size does not fit all! In these challenging times where change is taking place at an unprecedented rate we must ensure that managerial skills keep abreast of the rapidly evolving cultural shifts that are driving a different attitude to work and life in our employees. It is now normal not only to change jobs and even careers several times in our working life. People re-locate not just nationally but internationally. It is now common for people to marry several times and have more than one family. It’s like having several different lifetimes in one! There has never been a time when so many life changing decisions need to be taken on such a consistent and accelerated basis. We all experience some form of change, some may be minor some may be major. We cannot stop change but how we deal with it is within our control. With knowledge, skill and effort you can learn to direct change. Mastering this can help you move towards the outcome you desire and is a vital skill for success in the 21st century. Change is a fundamental for any form of evolution or growth. It is like the wind that blows. It is neither good nor bad, it just is. We must learn to harness the wind of change by settling a different sail. Today, the winds are gusting faster than ever before in the evolution of man. We are creating more opportunities for more people to live the life they choose. Never before have so many people been so free and able to live the life that they choose. Never before have so many been so aware of their environment and felt motivated to improve it in some way. Be it a greater health consciousness or environmental awareness, globally, people are finding their voice, coming together via social networking and driving positive change. Now is the time to acquire the ability to steer and maximise change. Learning how to steer allows you to benefit from some of the changes, learn from others and leads your life into calmer waters. By learning how to lead your thoughts, feelings, attitudes, actions and habits in the direction of your choices, it allows us to achieve the creation of our desires, goals and dreams. The results of your actions are the fruits of your thoughts. So what has all this got to do with sales performance you ask! Times are changing and changing fast. You need to understand what makes each member of your sales team tick. What will motivate them to achieve your desired outcome of sales success? Consider what it is you need to do differently to incentivise and motivate your sales people. To get you started consider how you stack up in the following areas: • Clarity • Flexibility • Trust • Respect • Authority • Responsibility • Corporate social responsibility There is only one thing we can be absolutely certain of in the future and that is more change. It carries with it the seed of opportunity for those that want to steer their own ship, set a better sail and flow with the current. Make sure you get on board!

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Article Tags: 21st century, attitude, challenging times, decisions, desire, evolution of man, knowledge skill, lament, lifetimes, managerial skills, managerial success, motivation, role of a manager, sales managers, several times, team member, tick, unprecedented rate, vital skill, wind of change
Referred by: http://www.dcjaconsultancy.com



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