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Not Motivating This Way, Then Your Not Motivating

Written by: Dan Schoepf

Article Overview: Management efforts to improve motivation clearly accelerate sales. Sales managers that believe motivation should come from within or that compensation and commission should motivate the team are mistaken. This mistake can lower morale and sales.

Not Motivating This Way, Then Your Not Motivating

Managing sales and sales personnel really means managing change. The primary objective is to increase sales and profits. To facilitate change, commitment is mandatory. The stages of commitment vary from individual to individual, manager to manager and company to company. Contrary to popular belief, most people desire change. You don’t believe me? Ask anyone if they would like to alter at least one thing in their life.

The cycle of change includes five succinct steps.

Uninformed Optimism — I look forward to doing this!
Informed Pessimism — Can I really do this? This seems harder than I thought.
Hopeful Realism — It looks like I’m actually doing it.
Informed Optimism — I am actually doing it.
Completion — I did it!
“Yabba Dabba Do!” Said philosopher F. Flintstone.

The chasm in achievement lies between Informed Pessimism and Hopeful Realism. Doubt creeps in, pessimism sneaks up and misery loves company. This is where perception is truly reality. Perception becomes clouded with reality.

EXAMPLE: I think I’ll run a marathon. (Uninformed Optimism) After training and logging many miles I wonder if I can really run a marathon. After all, my knee hurts. I don’t really need to do it. What does it matter if I run one anyway? (Informed Pessimism)

This is where it could fall apart. The response to change meets confrontation. Coaching, mentoring and motivation must be applied at this point.

Since I just ran twenty miles, farther than ever, it looks like I’m doing it. (Hopeful Realism)

On the day of the race I’m at the twenty-five mile marker. I AM doing it! (Informed Optimism)

I just finished! I DID IT! (Completion)

As a sales manager, why do you need to understand this process? Your job is to be aware of the gap between Informed Pessimism and Hopeful Realism. This is where motivation plays a vital role.

Money is not the sole motivator of any salesperson. Dollar based compensation plans are not sufficient to achieve sales goals. Don’t get me wrong. Money is a big motivator. But most people need more than dollars. Some are motivated by:

Survival — “I don’t want to fail.” “I don’t want to finish last.” These people are more invigorated by running from pain than toward pleasure.

Power — “I’m the boss” “I’m the Vice President.” “I’m in charge of the West Region.” People motivated by power are easily recognized. Power hungry individuals are not evil. Power and perceived importance drives them.

Social Affiliation — “I belong to the Country Club.” “My friend is a professional football player.” Salespeople motivated by social affiliation are recognized easily.
Ego Gratification — “I’m the number one salesperson.” “I drive a brand new Mercedes.” There is a misconception that people with large egos are easy to identify. I know many ego-motivated sales professionals that appear humble.

Achievement — “I’m winning.” “I’ve climbed two spots on the sales depth chart.” All great people are driven by achievement.

If you don’t motivate your sales team someone else will. Do you have any salespeople motivated by survival? Power? Social Affiliation? Ego gratification? Achievement?

Different motivators require different plans. When devising your strategy for motivation you should remember to provide something for everyone. This will help you avoid conflicts and it also increases the likelihood of success. Motivational plans will help you distinguish between “can’t do” and “won’t do” activities. This knowledge will assist in the development of your training program. You can determine if ability or attitude prevents the team from reaching goals.

Avoid too much “rah-rah” cheerleading in developing effective motivational programs. Professionals grow weary of “gimmicks” and the result is often deleterious to the team. It backfires!

Your effort to motivate the sales team by addressing all variables will pay great dividends as you see sales increase. Do not overlook this activity or rely entirely on your incentive and compensation plan. People need more than money.

“Good leaders make people feel that they’re at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization. When that happens people feel centered and that gives their work meaning.”
Warren Bennis

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