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Direct Sales Strategies- Sales Motivation Comes From Working for the Right Company

Guest post by: Jon Gilge

Article Overview: It is hard enough staying motivated in the profession of selling, but when you are working for the wrong company or the wrong manager it is all but impossible. Who you work for has as much to do with how you feel about selling as almost any other factor, and as we know, how you feel about selling has as much to do with your success as most other factors combined.

Direct Sales Strategies- Sales Motivation Comes From Working for the Right Company

I have never been fired, but I have fired my employer on a few occasions.

When who you are working for is no longer working for you and your career aspirations, I suggest you do the same.

It is hard enough staying motivated in the profession of selling, but when you are working for the wrong company or the wrong manager it is all but impossible. As we gather ourselves for a prosperous 2011 selling season I have to suggest that part of that preparation should involve taking a solid look at who you represent because it has as much to do with how you feel about selling as almost any other factor, and as we know, how you feel about selling has as much to do with your success as most other factors combined.

I have had it both ways: I've worked for companies that made putting my feet on the floor in the morning the least desirable of tasks, and I've worked with organizations that made the getting out of bed a race to get to work and get started on the day. Personally, I'm in the second of those two situations now with the company I am currently doing work for, and I am in that situation precisely because I fired a previous employer that put me in the former category. In short, it couldn't have gotten better until I got out of where it was bad.

What I would like for you to realize is that it rarely gets better where you are, and the reasons that it is bad are the same reasons it will continue to be so. Unless big changes are underway, it will take too long for any steps of gradual progress to make the undesirable work place one that is desirable.

It is only fair that you work for a company you believe in, one that motivates you, and one that meets your expectations. If the company you work for doesn't believe in you, if they don't feel you are motivated, and if you don't meet their expectations, what are they going to do? They will fire you.

For the same reasons that employers will sever ties with salespeople, you must be willing to sever ties with employers when the same basic expectations are not met. In effect, you can't allow a double standard whereby employers are expected to get rid of sales people that don't fit the organization, but salespeople are expected to work for employers that don't fit them. I know that times are tough, and we have come to see employment at all as a better alternative than no employment at all, and this may be the case.

However, my experience is that highly motivated salespeople are always in demand. I am always looking to improve my team, and a highly motivated salesperson will find a job with me during the slowest time of the year if they can show me that they have something that others on the team don't. On this I can speak from the other side of this discussion. As someone who consults on hiring and retention, I am often the manager who lets an under performing sales representative go because they are not providing the company with the right standard of performance. Management does this all the time, and I believe that it is only fair that in the same way that employer make decisions about firing employees that don't fit the company's performance expectations, employees should fire their employers for the same lack of standards of performance.

How do you know when it is time to fire your boss and move on?

The first question to ask is, "what is the first thought you have about your job after you wake up in the morning?" This is your initial reaction and often the most honest. If the first thing you think about is how little you want to go to work today, you are most likely with the wrong company. Fire them. If you wake up and rush through the morning to get to the work of the day, you are probably in the right place.

I know it is often not that simple, so here is where it becomes a job.

List everything you are looking for in a sales job-- each and every thing that you would like to have to feel great about who you work for. Now compare that to what your employer provides. This alone will probably not give you the ultimate answer, but it will tell you what to look around for, what you should see if other employers can provide.

When I give this advice, people have told me that I am advising sales representatives to be disloyal, and perhaps I am if you are seeing the situation exclusively from the perspective of the employer. But what about the other way around? Loyalty is great when it works for both sides, but when it is a one way street it is no longer loyalty; it is an exploitation of one side by the other. Don't think for a second that your employer wouldn't trade you in for a better sales representative given the chance. Why then would people think that you shouldn't do the same for a better employer when your current one doesn't give you a work environment that motivates you to succeed.

We are all 'for hire' and must define the relationship of who we work for and who works for us on a regular basis. This is as true of employees as it is of employers, and each needs to earn the participation of the other on an ongoing basis. Focus on earning your place each day, and expect the same of the company you work for. Where they no longer can earn your employment, fire them. You can be sure they will do the same of you when they feel you are no longer earning your place. Make this decision carefully, and remember, when you have found a great employer give everything you have to match the quality of your effort to the quality of the opportunity.

Fantastic Selling.

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Article Tags: choosing the right sales job, sales jobs, sales motivation, sales strategies, sales tips



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