It all begins with Enrollment: Take this first step into the world of effective management by learning how to field an efficient and motivated sales force.
Oct 1, 1997 12:00 PM, Ted Tate
A few days ago, I spoke with a sales manager for a large contractor located on the East coast. "We want to motivate our people," he said. "We want your consulting firm to help us." I asked what problems he might be having that had prompted this call. "Problems? Don't worry about it. Just give me a real dynamic sales meeting. I need to raise the roof! Can you raise the roof?" he asked hopefully. "By the way, where can I hire a live band on short notice?"
As we spoke, I began to share with him some of the ideas that'll appear later in this article. I've been to more motivational meetings than I can remember. Meetings where dynamic and exciting talkers actually had people jumping up in their seats and shouting. Bands playing. Entertainers entertaining. Big-name people giving autographs. Nearly naked dancing girls leaping across the room like gazelles.
I have seen executives spend money at a frantic pace to achieve this motivational excitement. I've also been in the office the morning after, when the whole place was buzzing with talk of the meeting. Executives beamed and everybody went home feeling good, as though they had just invented lightning in a bottle.
The only thing is that I have never seen an appreciable increase in sales because of this motivation. I never saw unhappy employees leap up and scream they had been converted and would not be quitting the firm as previously decided. I never saw uncooperative salespeople come to the sales manager with tears in their eyes begging for another chance to be the salespeople I had hoped they would be. I never had a slumping salesperson suddenly snap out of it and start selling up to expectations. I never saw a salesperson with poor sales skills suddenly become efficient.
What I often saw was a brief one- or two-week slight increase in sales from a few people that was followed usually by some kind of general staff depression and an unexplainable slump in sales, which then eventually worked back to business as normal. I also saw the huge invoices to pay for all this excitement charged against my sales budget. The result was my buying personal office supplies at a K-Mart from my own money by year's end.
Money's not the answer Some people think money is the answer to their motivational problems, but I often hear from baffled sales managers, "These people are making good money, and they don't appreciate it!" There are limits to using money as a motivational tool.
Of course, the other side of that coin is that you must pay a decent salary or make a real commission earnings opportunity open to your salespeople. If the salesperson does everything you ask and meets your expectations, you must compensate fairly. Further, you must set the sales expectations at a level the average salesperson has a reasonable chance to achieve. Sales motivation techniques don't work when the salespeople think they are being victimized by unfair demands.
Why doesn't money work over the long term? Simply because everyone has a financial comfort level. Once they earn that amount of money, money rapidly loses its power to motivate. That, when all the baloney is cut out, is why almost every sales job pays partly in salary and partly in commission. It motivates salespeople to keep selling until they hit their comfort level.
Real motivation, I've since discovered, does not come from money anymore than from excitement or from dynamic talkers. True motivation comes from within the employee. Employees feel a connection with the employment. They think they are contributing to something worthwhile. They have a sense of achievement with their job, with their supervisors. It's a sense of satisfaction and belonging. They may not say this to you and may even have complaints about you, but if you meet enough of their basic needs, they stay with you, go the extra mile when asked, and even defend you to outsiders.
So, how do you do it? The answers (and there are lots) would fill a few good books. However, they all come from good communications between management and sales. When you have programs in place to keep good communication with your people, then a sense of belonging and even family develops over a period of time.
This article will outline some of the specific areas vital to developing your sales staff communications. Although they all require effort, they really cost no money to implement. It's my personal conviction you can't "buy" people for very long with glitzy perks and hype motivational meetings.
Motivation isn't the problem Sometimes what appears to be a motivational problem is not. I once received a call from a sales manager with an industrial manufacturing concern with its headquarters in the New England states. He wanted my opinion about a recent sales hire who was not selling. In addition, this salesperson did not respond to any of the company's motivational programs. The employer was unsure as to what his next step should be.
"I've tried everything to get this guy excited and selling," said the manager.
The first step was to find out about his background and see how that gels or doesn't gel with the way this company trains new salespeople. It turned out that the man had originally been a math teacher, then an accountant. His last job was selling retail at an office supply store. When he applied, he told Jack that he really wanted outside sales work so that he would not be cooped up in an office every day. Jack's training consisted of two weeks working various jobs in the company facilities to learn the product and also the language of the trade. After that, a week in the field with one of the better salespeople.
It appeared that the employee simply wasn't used to outside selling. Nothing in his background provided an opportunity to learn basic sales skills. I suspected he was in over his head. No matter what he said in an interview about wanting to get out of an office environment, every previous job that he had held had been inside. I suggested the excellent salary motivated the employee to fudge a little.
So do you fire such an employee? Not necessarily. I suggested the employer have a talk with the salesman. If he didn't have basic sales skills but wanted to keep his job, then the company could provide training. The salesman had a lot of his own effort and time invested in this job, which indicated that he wanted to succeed.
Several weeks later, I spoke to the employer, who acknowledged that the salesman was still a little shaky, but he showed signs of being a good salesperson once he learned the basics. This situation taught the manager an important lesson: He needed to spend a little more time with salespeople on basic selling skills.
True motivation Truly motivating meetings are held often and have a real agenda of improvement rather than just a lot of empty flag-waving. One of the best benefits of motivational meetings is simply knowing what's going on with your salespeople. That was the experience of one vice president and sales manager of a wholesale electronics distributor. This manager telephoned me one afternoon for some advice just after having a big blow-up with one of his salespeople.
The manager had started a new program in which salespeople were asked to fill out report forms and have regular sales meetings, which the company had been lax about in the past. One salesperson who had been disagreeable when the plan was announced exploded during the first meeting; when the manager pointed out that her sales report was incomplete and started asking questions relating to the missing information, the salesperson became angry, started yelling and walked out of the meeting.
The manager was in an uncomfortable position. Because this employee almost always met her monthly quota, the manager didn't want to lose her, yet he worried about the other salespeople's impression of him if he caved in the first time someone yelled. When I inquired whether he was abrasive, he said no; in fact, he thought sometimes he was a little too easy.
The salesperson had complained that her selling time was being wasted by meetings and reports, and some of the other salespeople then indicated they wanted to go back to the old ways. The problem was, if the manager allowed someone to back him down, then he would lose control over his salespeople.
To be honest, he shouldn't have had that discussion in front of anyone. It should have been a private conversation. Chances are she was covering up something and the manager had put her in such a difficult position in front of the others that she panicked and decided to scream her way out.
It turned out that although the salesperson was selling at an average pace, she was rarely seen in the office. None of the salespeople were thrilled with regular sales meetings and reports, but this employee was the only one who responded with such vehement behavior. I gave the manager some suggestions about speaking to her when she came in the next day, this time in a calm, private atmosphere.
A few days later, the manager called to tell me that, once he got past her defensive attitude, it came out that the salesperson was working a second job in her husband's business. The manager was paying her for a full day's work, yet she was only putting in four or five hours a day. The manager told her that she had to choose between the jobs and pointed out that if her sales were that good part time, she'd make more putting in full time. He explained she had to fill out all sales reports properly and be at all sales meetings if she wanted to stay. Unfortunately, after the manager gave her several chances and was disappointed each time, he finally let her go. He found several situations where she hadn't been where she was supposed to be and discovered that her customers had many more complaints than anyone else's. Her sales volume remained what it always had been.
Were the new methods worth the effort? Yes, according to the manager. "The new person I hired is really putting in a full-time effort. Sales volume in that territory is up 62%. Our new reporting system and sales meetings have been extremely productive. I just wish I'd have started them sooner!" This is the most important point of any motivational efforts you make - motivating your salespeople to increase sales.
Offering training, fostering a feeling of belonging, helping salespeople to feel like an important part of the company, and providing frequent forums for discussing problems and delivering praise are motivating on a day-to-day basis. And that is a lot more cost-effective than expensive, flashy sales meetings that ultimately have no effect on sales.
The following list of practical workplace solutions are just a few of many that I've found to be effective in consulting with numerous organizations. How many apply to you?
Specify the results you expect in terms of measurable objectives. Put it in writing. Does the salesperson understand what constitutes acceptable results? Do you have a written set of measurable objectives for your staff to follow?
Help the salesperson identify performances that lead to a successful conclusion. Every business has a series of performances that lead to sales. Make sure you have a sales performance plan so that your salespeople have a road map to follow for success.
Have a clear understanding with salespeople as to what their specific job responsibilities are. Do you have a written sales job description? When I consult with firms to recruit new sales or sales management people, I always work with them to prepare a detailed written job description. The newly hired person reads and discusses with management what the job consists of, and questions or problems are dealt with on the spot. Both parties sign the description, and each keeps a copy.
Reward good behavior, punish negative behavior consistently. Ignoring promotes negative behaviors. As a sales consultant, I frequently see this overlooked. Don't forget the word "consistently." I was grocery shopping a few weeks ago. A lady with two young boys was making her way down the aisles. The boys were into everything - running, yelling, knocking over things. Every so often she'd yell at them, "You stop that or you'll get a spanking." She would then ignore them and continue shopping. It was obvious to me and everyone in the store that she was just talking and was not going to spank anyone. Her kids knew that also and continued to run wild. Suddenly her husband appeared, took one look at the boys and said calmly, "You know the shopping rules. Obey them, starting this very second." Those kids quit immediately. It was clear that his words carried consequences.
When you manage people, your words must be taken seriously. Don't allow people to break rules and get away with it. Even worse, don't enforce the rules inconsistently, then pretend you don't see infractions the next time because you may be tired or you worry that someone won't like you. This really confuses employees. Remember, you are not their buddy or parent. You are their boss, and their success on the job depends upon how well you coach them. Be fair, but be firm and consistent. They will respect you for that.
Follow up on delegated duties to make sure they are being done. Do you have a formalized follow-up plan in place? This is another area where consistency is a must. Remember the old management axiom, "It's not what you expect; it's what you inspect."
Have sales meetings on a regular basis. Do you have a sales meeting plan in place that includes opportunities to explain new ideas, products or services, group discussions of problems (and solutions) in the field, participation by all salespeople, constructive criticism and, above all, praise for jobs well done? Are you lax about attendance? Are the meetings regular or whenever the fancy strikes? Are the meetings so boring that nobody wants to attend?
Sales reports. Do you have a sales report designed for your business needs? (Forget the generic ones sold at office supply stores.) I am a firm believer in sales reports. As an employer, you have to know what outside salespeople are doing, particularly if they are doing it in your good business name. There are some effective ways for a sales manager to use sales reports, not only to keep track ofsales staff, but also to detect business trends.
Remember who you are when you are dealing with salespeople. You are not a parent. You are not an army drill sergeant. You are not even a school teacher. You are a coach. Your job is to show them how to do a job and then coach them from the sidelines to success as they go out and apply the skills you've shown.
Don't waste time (and money) on quick fixes. They don't work for any period of time, and when the sales staff realizes it, they will just become a little more unmotivated than before. Most answers to difficult problems are fairly simple, but they usually require hard work. That's why some people pass them by and continue to seek the "miracles." They either want to avoid the hard work, or they don't have the time to implement a program properly.
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