It can oftentimes be great to be a member of a team. Teams usually complete work quicker than an individual can, generate more ideas than an individual, and can support one another through tough tasks. However, teams can be as productive as they are destructive. It is important that teams are motivated, persistent, and dedicated in order to complete their tasks efficiently. As a leader, there are many strategies that you can employ when motivating your sales team.
Be Transparent
Transparency builds trust with people because they do not feel as if you have anything to hide from them. A team that trusts one another can be much more efficient than a team that has trust issues. Team members that are transparent with one another create an environment where each member knows what to expect from their teammates. It is through understanding one another that each team member can better understand their role and the position that they play on the team.
Understand Your Team
Transparency creates an environment of understanding, but as a team leader, it is especially important for you to understand each individual member of your team. Understanding your team will allow you to understand each of their personal goals in addition to the things that motivate them. You should not generalize your team because often times the things that motivate one team member will not motivate another, and may even do the opposite.
Set Goals
Teams are often goal-driven. As a team leader, it is important that you set both long-term and short-term goals for your team to meet. Short-term goals will allow your team to feel more motivated on the journey towards meeting the long-term goals that you have set. Short-term goals will be like minor wins for your team, and they will be more excited to keep moving forward when times get tough. Additionally, short-term goals will allow for your team to learn and adjust during the process of reaching a long-term goal. Vary your goal schedules between daily, weekly, and monthly goals to provide variation for your team.
Rewards as Incentives
Allow your team to choose the rewards that they would like to receive once a goal has been accomplished. Make the rewards reasonable, but also fun and exciting. Knowing that the reward for accomplishing tasks is one that they specifically wanted will motivate your team much more than a generic reward will.
Motivating your sales team does not need to be difficult. These are just four of the many strategies that you can use to keep your sales team motivated. As a team leader, you should constantly adjust things as you see fit. What works for one situation may not always work in the future. However, as you get to learn more about your team and understand them more, you will know what will work and what won’t work for them. Make sure to collect their feedback as well so that you can all improve together.
