Hockey stop right, then hockey stop left. Sounded easy enough. I’d already logged countless hours on skates, so this advice from my skiing friends was all I needed to understand what I needed to do.
Still… standing alone on the top of a ski resort for the first time was pretty intimidating. But once you’re at the top, you basically only have one choice: to ski down. Understanding how to stop was certainly a critical first skill to master.
To say my first day of skiing was exciting would be an understatement! In fact, it was the thrill of a lifetime, and would be the beginning of a 20 plus year journey in search of bigger mountains and deeper snow that would take me around the globe.
Where did all that passion, excitement, enthusiasm, and desire come from?
The level of progress I made throughout the day made my first skiing experience special. I exponentially improved with each turn and each run. Every time I reached the bottom, I would be even more excited to go back to the top and apply what I was learning.
With each run, I built more speed, more confidence, and more joy. It was knowing that I was improving, learning, and accomplishing something new with each run that made it so fun (and addictive).
As coaches, our salespeople crave the same type of thrill. Sales team motivation stems from an environment where they are learning, improving, and accomplishing something new. This includes all salespeople, from the new hires to the veterans.
If we can provide learning and growth opportunities, we’ll continue to have salespeople that are inspired and eager to come into work every day. Instead of dreading their daily tasks, they’ll come with the level of enthusiasm and excitement needed to become a master of sales.
Here are just a few things you can implement today to improve sales team motivation:
- Spend time listening to your salespeople. Be sure to take note of their feedback and suggestions with an open mind.
- Identify specifically what they are already doing well and reinforce those behaviors. Positive reinforcement will develop long-lasting habits of success for your team.
- Learn what your team wants to get better at and see if it calibrates with your insights.
- Develop a strategic coaching plan that involves practice. Simply talking about how to improve won’t be enough.
Keep in mind that this is just a sample of many ways to encourage sales team motivation. And, of course, everyone is different and may prefer different methods. This is why practicing is so important to learning how your sales team members prefer to operate. Then you can start to develop and grow from there.
