I was having a conversation with one of my friends last night and she was telling me that her sales are so low. As she continued to explain her predicament to me I began to slowly and unnoticeably (I hope) wander off into the mind of a sales person when they wake in the morning. Are they scared that they are waking up to the same funnel they had last week, are they worried that they are the last on their team performance wise or are they more scared at the amount of tongue lashing they will get from their direct line manager.
What was then apparent to me was that they must be scared shitless, constantly. As in totally living in fear that either they won’t make their quota, hit their targets, please their boss, and rank higher that another sales executive, that they will lose business or even their jobs. Fear.
I think if you really want your sales team to perform, you have to really make them happy.
Comfortable.
Fearless.
Fear can curb creativity, creativity that you probably need to get out of that sales rut you are in. Fear also makes you not sleep well at night, drink too much, easily irritable, blame others and ultimately not focus/concentrate effectively on the tasks at hand.
My advice for my friend mentioned in the first paragraph is...It’s not too late to come back strong. You just need to follow 5 simple steps.
Relax. Identify. Plan. Act. Smile.
Relax- there is nothing to worry about. It’s just sales.
Identify-You cannot sell if you are distracted, when you are worried/stressed about something. All this is seen by your customers and prospects and they lose confidence in you or the product. Before you get rid of the worry you must identify what is making you worried, afraid or even stressed. Look at the other aspects of your life as see what else could be bothering you other than your lack of sales. Find the root and you will find a way out.
Plan- Once you identify the worry or causes of worry turn these into action plans for success. Try turning that situation around by attacking it head on. If you cannot change that situation then adopt a new or different way of looking at it.
Act- From the action plan you know what you need to do so START.
When I started to write this article I was writing it for the demoralized, de-motivated, down trodden sales guys but just now realized that these people had a lot of help getting there. So this question is for the guys who give them hell...so they bring in sales...what do u do??
It’s very easy to point at sales people and see fault because their deliverables are very obvious i.e. revenue but what are you doing to ensure that the same people keep doing the same every month or even raise the bar all together?
Managers need to be aware of certain things:
- Adding negative motives will ruin the process.
Negative motives are things like quotas, minimum number of calls, fears, threats, etc.
- Negative energy
If you can convert that negative energy into a positive motivator, you will create the internal atmosphere where success will thrive
- Use of threats
Some bosses try to use threats or impose minimum quotas to get sales numbers. Big mistake. Convert that negative energy to encouragement, training, education and supportive sales tools and you will win big.
- Positive actions
To succeed, one positive action will not be enough. A repetitive culture needs to be established so that this behavior becomes a norm.
- Taking it too seriously
Taking things too seriously can also be a demotivator because it causes stress and takes the fun out of selling.
- Celebrate
Celebration of achievements even premature ones can be a good ego boost for sales people.
Speaking of motivating factors, I’d like to end this note by listing down some positive motivators that can help drive human beings in general. Maybe you can start to do some things a bit differently wherever you are.
· Money –– The greatest self motivating force in the world.
· Contest or Prize –– A chance to win, and be seen as "best."
· Desire to win –– The inbred instinct to finish first.
· Award –– A plaque that says "I’m great."
· Recognition –– Telling others "I’m great."
· Ego stroke –– Wanting to feel good inside, or be the center of attention.
· Helping others –– The need to be or feel needed.
· Opportunity – the dangling carrot to get more.
· Desire to succeed –– The inside fire that burns.
· Family –– The will to secure the people you love.
· Achievement –– The personal drive to accomplish.
· Advancement –– The desire to "get ahead" personally.
· Independence –– The want to "be my own boss."
· Challenge –– The desire to achieve a goal (or gold).
· Exercise –– Positive physical stimulation. (Buy everyone on your team a health club membership.)
· Fun and recreation –– The desire to have a beer at the beach. The desire to play golf.
· Someone inspirational –– Someone who by their words or action inspires you to "do it."
· New knowledge (learning a new or better way) –– Sales tapes, seminars and books provide some of the best sources of inspiration and motivation. The key is to take action after you learn. (Record your notes and action items on a cassette tape as soon as you learn them. Listen everyday.)
· Making a sale –– As soon as you make one, you want to make another (and the best part is that it’s the easiest time to do so. (You’re on a mental high and an emotional self–confident roll – go go.)
· The thrill of (repetitive) victory –– The desire to keep on (re)winning. Making a sale right after you just made one.
· Belief in product. –– The conviction that your product is the best gives motivation to self–confidence.
· Love of job –– The thrill of loving what you do creates a stronger belief in what you sell.
· Encouragement – "You can do it" goes a long way to achieve. Encouragement is the biggest (and least used) outside positive motivator.
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