5 ways to boost the motivation of sales representatives

In this article we will tell you about methods of non-financial motivation of sales agents. We will share the experience of applying these systems in Russian and foreign companies.

Salesman can't lose experience

Young salespeople choose their path because of the opportunity to gain experience, overcome their fear of dealing with strangers, and learn how to sell. So helping your salesperson do this is the right way to develop an avid fan of your company.

Philips Corporation has taken this idea very seriously. They hold "talent development events." Newcomers who show results are sent to advanced training courses. There they work under the supervision of mentors, with experienced and talented managers. They come back smarter and motivated to work for the good of the home office. Such a program was developed on the basis of an in-house study, which found that the salary keeps an employee for one month and professional growth for six months.

Try this idea out at your company. Send tradespeople to professional courses or set up regular gatherings where each employee can share experiences and help younger colleagues.

Faster, higher, stronger

No one likes routine. Try diversifying the work of your agents with sports games. And we are not talking about a team soccer tournament. We are talking about competitions among salespeople for the best result. Divide the team into "brigades" or announce a "Salesman of the Month" award. We suggest a creative approach to implementation.

This is what the German IT-company SAP did. They developed a special mobile application for their sales agents on sales analytics for internal use. Instead of boring figures on the number of closed deals in a month, SAP showed the sales progress in the form of a track with racing cars. Over the course of a month, the salesperson watches as his or her car races around the track, outrunning the others and coming in first to the finish line. The winner gets everything: honor, trophy and prize. The creators of the program assure that the results of sales in the company after the launch of the application doubled.

Try and you bring a little fun into boring and routine processes. Get your employees involved in the game.

Plan first

Try to make a development plan for your employees for the year. Just as you make strategic plans for your company, researching the pros and cons. Make a development plan for each salesperson as well. Try to identify a subordinate's strengths and weaknesses. Talk to the salesperson: which plane would be more interesting for him to develop: horizontal (acquiring new knowledge, skills and abilities) or vertical (a new position).

That's how they do it at SPLAT. Each employee receives a personal goal at the beginning of the year from his or her manager. To grow to a new position or expand their knowledge in work, for example, with corporate clients. A plan is attached to this goal: what books to read, what trainings to undergo and what presentations to make in order to achieve the goal.

The manager gives practical recommendations and the employee understands what is expected of him. This way he can objectively evaluate his growth, and the supervisor can evaluate the result. The plan will help to motivate the sales agent for long-term and effective work.

Let everyone see

Make the work of the sales department transparent. Create an environment where each employee can see the intermediate results of his or her colleagues. This disciplines the agents, because laziness, as well as successes, are in plain sight. Fear of "screwing up" is a good thing for a competent manager.

At Google, projects are openly available to employees in the same department. Colleagues see each other's work. And, as Google employees say, none of them are lazy.

It is important to strike a balance here: it is hard to work under constant pressure. So try not to put pressure on your subordinates. It is better to add to this process the game element from the second point.

Robots among us

Put uninteresting, tedious work on the shoulders of an artificial intelligence or in a simple way: buy specialized software. Business process automation will help you establish control over agents' actions. You don't have to check every step of the salesperson. But it should be possible to do so. And the most important thing is that the salesmen themselves know about it.

The large Russian distributor Glavtorg went down this path. They set out to create conditions such that it would be easier for employees to do than not to do. ST-Mobi.com cloud solution came to the rescue, with the compilation and tracking of sales representatives' routes. As the company's managers tell us, employees know that they can be monitored, and this "invisible eye" motivates them to fulfill the plan.