151 Quick Ideas to Motivate Your Sales Force

  • 1h 58m
  • Frank R. Horvath, Julie A. Vincent
  • Career Press, Inc.
  • 2009

Traditional ways of motivating a sales force have included money, incentives, contests and even turnover (regardless of performance). While it's true being a sales professional is not for everyone, there is a way to identify, build and retain a top-notch motivated sales force. The trick is to build and keep a sales team that delivers sustainable results.

The insights included in this book are designed to shift your thinking about traditional ways of motivating sales professionals you manage. It categorizes key sales-motivating management skills, tools and techniques while incorporating the art and science of sales management, leadership and the human dynamic. In this book you'll learn:

  • Coaching and Development
  • Sales force Processes and Systems
  • Keys to Sales force Leadership
  • Reward, Recognition and Incentives

Sales managers that learn, know and implement a next-in-class approach to motivating their sales professionals will reap high rewards and beat their competition.

About the Authors

Frank R. Horvath is a solutions architect and principal consultant for The Newman Group, a Futurestep and Korn Ferry Company. He has served a wide range of industries and clients in the areas of strategic talent management, including expertise in: performance management, recruiting, competency assessment, development, and retention. Mr. Horvath also has experience in sale force assessment, deployment and technology implementation, organizational effectiveness, business process improvement, workforce planning, project management, change management, operations management, and strategic financial planning. He has helped his clients effectively develop and execute sales strategies and business strategies, and improve sales performance.

Prior to The Newman Group, Mr. Horvath was president of Integrated Group Synergy, LLC. IGS, LLC provided talent management consulting services to a variety of business and industries. Additional executive leadership experience includes ADESA, Inc., where he was the director of HR talent and systems management, and Black & Veatch for which he was the managing director of the supply chain and management consulting practices.

Julie Vincent, APR, has more than 25 years of experience in corporate communications, media relations, crisis management, marketing, and writing services. She is president and owner of Wordsmith Communications Group, Inc., a full-service marketing communications consulting firm, and a public relations consultant on Diabetes Care for Roche Diagnostics.

Right out of college, Julie taught journalism, English, speech, and creative writing on the secondary level, and still holds a lifetime teaching license in the state of Indiana. She is currently an adjunct professor at IUPUI in the Journalism department.

A published author and a national award-winning corporate communicator, Julie has a B.S. in journalism, English, and radio/ television/film from Ball State University and a M.S. in Journalism and secondary education from Butler University. She also has her APR designation from the Public Relations Society of America and is a past president of both the Hoosier Chapter of PRSA and the Indianapolis Public Relations Society.

In this Book

  • 151 Quick Ideas to Motivate Your Sales Force
  • How to Use This Book
  • Introduction
  • Share and Make Sure Sales Professionals Understand the Realities of Your Business
  • Align Your Sales Professionals to the “Likes” of the Customer/Client
  • Collect Feedback from Your Customers/Clients for Improvement
  • Benchmark Individual and Team Sales Performance
  • Align Sales with All Departments
  • Set Sales Goals That Are a “Stretch,” Not Realistic
  • Develop a Specific Sales Plan That Is Communicated to Everyone in the Organization
  • Fire Bad Customers/Clients
  • Keep Abreast of Industry Trends and Share the Information with Your Team
  • Conduct an Annual Sales Conference Reviewing Past Sales Performance and Future Sales Plans
  • Focus on Customer Service
  • Develop Business Case Studies That Demonstrate Competitive Value
  • Create a “Virtual Bench” of Sales Professionals
  • Maintain Competitive Benchmark Information for Compensation
  • Maintain Competitive Benchmark Information to Help Manage Performance
  • Hire Top-Notch Sales Talent Outside Your Industry
  • Profit vs. Revenue: Understand Your Sales Objectives
  • Take Time and Give Time to Think About Sales Strategy and Plans
  • Establish and Communicate Your Sales and Marketing Brand
  • Ensure Everyone Understands Your Compelling Value Proposition
  • Validate Your Brand with Your Customer/Client Base
  • Be Realistic About Sales Goals
  • Establish Team and Individual “Buy-In” to Sales Goals/Objectives
  • Buy Shares of Stock in Your Customers/Clients
  • When Forecasting Sales Numbers, Forecast Reality, and Be Conservative
  • Define Clear Accountabilities
  • Hold Sales Professionals to Clear Accountabilities
  • Define and Assess Sales Competencies for Understanding Personal Strengths and Development Needs
  • Provide Regular, Consistent Feedback on Performance
  • Test Individual Sales Knowledge about Products, Services, Customers, and Competitors
  • Recognize Top Performance with Regular Awards of Achievement
  • Fire Nonperformers
  • Set the Expectation That Sales Professionals Understand the “Ins and Outs” of Their Customers/Clients’ Businesses
  • When Evaluating Performance, Focus on Results, Not on Time
  • Set Up a Scoreboard of Sales Results
  • Conduct Weekly Sales Status Calls With Your Sales Team
  • Send a Handwritten Note for Outstanding Performance
  • Set Expectations for Professional Appearance
  • Do Not Tolerate Bad Sales Behavior
  • Don’t Tolerate Excessive Drinking and Sales
  • Don’t Tolerate the Strip Club Mentality
  • Know When to Use the Carrot or the Stick
  • Treat Sales Professionals as Professionals
  • Create Internal Competitions
  • Create External Competitions
  • Put Your Sales Performers Into “A,” “B,” and “C” Categories
  • Do Everything You Can to Move Your “B” Sales Contributors to the “A” Level
  • Put Your “C” Sales Performers on a Performance Improvement Plan
  • Expect Sales Professionals to Have a Business Objective for Each and Every Sales Call
  • Conduct Account Reviews
  • Establish In-Depth Account/ Customer Visibility
  • Expect Your Sales Professionals to Understand the Finances of Their Customers/Clients
  • All Extra-Curricular Activities Must Involve a Sale
  • Establish the “No Excuse” Rule
  • Teach Skills in the Use of Tools, Techniques, and Customer and Competitive Data
  • Provide Opportunities for Mentoring and Sharing Lessons of Success with Customers/Clients
  • Provide Coaching to Improve Performance and Strength
  • Provide Ongoing Learning Opportunities to Improve Sales Proficiency
  • Train and Have Your Top Sales Performers Conduct the Hiring of New Sales Recruits
  • Role-Play Successful Sales Skills
  • Train Sales Professionals in the “Language of Business”
  • Teach Sales Professionals to Uncover Pain, Budget, and Decision-Making with Their Customers/Clients
  • Teach Sales Professionals Project Management Skills
  • Teach Listening Skills
  • Teach High-Impact Consulting Skills
  • Allow Time for Reading New Books and Articles on the Topic of Successful Selling
  • Give Guidance on Qualifying Prospects
  • Use Failure as a Learning Tool
  • Analyze Sales Mistakes as Lessons Learned
  • Teach How to Overcome Objections
  • Invite an Industry Pro to Give Advice and Coaching
  • Conduct a DiSC Profile on Each Salesperson
  • Share and Interpret DiSC Profile Results
  • Teach Your Sales Professionals to Use the DiSC with Their Customers/Clients
  • Send Your Sales Professionals to Professional Writing School
  • Send Your Sales Professionals to Professional Acting School
  • Establish a Mentoring Program
  • Provide Constructive Feedback About Negative Behavior
  • Establish Yourself as the Coach
  • Create “Real Life” Sales Learning Opportunities and Teach the Lessons Learned
  • Develop a Method to Transfer Sales “Knowledge”
  • Spend Time Developing Yourself as the Sales Leader
  • Understand and Teach the Key Metrics of the Business
  • Do Not Make an Investment in Sales Training Unless You Understand Individual and Team Competencies
  • Teach Your Sales Professionals the Skill of Self-Performance Evaluation
  • Don’t Waste Your Time with Trendy Training Fads
  • Your Intelligence Is Equal to the Thoroughness of Your Questions
  • Teach the Sales Team How to Use Sales Data
  • Encourage Your Sales Team to Deliver Value on Each and Every Sales Call
  • Have the Right Systems and Processes in Place to Enable Maximum Productivity
  • Ring the Bell When Someone Makes a Sale
  • Eliminate, as Much as Possible, the Tactical Sales Work
  • Leverage Technical Operations Talent in the Needs/Requirements Phase of a Proposal
  • Pilot New Sales Concepts When Given the Opportunity
  • Use a Sales Administration Technology
  • Begin With the End in Mind When Giving Presentations
  • Bring the Right Resources to Close a Deal
  • Survey Your Customers and Provide Constructive Feedback to Your Team
  • Practice the Art of Outstanding Presentations
  • Establish and Maintain a Sales Funnel for Prospects and Deals
  • Ask a Lot of Status Questions for Any Prospective Deal
  • Be Sure You Engage Key Stakeholders on Deal Terms
  • Solicit Internal Feedback on the Sales Process from Key Internal Stakeholders
  • Deal With and Uncover All Facts Related to Any Deal
  • Avoid Requests for Proposals (RFPs)
  • Help Find the Decision-Maker(s)
  • Don’t Expect Too Much Out of Trade Show Sales
  • Use Social Networks to Extend Opportunities With New Prospects
  • Use Blogging Technology to Create a Brand Following and “Thought Leader” Position in Your Marketplace
  • Monetize Everything
  • Sales Performance and Productivity Must Equal Dollars Invested in New Business
  • Establish a Sales Process/ System and Stick to It
  • Use the 7 and Out Rule
  • Hire Only Skilled and Competent Sales Managers/Leaders
  • Don’t Promote Highly Competent Sales Professionals into Management Unless They Are or Have the Potential to Be Good Leaders
  • Have Your Top Executives Support Your Sales Efforts
  • Make Sales Recruiting a Priority for Executives and Top Sales Performers
  • Take Field Trips to Noncompetitive Industries to Learn New Ways to Improve Sales
  • Conduct Retention Interviews with Newly Hired Sales Professionals
  • Set the Organizational Expectation That Everyone in the Company Has Responsibility for Sales, Not Just Outside- and Inside-Sales Teams
  • Know All Your Sales Professionals By Name
  • Get to Know the Sales Professional’s Husband/Wife/ Significant Other
  • Get to Know the Sales Professional’s Family
  • Send the Spouse or Significant Other a Thank-You Note for His/ Her Contributions
  • Show Your Emotion and Passion about Sales
  • Build Customer Relationships with Mutual Trust, Not Just a Contract
  • Listen to Your Team
  • Listen to Your Customer
  • Move the Cheese
  • Exercise, and Set Expectations for Your Team to Keep Physically Fit
  • Establish the “No Asshole” Rule
  • Solicit Sales Help from Key Internal Sponsors
  • Create an Atmosphere in Which It’s Okay to Fail and Learn
  • Don’t Expecting a Normal Distribution of Revenue From Your Sales Team
  • Do Everything You Can to Keep Your “A” Sales Contributors
  • Check Your Ego At the Door
  • It’s Okay to Sweat, but Maintain Your Composure
  • Hope Does Not Close Deals
  • Maintain Your Sense of Humor
  • Clear the Way for Streamlined Internal Decision-Making
  • Be a Visible and Accessible Sales Leader
  • Manage Natural Internal Conflicts between Sales and Operations
  • Don’t Take Over a Sales Call
  • Provide After-Work Activities with Coworkers
  • Celebrate Wins
  • Include Customer Feedback in Product/Service Development and Give Credit to Sales Professionals Who Bring Back This Information
  • Provide Company Logo Apparel to Wear When Meeting With Customers/Clients/Community
  • Provide Various Competitive Rewards and Incentives
  • Share a Salesperson’s Accomplishments with His/Her Peers
  • Throw a Party
  • Provide Competitive Compensation
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