How to Motivate Salespeople from the Inside Out
Sales leaders are under enormous pressure today. Pressure to generate leads, pressure to build pipeline, pressure to meet forecast, and pressure to hit their number. With all that pressure, they forget to motivate salespeople… or maybe don’t even know how to motivate salespeople. 
In response to all that pressure, hardworking sales managers tend to press the “more” button with their salespeople. More email, more calls, more meetings, more deals. The problem is that the “more” button doesn’t work. Like a barking dog, salespeople ignore your yelps and go on with their day.
Here’s how to motivate salespeople: press the “why” button.
The “why” button taps the inner motivational drive of your sellers and ties daily activity to that drive. Every team member who works for you has one of these four whys:
- Fortune: The why of some sales reps is all about money. The kind of car they drive, the house they live in, and the dollars in their bank account. Period. This works well in sales, because sales is a money-driven endeavor.
- Fame: For most salespeople, however, it’s not about the money. It’s about what the money means. The fame, so to speak, they get from being atop the leaderboard, going to President’s Club every year, and being recognized publicly.
- Freedom: Other salespeople sell because of the freedom it gives them. They can’t imagine doing a nine to five job. They see themselves as a free agent, free to set their own hours and pursue their own agenda.
- Family: Some salespeople sell because of the opportunities it provides their family, like putting their kids through college or supporting an aging parent. The money they earn gives meaning in their personal life.
Fortune, fame, freedom, and family. Know the why of each team member and create a clear line of sight from daily sales activity to fulfilling that why. You’ll light a fire inside them that’ll grow into a raging inferno.
