Motivation is usually the hottest topic on sales managers’ agendas. However, we find that the principles of motivation are frequently not fully understood. In this post I hope to clear away some of the ‘mist’ that often shrouds this critical issue for all sales managers.
Definition of Motivation
Motivation is the means of encouraging individuals to move towards something they value. In a sales situation, it is how salespeople are encouraged to improve their performance and to strive towards a specific objective or target.
Motivation can be either positive or negative in the way that it works: Positive when it encourages the movement towards something desirable; negative when it encourages the movement away from something undesirable.
Motivation – the positive view
It is thought that positive motivation is more powerful than the other kind: Pushing someone into water will certainly get them swimming but will hardly create a passion for the water.
Similarly, threatening people might work in the short term, but is unlikely to produce sustained effort over the longer term.
Is the objective desirable?
Not every objective is equally desirable. Financial rewards are usually desirable in sales, but other objectives can be equally important.
Such things as status, social involvement & self-development can be equally motivational in a work situation and should not be ignored.
What are motivators?
Frederick Herzberg identified that providing a sense of achievement, offering recognition and giving responsibility are all strongly motivational, whereas company policy & working conditions are merely Hygiene Factors - elements that do not motivate on their own account, but which can lead to demotivation if not handled properly.
These Hygiene Factors need therefore to be removed, to reduce any possible demotivation, before concentrating on those factors that create motivation.
Is the objective achievable?
The best performers prefer objectives that stretch them, but only by a moderate amount, whereas weaker performers accept average performance or worse still, set themselves high objectives that they can never achieve.
The implication is to recruit people who respond to fairly challenging goals and to set targets they can achieve through reasonable improvements in performance.
Conflicting targets?
Too many targets can lead to lack of focus on the most important objectives. The more targets that exist, the more likely they are to conflict.
A good example is when managers stress the importance of teamwork, but then only to reward individual performance.
Stepping stones
The importance of breaking down objectives into a series of more digestible targets has been well proven. A series of monthly objectives is more motivational than a simple yearly target.
The implication is to chunk down objectives into those that can be achieved over a lesser time scale. Their achievement will also generate a momentum of success
Do the necessary capabilities exist?
An obvious one perhaps, but without the necessary abilities, no amount of motivation can raise performance.
An important implication is to ensure that the appropriate knowledge, skills & attitudes have been identified & that they form the basis of your training & development plan.
A link between effort & reward?
Many sales incentives schemes break this rule. Targets are often seen as unfair, or slanted towards certain individuals.
A traditional problem in sales is to set territory targets that bear no relation to the actual business potential of the territory. This can lead to some people returning exceptional numbers by just turning up. Targets must reward effort, not just lucky geography.