How to Motivate a Sales Team

To keep your sales team operating at their best, you need to motivate them. There are several different methods you can turn to — here are 20 of the top ones.

Build Team Trust

First and foremost, you need to have your team’s trust if you want any request from you to be taken seriously. That means you need to be transparent with them, sharing what you expect of them and what you’ll do to support them. Then you need to actually follow through with those things to earn their trust.

It also helps if you can build trust among the members of your sales team so that they also trust each other. Make clear that you want to create an environment of transparency and encourage open communication among all the members of your team.

Make the Meaning Clear

A Harvard Business Review study found that people who find meaning in their work are more likely to take ownership over it. And that, of course, has a major impact on performance.

To make this type of meaning clear to your sales team, be open with them about how their work impacts your business, and how, in turn, that impacts them. For instance, if making a major sale could help your company secure a big investor, that could make it more clear to your team that what they do actually matters on a big scale.

Document Customer Successes

Another way to share the meaning in your work is to show how sales impact customers. Create case studies or customer success stories to share with your team, especially the ones who worked with those customers. Or even share thank you notes or positive comments with them.

Track Daily Wins

Recognition is, of course, a major factor when it comes to motivating a team. But if you wait around for big wins to recognize when someone has done a great job, you leave the door open for people to fall into bad habits. Instead, create a routine of recognizing things that your sales team has done well each day or week. That way, you never forget to share your thanks for those little wins.

Recognize Your Sales Team Publicly

It can also be a good strategy to recognize your sales team publicly, rather than just in a meeting or company newsletter. Thank team members who have done exceptional work at events or even on your website for a little extra dose of motivation.

Set Clear Goals

When motivating a sales team, it’s also paramount that you make it clear exactly what you want to motivate them to do. Of course you want more sales — but get more specific than that. Are you looking to move a certain type of product? Are you looking to hit a specific number by the end of the quarter? Set really specific goals for individuals and/or your team as a whole.

Encourage Team Unity

Setting overall goals for your team to hit within a certain time frame can also help you create a supportive and motivating environment. Say you want to hit a certain dollar amount in sales by the end of the quarter. Put up a display in your office to track the team’s progress and let each person share their wins at the end of each day or week. Then they can all congratulate and encourage one another throughout the process.