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8 Top Tips to Improve Sales Team Motivation

3 mins read

Different members of your sales team will want recognition in various ways but one thing they will have in common is the frustration of trying to close leads that turn out to be bad because they’ve probably been targeted too early. Then, that’s where the blame game comes in.

Raza Jacob laughing

Sales teams will blame marketers for not providing the right type of content to resonate with prospects, while marketers will claim that sales teams took the wrong approach. It’s why they don’t get on.

Failing to close leads can be frustrating but it’s made easier when both teams are aligned. To keep them motivated, here are eight top tips to improve sales team motivation to keep them going. After all, it’ll take a motivated sales team to maximise results.

1. Set Individual and Team Goals

It’s not just about handing the sales team a list of goals they need to achieve. 

Instead, set goals for the team that are realistic and achievable but challenging. You could have one team goal and individual goals because sales teams feature people that are motivated in different ways. 

Goals can be a little scary at the starting line but rewarding once they’ve been exceeded.

2. Build a Level of Trust

HubSpot executive Dan Tyre once wrote in an article: “The foundation of motivation is trust. If your team doesn’t trust you and doesn’t believe you have their best interests at heart, it’ll be difficult for them to feel inspired and driven by their work.”

This one explains itself. Sales teams will be motivated when they have someone they can trust and approach. Don’t hide things and don’t beat around the bush but still keep a helpful mindset so they know they have someone to rely on if problems to arise. This way, you create a comfortable environment where your sales team will feel engaged and appreciated.

sam lou meeting room

3. Monetary Rewards

We’re not saying dish out an extra tenner when your sales team have done something good to keep them motivated to do the same thing, but the odd monetary or financial reward can boost motivation.

Some members of your sales team might be big fans of money or commission as a motivation factor, but some might not always like chasing a bonus. So, you don't necessarily have to always offer money for hitting certain targets. You can also organise days out, giving your sales people the chance to bond with the wider team away from work and more.

4. Get Creative

Whether it’s challenging them to reach goals so you shave your head or even doing a task for them so they can head off home early, don’t be afraid to think outside of the box and get creative when it comes to finding ways to motivate your sales team. They’ll be raring to reach certain goals which get them excited than some of the more basic motivation factors.

Frube motivation

5. Provide Excellent Tools and Offer Training Regularly

Having the right people in your sales team should go hand-in-hand with having the right tools and resources. Empower your sales team by giving them access to new software and platforms that help make it a lot easier to close leads, such as sales automation to help set up lead scoring to find the best leads.

Your sales team will also appreciate you organising regular training sessions. Doing it more than once a year, for example, is a great way of showing you want your sales team to develop further and you’re giving them the material to succeed. It’s a lot better than offering training once and not revisiting it again which shows you’re not entirely focused on their career development.

6. Ask Them

Don’t be afraid to actually ask your sales team. There’s no harm in being direct and privately asking them what they would be motivated by. Not only does it show you care about making it an enjoyable place to work and that you’re looking out for them, but you might be surprised by some of the answers which you never would have assumed.

Be open to their input and try different tactics and methods here and there. Eventually, you’ll know what works so you can stick to it or mix it up to keep motivation and excitement levels high.

7. Create a Culture of Recognition

Rewards and commission might not be enough when it comes to motivating your sales team. If anything, rewards are probably expected. That's why you need to push beyond that so your sales team and everyone else in your business feel recognised for their achievements.

By creating a culture of recognition where things like office get-togethers and even giving regular good feedback is common, a team-oriented mindset in the sales department and the rest of your company is created.

Knowing that their hard work will be rewarded with regular praise and recognition will motivate them to not only work harder but also work together.

8. Get Them Involved for Shared Goals

Along with asking them directly about what motivates them, your sales team will be motivated when you get them involved in strategy phases along with the marketing team which is a win for everyone. It means sales teams feel more valued as they get to have an input. 

By doing this, sales teams will be more motivated because their ideas will be used by the marketing team so that it can help them close more leads. They have an input in shaping the wider goals for both teams while aligning the two teams also acts as a huge opportunity to improve your business performance.

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This is all part of a bigger process called sales enablement, which involves enabling your sales team to work alongside your marketing team so they make sure that the perfect prospect is in front of them before trying to offer them help and closing the lead. That means your marketing team is doing their job right while they’re helping make your sales team’s life a lot easier at the same time.

This also helps by:

  • Making sales and marketing teams understand customers better.

  • Improve the quality of engagement between both teams.

  • Your sales team gets better and more qualified leads to close.

  • Both teams get better and clearer feedback.

Sales enablement is a process that works. Rather than continuing to frustrate sales teams based on the famous toxic relationship many businesses have between both teams, sales enablement can help with business growth, sales retention and closing deals. More deals closed means a happier sales team, so motivating them and setting mutually agreed goals is vital.

Want to Know How to Close More Deals? Check Out Our Guide on Sales Enablement

Bringing your sales and marketing team together is just one way of adding that extra motivation to help them close more leads. To put them both in a better position, though, adopt sales enablement.

To break it all down for you, we’ve created an in-depth sales enablement eBook. It covers everything from why current sales approaches might be working right through to how you can pull off sales enablement well to succeed.

To download your free copy, hit the button below.