Does your sales team struggle to hit target? Motivating your sales team to hit target month after month can be a difficult task. There can be many reasons why your team is not performing at their peak. Some of the reasons are:
- They don’t like their job and should not be in sales.
- They feel they have not received enough training to be successful
- They lack prospecting skills
- They don’t understand the product or service that they are selling
The list could go on and though some of these reasons are hard to solve some can easily be solved with the following tried and tested strategies.
1. Set regular goals
It is important to set regular goals which your sales team can achieve. The goals should be achievable but not easy. They should stretch your sales team a bit. When setting goals, it is also important to set daily, weekly and monthly goals. By setting goals at each level you will help your team to remain motivated even if they have a slow start to the month. Another thing about goal setting is that it should be around activities rather than dollars. Activity goals should look at calls made, emails sent, notes logged and meetings booked.
2. Give one-on-one coaching
A study has shown that companies who regularly coach their sales people one on one have a 16,7% annual revenue growth in the team. By coaching the team through different stages in the sales process the salesperson will learn how to deal with difficult situations and be able to close more deals. If you struggle to have one-on-one coaching sessions with your team, ensure that you still give them regular input.
3. Encourage constant learning
Everyday new methods in sales and marketing are being developed. It is important to keep the sales information top of mind in your sales team by have frequent training sessions that builds on previous training sessions that they have been on. You should also encourage your team to continue learning on their own so that they stay ahead of the competition and can perform at their best.
4. Reward your sales team
It is important to reward your sales team if they reach the targets which you have set for them. An added bonus would be to let them choose what the reward should be. By setting up the contest for the reward you can ask them what the target should be and then give them a budget for the rewards. This will ensure you have buy in from your team and they will be extra motivated to achieve the new goals you have set for them.
5. Lead by example
Many times when people look up to their managers they want to see that you are following the basic laws which you have placed on them. If you do things differently to the way you want the team to do it, they may get antsy or try to do the tasks in their own way. Therefore, it is important to be punctual and lead by example if that is what you require from your team.
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