Happy sales people = optimising sales growth

Our guest blogger this month is Carlyn Wiltshire from CW Sales Consultancy. Carlyn works with companies to help them achieve sales growth and business goals through the development of sales plans and the mentoring/training of sales teams and staff. 

I have always enjoyed all the “Happiness is … “ range of pictures. I guess I am an eternal optimist. The first I ever saw was in the 70s with Snoopy and there are loads of different images you can find on what “Happiness is … “ dependent on the individual artist.

And that is what I want to discuss in this blog, the management of a happy and motivated sales team to ensure that an environment has been created to optimise the potential to grow sales in your company. Are your sales guys giving you their best?

There are lots of things that can make a salesperson unhappy. It can be a lonely job, rejection is a daily experience, targets may seem unachievable and they may be getting negative motivation from their sales manager or even higher up! Although you may be thinking “get over it, this is what you signed up for!” demotivation is something that can be easily managed by the individual and their manager.

From my experience, it’s important to realize that each member of the sales team is different. I remember a moment in my first sales management role sitting down with one of the guys after our initial joint sales call. We started talking about motivation and he said to me upfront “I’m not interested in cars or money, I just want to be good at my job… Can you help me?” Wouldn’t it be great if everyone were as easy to please!

I have outlined below a few notes on what I believe will help create a happier and better-motivated sales team. With us coming out of recession and companies actively looking to buy again, I hope this blog helps you refocus and cheers up your sales team with a view to grow your sales.

 

Forget all your woes – It’s a hard job but it’s also very rewarding and if they are really not happy maybe it’s not the job for them. However, most of the time the sales person just needs help to focus on all the good things that they have achieved and will achieve with the right attitude.

Motivation & Incentives – We all need motivation to keep us on track and help us achieve our business goals. Incentives with targets focus the mind to some extent. Discovering the correct personal motivations for you and your sales team is more important, perhaps money towards a new car or holiday, retiring early or even just being praised/recognized for success.

Encouragement – We all seem to get busier taking on more and more roles. This is not an excuse to not take an interest in your sales team and what they are up to both at work and in their personal life. An encouraging phone call can support with any “small” issues they didn’t want to bother you with, break a lonely day, cheer up a series of “no’s!” or allow you to share the details of a great meeting you or they may have had.

Mentoring – Being a sales manager you will most probably “have the t-shirt” if you do, help them! Give them good advice, assist them with internal issues, go out with them and give them support and feedback on their performance. Why wouldn’t you? Their success is after all a reflection on you. If there is a lack of skills, an external trainer might be the answer for you.

Team problem solving and sharing successes – One of the best ways to breed success is to talk about it, and sharing success is an uplifting experience. Encourage the team to chat to each other positively. When you get the team together, use the time wisely. Make sure you allocate a big chunk of time to discuss successes and how they were achieved and where this can be duplicated. Although less time should be spent on problems, discussing reoccurring blockages to the sales process as a group can wield amazing solutions, turning problems into sales opportunities.



If you would like to find out more information on the services of CW Consultancy and how Carlyn Wiltshire can help your company and sales team, call 01924 631394 or email info@cwsalesconsult.com


 

Website: www.cwsalesconsult.com
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