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Keep Your Salespeople (and Buyers) Motivated

by Jeffrey Tobe    

YOU CAN'T MOTIVATE YOUR PEOPLE, ANY MORE THAN YOU CAN YOU MOTIVATE YOUR CLIENTS TO BUY FROM YOU!

According to Carlson Learning Company, Minneapolis,there are specific "Motivating Principles" when one discusses different behavioral styles in salespeople. There are 5 things that I have learned about what motivates both salespeople and buyers.

1) YOU CANNOT MOTIVATE OTHER PEOPLE!

Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.

Stephen Covey

What we have to realize is that we can give people incentives to perform better and encourage and support their efforts, but the basic motivation for their behavior must come from within. People motivate themselves. All we can do as a principal or even as a salesperson, is create an environment that aids in motivating someone to do something. For example, I recently spoke to one of the top salespeople at a large corporation here in Pittsburgh. She explained to me that her sales manager was a wonderful man who kept her motivated at all times. Knowing what I have discovered, I probed deeper and found that, in fact, the sales manager just understood his salespeople's individual likes and dislikes and structured an environment around those things that turned on his people. Posters around the office, an 'open door' policy and a ' bi-annual customer focus group' added to creating that environment that is essential for salespeople to motivate themselves.

2) ALL PEOPLE ARE MOTIVATED!

This is probably the most controversial thing I share with both salespeople and sales managers. Most of you probably know someone that you feel just isn't motivated at all. Maybe it's one of your clients with whom you just can't find the right 'button' to push. Maybe it's a co-worker with whom you have tried dangling the proverbial 'carrot' with no response. Actually, research indicates that all people are motivated, no matter how they're behaving! Say, for example, Joan is working at a slow pace. Her manager may assume Joan is lazy or 'unmotivated'. But she actually may be motivated by a desire to achieve perfection. If the task requires speed instead of perfection, Joan's manager needs to coach her to help her adapt her behaviors, but there is no need to motivate her. Even when someone is inactive, they are still motivated. In this case, they are motivated to do nothing!

3) PEOPLE DO THINGS FOR THEIR REASONS, NOT YOURS!

Getting down to the nitty-gritty, most people are motivated by unconscious motives most of the time.

Richard J. Mayer

Although this may seem selfish, we have to realize that self-interest is simply a question of survival for many salespeople and clients. Even if we can't directly motivate others, we can better relate with people if we approach them with the desire to find out their reasons for doing what they do---or not doing what you would like them to do. In this new 'relationship selling' world in which we operate, putting yourself in the client's shoes will better help you understand their reasons for behaving the way they do.

4) TOO MUCH OF ONE MOTIVATION CAN BECOME A DETRIMENT!

Tom, a computer programmer and friend, recently received a promotion to division head. His analytical programming skills were highly touted throughout his international firm. In his new position, Tom applied the same painstaking care and deliberation to minor administrative issues as he did to his programming projects, and as a result, he was perceived as slow and often indecisive. Because of his tendency to research everything, some workers felt he didn't trust their judgement. His strength had definitely become a limitation. When dealing with certain clients, our strengths as salespeople---ie. the gift of gab, the ability to chatter excessively---may just become our limitations even though that is what motivates us on a daily basis.

5) IF I KNOW MORE ABOUT YOU THAN YOU KNOW ABOUT ME, I CONTROL THE SALE!

This goes against the old salesperson's credo, "Thou shalt not out talk the salesperson". As I share in the book, The Sales Coach, we need to ask more questions of those who work for us and of those who buy from us. We have to establish (and for many it's a case of re-establishing) our role as the seeker of information and the client's role as giver. Once we truly understand the power of controlling communication in creating a motivational environment, we can understand how we can also influence the entire sales process.

Many of us think we know ourselves pretty well, and yet we still are surprised by the way people react at times to the things we do or say. Our challenge is to recognize both our strengths and limitations so that we remain in control of our own motivation, particularly in those situations where we find ourselves typically uncomfortable or ineffective. We all know that we cannot change someone's behavior unless they are willing to change it themselves. When it comes to the sales process, we cannot change a client's motivation to buy, but we can simply provide them with an environment that makes it easier to do business with us over our competitors. Is motivation permanent? I think Zig Ziglar answers that best...

"Of course motivation isn't permanent. But then, neither is bathing; but it is something you should do on a regular basis."


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Certified Speaking Professional Jeff Tobe is the Primary Colorer at Coloring Outside the Lines. He is the author of the best-seller COLORING OUTSIDE THE LINES...BUSINESS THOUGHTS ON CREATIVITY, SALES AND MARKETING. To order the book or other products, vis