Sales Tip: What Have You Done for Me Lately?

If you’ve spent any time in a sales role or a quota-carrying position, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  It is the first day of the next month – and from the top down – it’s as if your contribution last month never even happened.  How’s this month looking?  How’s the health of your pipeline?  What can we expect from you this month?  WHOA!  STOP! I hit 112% of my goal last month; give me some time to soak it in people! I’ll share a few constructive ways to help small businesses keep your sales team motivated and rewarded.

This is one of the hardest lines to toe when in a leadership position that carries a quota.  How do I take time to thank my people for their incredible contributions, yet get them recalibrated and focused on the next milestone (this month’s quota)?  Here are three tips found to be somewhat successful:

Create structured time to celebrate last reporting period’s accomplishments.
You can afford a couple hours in a day to do this, but you can’t afford an entire day, two days or even a business week!  Sales folks are going to take this time; it is important you acknowledge that and give them a forum to do so, or it will linger.  There are some easy, inexpensive, and fun ways to do this.  Take them to breakfast, lunch or to a matinee at the local theatre.  In the lobby before say thank you, hand out any awards, talk briefly about what worked and what didn’t.  Have fun!

Create consistency throughout the reporting period.
If you are in a position of strength going into the last two days of a month, it is less likely your sales reps will get drained fighting to make it happen for you.  Remember, the lower the tank is drained at the end of a month, the slower you can expect the teams’ recovery.

Get the demand generation arms of your business thinking that the first week of the month is their end of the reporting period.
If they have tenacity toward filling the sales funnel at the beginning of the month, sales people will follow.  There is nothing more motivating (or de-motivating) to a sales rep than their new lead flow.

This is a vicious cycle, no doubt.  However, I hope that if you put a few of these things into practice, your sales people will stay healthy, happy, and driving revenues sky high! It’s important to leverage a strong company culture and work to prevent turning it into a Boiler Room.

[Image credit: lumaxart]