Motivate and encourage your sales staff

"If you want to encourage the spirit of competitiveness, offer a prize such as a weekend in Paris to the person achieving the highest end of year sales"

Getting the most out of your sales staff doesn't just mean giving them a decent commission and a pat on the back when they exceed their sales targets...

There are other ways of motivating and encouraging them to sell, sell, sell. The key points to bear in mind are as follows:

Brief sales staff thoroughly on your products and services
Set well-defined, realistic and measurable targets
Offer incentives
Provide leadership
Be there with back-up when they need you.

The good briefing

Assuming you have a good product or service, that there is a market for it and the price is competitive, you have every chance of sales success. Your next step is to brief your sales team so it can bring in the business. Your sales people will need:

Facts about the products and services and the basics of how they work.

Technical and reference information, back-up data such as testimonials, statistics and test bed data. It's up to you to study all the detail and distil it into the vital ingredients so as not to confuse and overload the sales people with masses of background research.

The key features translated into benefits to the customer. These include the much-prized Unique Selling Points (USPs). Benefits need to be genuine and targeted at the customers, not a load of hyperbole. Sales staff should be able to promote the product or service with confidence and conviction.

Details about pricing structures, discount limits and circumstances, delivery, set-up and installation, maintenance, customer training and cross-selling opportunities.

Sales people dread being asked the awkward question that will leave them mouthing like a goldfish. Plan for these. Collect all the awkward questions your sales team has ever been asked and plan your responses to them. If sales people don't have an answer, encourage them to find out and call the customer back later.

Set targets

Work out attainable sales goals based on past performance or industry figures. Work out the steps necessary to reach these goals and present them to the sales force so they know there is a well-considered framework.

Draw up the overall gameplan, not just the goalposts. Set a time frame for stages such as making phone calls, presentations, sending out quotations and collecting deposits to keep momentum going.

Never over promise

It's in the nature of keen sales people to over promise. In order to clinch a sale they'll confirm, for example, that the product will be able to perform a function that is beyond its capabilities or that it can be delivered on a date that suits the customer but that the manufacturers can't manage. Sometimes it's better to under promise and over deliver.

Incentives

Most industries pay a basic salary to sales people plus a sales commission, the commission being intended to act as a spur to achieve higher sales. Research by the Cardiff University Business School showed that most sales were made in companies where the commission amounted to 15-20% of total remuneration.

Research also shows that it is more productive in the long term to reward stages that go to make up a sale rather than just the sale itself. So reward people for so many sales calls made, so many presentations made, so many quotations sent out and so many deposits collected.

A fair scheme rewards the sales support team, telesales and any other personnel who help achieve sales, including back room staff. Thank people for their efforts and congratulate them on their achievements frequently. A timely bottle of champagne is in order for landmarks such as an excellent presentation or a deposit from a promising new customer.

If you want to encourage the spirit of competitiveness, offer a prize such as a weekend in Paris to the person achieving the highest end of year sales.

Inspire the troops

Alongside the facts and targets, you need to provide inspiration. Share your vision with the sales team. Show them your strategic objectives for the company as a whole. Highlight the importance of their role in achieving these business targets. Identify people's strengths and encourage them to be part of the strategy.

Work alongside the sales force. Get involved in the selling campaign yourself. Don't be a distant, boxed-off boss who they moan about down the pub on a Friday night.

Back-up

Either be accessible yourself or make sure there is always other appropriate support when it's needed. If your salespeople need technical or business support when they are away from the office, make sure it's at the end of a telephone line.

Selling is a tough job. Encourage employees, show your appreciation and give your total support to your salespeople. They're what keep you in business after all.