Seven Ways To Motivate Your Team

Do you often wonder why your team come to work every day?  Have you ever asked them this very important and sometimes overlooked question - what motivates them to give their best?

There could be many different responses, financial; to fuel their passion for food or travel or perhaps their hunger to achieve career goals and the desire for more.

Why not start the new year, fresh, focused and driven.  Here are seven ways to motivate your team this year.

Visible Reporting
Set a time for weekly sales team meetings.  Using your CRM and sales reporting program, pull out weekly reports to see who has converted the most for the week, conversion rates and detail on budget tracking.  Acknowledge their success amongst their colleagues, a bit of healthy competition is always good for motivation.

Reward
This is the elephant in the room option.  Motivating your staff using a reward system - money, movie tickets, vouchers or experiences will be a sure fire way to get results.  A true sales person loves to win and by rewarding them with a prize will usually serve to incentivise them.

Recognise
Week on week, acknowledge your team for their efforts.  Keep them updated with business opportunities and wins. Talk through the wins and remember, wins aren't just a dollar amount, they can include positive feedback, return business or the resolution of a problematic situation.

Educate
Allocate resources to educating your staff.  Allowing their professional development to flourish by investing funds to their professional growth.  Training should be considered one of the key motivators.  When you are investing in the growth of an employee with constant development opportunities, staff will perceive this as being considered by management as a key stakeholder in that business.  Budgeting for training should be considered a strategic decision that will ultimately benefit your sales line.

Engage
Ask your team members about their personal growth.  Where do they want to take their career?  What is their ultimate role and how can you help them achieve this?  Set out a career path and meet with them quarterly to discuss.

Environment
Is your office a creative and comfortable space?  All too often, sales offices are windowless, dark environments that can leave staff tired and withdrawn.  Add some plants, artwork or encourage your team to personalise their desk. Make the space theirs.

Activities
We all have to blow off some steam - especially in the high pressure world of event sales.  Initiate a cook off between your team and have some fun with creative cooking.  Arrange to have a professional massage at their desk once a month or a group yoga class during a lunch break.  These simple things will increase motivation and productivity.

The motivation myth of offering bonus or more money doesn't necessarily give your staff the desired boost they need. More money could just lead to staff wanting even more 6 months later.  Sure, it's an obvious contributor to what takes us to work every day, but it is not the only reason and it is not some individuals key driver.  By investing in your team, you are showing them your professional support.  Loyalty can be the greatest reward to a business.
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