The sales team is often the cornerstone of a commercial business’s success. However, there is a perennial question which surrounds sales-based members of staff: what is the best way to keep them motivated?
Well, many companies these days endeavour to keep their sales staff motivated by offering them incentives and delivering rewards when they ‘hit their targets’. These strategies (commission, bonuses, and incentive schemes to name but a few) can be very effective; however, determining which type of reward scheme will best suit a company is not always as straightforward as it may initially seem. Therefore, businesses that are looking to implement such a scheme would do well to keep the following aspects in mind:
It’s Not All About the Money
Whilst cash is of course a very effective motivator, workforce motivation cannot revolve around financial rewards alone. To be sure, sales employees need to feel that their hard work is being valued therefore employee recognition needs to about more than just cold hard cash. Indeed, receiving praise when it’s due and genuine thanks for a job well done can be just as motivating to sales staff as monetary rewards.
Set Realistic Targets
If the rewards offered by an incentive strategy do not fairly represent the amount of effort an employee needs to put in to achieve them then sales employees will soon lose faith in the scheme and give up. Setting more realistic targets which are challenging yet possible gives employees a genuinely desirable goal to work towards.
