4 Responses

1. Previous discussion
   Hi Mark

   Some ideas from the other week

   https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=166659

2. Ideas to motivate sales staff
   Hello Mark

   I posted the item that Rich is referring to in his response to your query. I don’t know if they will be of any use to you – but I had some very useful responses come directly to me as well. They were:

   Beliefs such as:

   Every time someone says no I’m another step nearer to someone who says ‘yes’.

   When someone says ‘no’ they are saying ‘yes’ to something else – generate curiosity as to what that might be – people could even ask the customers, which might make the call more productive.

   Play on the ‘numbers game’ and also generate an element of fun or pleasure in the ‘No’s?

   Count up the ‘yeses’ to ‘no’s and have competitions to find out who gets the best rate – and then share their learning as to what’s worked for them this week.

   Have fiendish (but fun) competitions as to who’s had the worst ‘no’ all week – the rudest or fastest or loudest. It could be something different each week and there would definitely be prizes awarded.

   Put up colourful flags when people get a ‘yes’ so that there is a strong visual reminder. You could incorporate other sensory reminders – bad smells for ‘no’, good smells for ‘yes’ perhaps (perhaps not).

   Take time to log all successes and put them somewhere nice and visible.

   Have a look at this site which might help with understanding what motivates people http://www.apterinternational.com. Once you understand people’s motivational styles you can design incentives that play to them.

   Hope that is of some use to you!
   Lucy

3. More to it
   How can I motivate in-bound sales staff to be more exciting/interested when on the floor or in sessions?

   Theres a number of factors to consider here
   1. Recruitment – did you recruit on the basis of motivation and sales ability – traditionally i/b staff are passive and somewhat introverted- were they recruited to be salesy.
   2. Have you done a TNA?
   3. “The feeling within the department is currently very apathetic.” – this is not a TNA is simply a subjective opinion from a generalised group of people – your company dont make fiscal decisions on this vague basis so why make equally unsupported development decisions.
   4. Does the management culture support this ‘new world’ you are trying to create? If not your efforts will not be successful long term.

   I would advise caution before leaping into a situation with a potentially lukewarm outcome and definitely do a full TNA.

4. “WIIFM”
   Juliet makes some good points around getting the right people in place to start with.

   However, unless you go back to the start you now have to deal with what you have. You say the feeling in the dept is apathetic. Has it always been like that? If not when did it alter and what made it change? You need to find the cause of the apathy and deal with it. Have you spoken to the agents and really got their thoughts on the situation?

   If there are 50 agents then I will make an assumption that there are about 5 team leaders responsible for a team of about 10 agents. If the assumption on team leaders is correct then what are they doing to stimulate, motivate and inspire their teams? If you don’t have team leaders, why not?

   Sales people usually carry their own self-motivation (competitive spirit) and sometimes just require someone to re-ignite the fire in their belly. If receiving a small commission is not igniting them then perhaps it is not seen as having any value. You may want to consider changing the commission into vouchers for various tangible rewards for individuals or make the rewards team-earned. Have the rewards pooled in their team to create a bigger pot which can be used for team activity days or whatever suits them. This sometimes drives “positive tension” and peer pressure to perform as well as giving a bit of fun.

   If you are looking to motivate people then you really need to answer the question they pose (or sometimes just think) of WIIFM ….. What’s In It For Me?

   Cheers

   Ray