Sales Progress Blog

You’d be shocked to find out that employees are not motivated by money or incentives.
What really drives them is progress.

A study conducted by Teresa Amabile, a Harvard professor, asked 600 managers what they thought was the number one thing that motivated people in the workplace. Most believed that it was recognition, and guess what, they were wrong.

Employees were than asked to document, via an email diary, their emotions and feelings as it related to motivation and 76 % reported that PROGRESS was the number one attribute that motivated them.
This comes as great news for managers because we have the power to motivate our employees. We can provide employees with goals and encouragement. Give employees the resources they need and always use positive language and reinforcement.

If you want to see sales progress, you first have to help employees progress.

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As the new year begins and we take off with a fresh start, many people are sharing the top to-do items to making 2010 a successful year.  We would like to share with you a great article from the Selling Power blog, a list of 15 things every sales person and 15 things every sales manager SHOULD NOT do.

Although this list of don’ts is a few months old, and some of the bullet points seem like common sense, I think it’s a relevant message for this time of year.  Sometimes we must be reminded of the basics, because often it’s the basic little things that we begin to let slide that can make all the difference in having a successful and profitable year.

Remember your basic sales techniques, and good luck in 2010.
Check out 15 Things Salespeople and Sales Managers Should Put on their Not to do List.

Shannon Gburzynski Sales Training Sales Management, sales performance, sales skills, sales techniques, Sales Training

I spend a lot of time reading other business, sales, and training blogs, and I ran across one today, written by Will Fultz, that really got me thinking.  His post, "Should I trust my Sales Manager’s Advice," caught my attention, as we are a consulting company that focuses a lot on coaching and employee development this question made me take a step a back.

We encourage managers to coach their employees to better performance, but should a sales rep take everything a sales manager says as the truth.  I thought Mr. Fultz’s insight was dead on.  For the most part, YES we should trust in a sale’s managers advice, after all it was probably their insight and experience that got them promoted in the first place.

HOWEVER! A sales rep should NOT take everything they say word for word, especially if they don’t agree.  Mr. Fultz points out that you should take their advice but also add in your own experiences and thoughts.  A great idea he brings up is engaging your sales manager with those thoughts.  You never know, your discussion could come up with a better solution than either of you had thought of on your own.  Your combined knowledge certainly adds up to more than each of you individually.  You have experience from the front lines your manager may be missing.

*NOTE: It is not ok to take advice you know is not quite right and then blame your manager for poor results.  It’s always a good idea to ask for help when you need it, but you have to own the results that come of taking it.

To recap:

* Trust your sales managers advice
* Add in your own experience and wisdom
* Engage your manager, 2 heads ARE better than 1 it’s not just a saying

Shannon Gburzynski Sales Management, Sales Training Leadership, sales, Sales Management, sales performance, Sales Representative, sales skills, Sales Training