Sales Management
"Appreciate to Motivate" By: Mike Whitty
Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, said, "There are two things people want more than sex and money...recognition and praise." Time and time again the one motivating factor that is at the top of most salespeople's lists is appreciation for a job well done. It is more requested than the green stuff, money.
Why don't more Sales M anagers give appreciation? Some say they don't know how to give it. Others don't know what to give appreciation for in the dealership. Yet others say they are too busy to give appreciation.
I think is this is the biggest sin of managers, being too busy to give appreciation for a job well done. Remember what the old transmission commercials used to say, "You can pay me now or you can pay me later?" Well, that is what giving appreciation is about. You can invest in your salespeople now and "pay" them with sincere appreciation and achieve even better performance. Or you will "pay" later by seeing your team's performance sink, corrective actions and coaching increase, and overall morale decrease.
The following are five tips to giving sincere appreciate that will motivate your salespeople to soar to higher levels and achieve more:
1. Be Specific
In order to get the same behavior or action again you need to let the salesperson know exactly what action(s) you are appreciating. For example, the typical attempt at appreciate sounds like this:
Manager: "Mike, you did a great job earlier today. Keep up the good work!"
Mike: "Thanks" (Mike is thinking what is he complimenting me on?)
The correct way:
Manager: "Mike you did a great job demonstrating that vehicle to your customer today. I can see you invested a lot of time honing your presentation. I really appreciate your efforts. Thank you."
Mike: "I appreciate you noticing my efforts to make my presentations exciting, as well as informative. Thanks!" (Mike is thinking that the manager really did notice his improvement. I'll keep working on it to make it even better.)
As you can see the salesperson has a clear understanding of what action the manager is showing appreciation for and he is motivated to keep improving.
2. Be Timely
Make sure you show appreciation as soon as possible to the action you appreciate. The further the distant in time between the appreciation and the action the less impact it will have to motivate the employee.
Manager: Mike, the improvement you've made over the last six months was great. Keep up the good work. Thanks!"
Mike: "Thanks, I think. What improvement are you talking about?"
Always find time to show appreciation in a timely manner. Even if you need to drop something else take time to appreciate your salespeople.
3. Be Fair
One of the key concerns of salespeople in my training sessions is that when appreciation is shown, it doesn't seem fair. The biggest villain of this is the dreaded "Employee of the Month" board. Many times when you ask the "Employee of the Month" what did you do to earn it they say, "I don't know." I have one action you must take when giving appreciation...be consistent!
4. Clearly state the rules for appreciation so that everyone understands how appreciation is earned.
5. Be consistent when showing appreciation
If one employee does a favorable action and you show appreciation, and another employee does the same or similar action and you don't show appreciation you have just sewn the seeds of bad morale and feelings of favoritism.
6. Always be on the lookout for "finding something good" your salespeople do well.
Once you achieve this mindset you will always find the good and increase morale and productivity within your department.
7. Be pure in your appreciation
If you to show appreciation, don't muddle it with other communication. In other words, don't show appreciation for one action and then start discussing a potential corrective action for another action. This sends mixed signals that say to the receiver of this communication, "I don't want any appreciation because there is always something bad attached to it." Keep it pure!
8. Be Public, if Possible
Appreciation is not something you hide. It works best when done publicly. Show you appreciation in a public way in meetings, in front of team members, and management. The funny thing is that once you get in the habit of doing this, many of your team members will increase the activity they need to take to also earn this public appreciation.
9. Be Relational
When I ask the question, "Why do you come to work everyday?," in my seminars I usually get "to sell cars and make money" as the first answer the salespeople give. Then as we discuss it further it always comes down to "I feel like I make a difference" as the main answer. You see, in most cases the reason why salespeople decide to climb out of bed in the morning, their toes touch the floor, and they decide to drive to work is that they feel that they make a difference, both for the dealership and the customer.
I remember doing a sales meeting at a dealership. The Sales Manager took the floor first to address his 20 salespeople. He announced that the dealership sold 150 vehicles this month. Then he quickly announced that their goal for the next month was 175. As he was talking I was looking at the salespeople. They were unusually quiet and attentive. However, as I looked at them they had a glassy eye look. I realized the problem was that the Sales Manager was just talking numbers. He didn't relate how those 20 salespeople made a positive difference for the dealership. All he needed to say was how their sacrifice translated in the success of the dealership. Along with this, they will meet the coming month's challenges only with the talents of our salespeople. So simple, but so rarely done.
These are nine simple tips that will motivate your employees to achieve more with a minimum amount of efforts. Starting today, apply these techniques and you will see a world of difference in your sales team. Remember, "pay" yourself with the rewards now or "pay" yourself with a low performing team later.
To find out more about Mike Whitty and Salesperson, Inc., visit www.mikewhitty.com and www.slpinc.net.
Reprinted with permission from: Mike Whitty and Salesperson, Inc. (800) 453-2787. |
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