There are many reasons why you need to up the motivation for your inside sales team. It could be a summer slump, an overworked team, or you could be in the midst of a crisis, like the global pandemic that hit the world in the Spring of 2020. Sales is stressful in normal times, but any of these small or large issues can send your team into a tailspin. How can you keep them connected, motivated, and successful, no matter the issue at hand?
Watch for Burnout
Burnout is prevalent among sales teams and something challenging to come back from. Watch for the signs among your team: restlessness, inability to focus, fatigue, and general lack of motivation. You can avoid burnout by taking actions like enforcing working hours and setting realistic goals. Keeping your team “on the job” from 10 am-6 pm, 8 am-4 pm, or whatever times you define means they won’t be tempted to work into the night and feel overburdened. Setting achievable benchmarks make it easy for your team to feel accomplished and take a break from work once they’ve reached their daily or weekly goal.
Encourage Healthy Competition
The distinction between healthy and unhealthy competition is important here. You want team members to challenge each other, not cut each other down. Avoid pitting salespeople against one another or having a “dog eat dog” atmosphere. If your team thinks missing a goal means a demotion, they’ll only be motivated by fear.
Inspire positive competition by celebrating monthly successes, even if it’s as simple as a 10% increase in time on the phone. Provide non-performance related outlets as well, like a competition around steps per day to encourage mental and physical health.
Communicate More
When a crisis hits, your team looks to you for direction. Now is not the time for you to go dark. Up your communication with virtual town halls, lunch and learn sessions, more frequent “all hands” meetings, and a push for weekly communication between individuals and their manager, supervisor, or coach. Be clear and transparent in your conversations when it comes to guiding your team. Tell them what you know, what you don’t, and what you plan to do about any impending issues. Then, sit back and listen.
Re-Establish Processes and Systems
Uncertain times can produce anxiety, and anxiety can translate into chaotic work. You may see your team falling short on quotas and missing opportunities more than usual. Now is the time to re-establish your sales processes, including leveraging technology, to track and improve performance. This process structure makes it easier for your team to get their head back in the game.
Understand Your Team
It’s important to have a grasp on how your team is doing, overall, and on an individual level. Have a dedicated sales support role to track and analyze data, providing insights on things like the most effective contact time and the best time to set meetings. This support role can also work with individuals, meeting with them one-on-one to see where they’re struggling and provide non-judgmental support to improve their performance.
Foster Connection
You may think communication is the same as connection. But it’s possible to communicate with your team without fostering a real connection. If you’re just spewing information without listening or providing little space for conversation, you lack the connection needed to keep your team healthy and successful. Provide time before or after meetings for more open-ended, non-business talk. Host virtual happy hours or trivia events. Give your team time to “get together” the best you can to keep that feeling of support that drives success.
Fill in Your Gaps
Whether you’re a seasoned team looking for more opportunities or an early-stage group in need of selling systems and infrastructure, get the solutions you need from the experts at NuGrowth. We provide the people, tools, and strategy you need to fill in your business development gaps and get your team prepped for success.
Discover what NuGrowth can bring to your sales environment. From a customized tech stack to targeted, no contract outreach campaigns, we have the tools and expertise you need to make life more manageable for your team, setting you up for success.
Get in touch with our experts. Contact us at 614.304.3917 or fill out this simple contact form to find out more.
Sarah Deak is a veteran copywriter and content strategist with NuGrowth Solutions. She likes to look for the unexpected angle and uses her background in education, business development, and marketing to create interesting and informative pieces to equip readers with actionable data