Motivation Tips for Success

So the economy is a bit down, orders are slowing down and the pressure is on to meet your revenue goals. Strategizing with your sales team is certainly a good idea. Coming up with creative ways to motivate your sales team is definitely the right way to go. The right amount of nudging might just be what a crestfallen sales person or recruiter might need reinvigorate and start their efforts anew.

Many people and companies think that the only method of motivating sales people is to give them an opportunity to make more money. Salespeople are certainly motivated by money, but other factors come into play. You need to take some of these factors into consideration when working to motivate your sales people.

When trying to motivate sales people it is important to insure that your salespeople understand the vision of the company. Whether you are an individual selling on your own, or you are motivating sales people in a large sales force, it is important that salespeople are able to move toward an empowering vision. The head of the company (or you, if you own the company) must have a strong vision and communicate it to the sales people in a clear and concise manner.

Another important factor in motivating sales people is the culture of the company or organization. Sales people are often motivated by being part of a very strong and a very well understood cultural environment. The vision for the culture of the company must be clearly communicated and demonstrated from the top of the company. If sales people are clearly involved in the company’s culture, it will motivate them more than big paychecks.

Sales people are also strongly motivated by recognition. Public recognition can be a very powerful motivator for sales people. In my company, we motivate our sales people by giving them recognition at events that the whole company attends. This type of recognition can be very powerful in motivating sales people and making them feel more connected to your company.

Regardless, at the end of the day, all motivation is essentially self-motivation. Here are seven very practical, easy-to-follow and helpful self motivation tips and techniques you can use and share to withstand even the most difficult times:

1. Identify and Set Short-term Goals That "Move the Ball” in the Right Direction
Figure out your most pressing and specific goals - reaching established budgets or recovering recent business milestones may seem too far reaching. Focus energies on immediate action and outcomes - once achieved, then celebrate progress and set new objectives. Set, achieve, celebrate and repeat.
2. Create Realistic Timelines
The next logical step is to create deadlines. Even if they are not exact, it gives you a rough timeframe and helps you keep your eye on the prize.
3. Make a Plan
Now that you have your goals clearly stated and timelines appointed, there must be a plan of action for how you will get it all done.
4. Overcome Procrastination
Many people have a hard time with self motivation simply because of their bad habit of procrastination. A major cause of procrastination is usually just feeling overwhelmed, which keeps you from beginning. A buddy-system or networking venue may help coworkers help each other stay motivated.
5. Accept Obstacles
On the road to completing your goals, you will undoubtedly come across obstacles. Though challenges can cause people to lose motivation and quit, if you learn to see them as your teacher, the obstacles will begin to work for you rather than against you.
6. Positive Attitude
Envision yourself reaching goals, even if they are only for the end of the day. As Henry Ford once said, “If you think you can or think you can not—you are probably right.” A positive attitude almost always breeds positive results, but a negative attitude will do just the opposite.
7. Enjoy yourself
Finally, enjoy yourself. While this tip may seem more common sense than other self motivation tips, it is essential.

Times are getting tougher, and you don't want to lose your A players for sure – especially during a slowing economy. There is always need for top talent in a weak economy. When times are hard and average performers are not doing so well, staffing firms seek good performers to weather the downturn.

Managers’ Survey: Interviewees Flunking Etiquette 101

The Find: 59 percent of hiring managers say that job candidates’ manners have deteriorated in recent years.

The Source: A recent survey from Vault.

The Takeaway: With a plethora of sources of advice for interviewees, it seems like, by now, every job seeker should know the interview etiquette basics. But when Vault surveyed over 150 hiring managers, they uncovered a multitude of interview sins. Even that most covered principle of job hunting–dress the part– is often overlooked (or misinterpreted). A full 87 percent of hiring managers have had candidates show up dressed inappropriately. But hiring managers encounter more extreme behavior problems as well:

26 percent have had interviewees answer their cell phones during the interview
43 percent have had candidates use profanity
19 percent have had job seekers show up with a child in tow

It may seem sort of depressing that these etiquette basics need to be gone over again, but it is heartening for businesspeople who have their interview etiquette down cold to be reminded that all those carefully pressed cuffs and polite thank you emails may, in fact, make you stand out.

By Jessica Stillman

Are You Truly Ready to Sell?

Selling is all about preparation. However, you can know your customer’s business (and your own business) up, down and sideways, but if you don’t know the points of leverage — the places where you can influence the customer to buy — you’re not really ready sell.

Scientific research (really!) suggests that if you’ve got six key questions answered in your own head, you’re far more likely to make a sale. They’re generic to all sales situations and provide some touch points to know whether you’ve got the leverage to develop the prospect and close the deal.

1. How can I help this customer? If you truly believe that you can help the prospect, the prospect will feel obligated to say “yes.” Example: if you’re only calling on truly qualified prospects, and you’ve got an offering that you’re sure can do the job, you know that you can help them.
2. What will it cost the customer to not buy? A prospect is more likely to say “yes” if there’s pain and loss connected with saying “no.” If the prospect stands to lose business or opportunity or career points by not buying, you’ve got leverage to make the sale.
3. What are the sources of my authority? A prospect is more likely to say “yes” if he or she believes you are knowledgeable and credible. So be certain that you’ve done everything you can to establish yourself as a credible source that can add value to the conversation.
4. What similar commitments have already been made? A prospect is more likely to say “yes” if they’ve already made public commitments consistent with purchasing. Example: a prospect that’s made a public commitment to increase revenue will buy offerings that help achieve that.
5. Who among the prospect’s peers is already your customer? Prospects believe that saying “yes” entails much less risk if the prospect knows of similar people who have already said “yes.” Make sure that you have reference accounts and sell through referrals whenever possible.
6. What is it about this customer that I can truly like and respect? A prospect is more likely to say “yes” to somebody who is likeable, and likeability is a reflection of your own attitude towards the prospect. So find out what’s special about the prospect, and decide to like and respect it.

By Geoffrey James

Facts Inform, But Passion Moves

Passion is at the top of the list of the skills you need to excel whether you're in sales or any other profession. A salesperson without passion is just an order taker.

If you're in sales, you can have a great product, a tremendous territory and a fabulous marketing campaign, but if you don't have passion, it's hard to make a sale. When you have passion, you speak with conviction, act with authority and present with zeal. When you are excited and passionate about a product-or anything for that matter-people notice. They want in on the action. They want to know what can be so good.

There is no substitute for passion. If you don't have an intense, burning desire for what you are doing, there's no way you'll be able to work the long, hard hours it takes to become successful.

"Make sure that the career you choose is one you enjoy," said Kathy Whitworth, who won 88 LPGA tournaments, more than anyone on the men's or women's professional circuit. I was lucky enough to be in attendance when she won four of them. "If you don't enjoy what you are doing, it will be difficult to give the extra time, effort and devotion it takes to be a success. If it is a career that you find fun and enjoyable, then you will do whatever it takes. You will give freely of your time and effort, and you will not feel that you are making sacrifices in order to be a success."

President Harry Truman once said: "Good work is never done in cold blood; heat is needed to forge anything. Every great achievement is the story of a flaming heart."

Mark Twain was once asked the reason for his success. He said, "I was born excited."

J. Paul Getty, the wealthy oil tycoon, actually ranked passion ahead of imagination, business acumen and ambition as necessary ingredients of business success.

Surround yourself with people who are passionate about their jobs. You'll catch their passion. And remember that you can't be passionate when you feel like it. You have to be passionate about your job, product or cause all the time.

Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-mart, had 10 "Rules for Success." Rule number one was "Commit to your business. Believe in it more than anything else. If you love your work, you'll be out there every day trying to do the best you can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you-like a fever."

Set an example for your co-workers or teammates to be passionate. There's nothing more powerful and more contagious than passion.

By Harvey Mackay