Last week we began a discussion on the fascinating and complex topic of motivating salespeople by looking at several models of motivation, some of which are specific to the sales function. If you will allow me to treat salesforce compensation as a separate matter, then we will conclude our discussion on motivating salespeople today.

Tom Ingram and Buddy LaForge, perhaps my favourite sales management researchers, speak of six guidelines for motivating and rewarding salespeople as follows:

1. Recruit and select salespeople whose personal motives match the requirements and rewards of the job. The importance of matching the abilities and needs of sales recruits to the requirements and rewards of the job cannot be overstated. This is especially critical for sales managers who have little opportunity to change job dimensions and reward structures. Investing more time in recruitment and selection to ensure a good match is likely to pay off later in terms of lower turnover, and fewer motivational and other managerial problems.

2. Attempt to incorporate the individual needs of salespeople into motivational programmes. At the heart of the complexity of motivation is the concept of individual needs. The demographics of the workforce can be diverse, with individuals at different stages in their personal and work lives, each with varying interests and influences. Because one size fits one, where possible, individual consideration should be taken into account when motivating and rewarding salespeople.

3. Provide adequate job information and ensure proper skill development for the salesforce. Today’s salespeople must have high skill levels and be well equipped with the right information to do their jobs well. If sales managers train their people properly and give them the right information, salespeople can see how their efforts lead to the desired results. If salespeople’s understanding of how their efforts produce results is consistent with that of the sales manager, reasonable goals can be set that allow performance worthy of rewards.

4. Use job design and redesign as motivational tools. Most sales jobs allow the use of a wide range of skills and abilities; boredom is thus not a typical problem. And given the unique contributions of personal selling to the organisation, salespeople can readily see that their jobs are critical to the organisation’s success. Most salespeople have considerable latitude in determining work priorities and thus experience more freedom on the job than do many other employees. Finally, feedback from sales managers or through self-monitoring is readily available. In many ways, the motivational task is easier for sales managers than for other managers. The sales job itself can be a powerful motivator.

5. Concentrate on building the self-esteem of salespeople. Sales managers increase salesforce motivation by building salespeople’s self-esteem. Not tearing them down. Positive reinforcement for good performance should be standard procedure. (We all do it with our kids and our pets!) This may be done with formal or informal communications or recognition programmes designed to spotlight good performance. When performance is less than satisfactory, it should not be overlooked but addressed in a constructive manner.

6. Take a proactive approach to seeking out motivational problems and sources of frustration in the salesforce. Sales managers should be committed to uncovering potential problems in motivation and eliminating them before they develop.

You will realise from the above that the sales manager is at the centre of salesforce motivation. That’s the peculiarity of their job, for unlike some other managers they’ve got no where to hide. They either made their numbers or they did not. And they can’t make aggressive numbers unless their team is motivated.

Big-ups to all you top-performing sales managers out there, for nothing happens until your people sell something!

Herman D Alvaranga is president of the Caribbean School of Sales Management. You may contact him at hdalvaranga@cssm.edu.jm