How to motivate your sales team to close more deals

It is worth your time and effort to understand what motivates your team of salespeople, because your business relies on them to generate revenue. Your sales people and the revenue they bring in are the life of your business. Your sales team must have good presentation and communication skills, along with a strong belief in the company.

One method to motivate your sales team is with an incentive program.A good incentive program must have three critical components. It must be understandable, measurable, and achievable. If the program lacks any of these components it will quickly become confusing and counterproductive. Hold a meeting with your sales team. State the sales incentive program in clear terms and put it in writing. Make sure each member of your sales team understands the program thoroughly. When deciding what the reward will be, make sure it is in relation to the sales goal. The higher goals deserve higher rewards. Some rewards you may want to consider are an all expense paid, seven-day trip for a family to the Bahamas or Disneyland. If this seems to costly, take into consideration the cost of such a trip is only a mere fraction of the generated sales, the increased revenue will have paid for it. Restaurant gift certificates, concert tickets, or sporting events could be smaller rewards. To come up with some creative reward ideas, find out what each member of the team is interested in and what types of activities they enjoy in their free time.

If possible, pay your sales people a decent base salary on top of their commission. This is another way to motivate your sales team to close more deals. Sales people working on commission alone creates stress and often times leads to burnout and a high turnover. A more balanced approach can help you retain top talent, but reaching a right balance between a base salary and rate of commission may not be an easy task.

Another effective method to motivate your sales people is to offer competitive benefits. By providing your sales people with a completive benefits package that includes health insurance, a retirement plan, vacation and sick time is a great way to show your appreciation for your team.

Provide your sales team with the proper training and encourage them to grow and develop professionally. Encourage them to expand and develop their skills and training by offering classes and related courses. Don't set your people up for failure by setting goals that cannot be achieved. Your sales people should have a clear understanding of what is expected of them, and what their sales goal is.

Try to maintain an open-door policy. Be available for any sales person to share their concerns or opinions. If your team does not feel they can talk openly with your about issues or provide feedback, you may find a very low morale. To maintain a high morale, openly communicate with your team. Encourage each individual to provide input and feedback, without criticism. Show your sales people you appreciate and respect their opinions. Open communication with your sales team provides a positive work environment for everyone. A positive work environment, can then motivate your sales team to close more deals.

Offer your sale people the proper training so that they have confidence and assertiveness before they are put out on the sales floor. The training offered should include:

• the ethics of selling


• body language


• note taking


• presenting information


• coping with difficult situations


• developing creative thinking

Offer your sales people continuous training to further develop their sales skills.