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Motivational sales training as a discipline is highly suspect. Very often, no analytics are applied to these programs to determine whether they deliver ROI. Over the past few decades, some movements that began outside the sales management field have crept insidiously into sales training methodology and have given rise to the financial abuse that often passes for motivational sales training.

1. Human Performance Movement Deceptions

Long established motivational research has repeatedly pointed to the futility of extrinsic motivation and the dominance of intrinsic motivation. However, other movements in popular culture have largely determined the types of investments that sales training programs have made in motivational sales training.

2. Extrinsic Motivation Does Not Work

In place of a well thought out strategic process that incorporates everything from how salespeople are hired, to how well they are trained, managers opt for the bribe as motivation. While these may work in very short time horizons, the numbers show that over time, they are absolutely limited as means of motivating a salesforce.

Motivation that works and that lasts is based on a set of logical and mutually reinforcing beliefs and ideas on the part of the motivated person. For a salesperson who displays a relative lack of motivation to suddenly snap out of it takes a massive paradigm shift – or a major triggering event.

3. Paradigm shifts are multi-layered (Intellectual, emotional, psychological)

The sorts of paradigm shifts that bring about significant changes in a person’s motivational profile are not based on a “good seminar” or good “motivational presentation”. They take place block-by-block, step-by-step. They require some of the following:

a. A process based on robust dialog (sales managers often do not have that kind of time or training) rather than motivational training.

b. A process takes time, you sir, don’t have the patience (it requires slight edge coaching, and you are a sales performance administrator – sales managers don’t coach, and often don’t lead – they preside).

It takes a lot of coaching, counseling, training and monitoring for a person to evolve to the realization that fuels self-motivation. It is most often outside the scope of a sales manager’s job or ability. It can only be consistently achieved in a larger context of a culture that supports in-depth coaching and training as well as brutally honest dialogue.

4. Paradigm shifts and motivation are in the details.

The most successful coaches of all time all had an eye for the greatest detail, and coached the minutest corrections until the proper adjustments were made. This is how all great coaching occurs. Unfortunately, many sales managers have poor coaching skills and end up exacerbating an already trying situation.

5. Identifying and removing De-motivators is more effective than any motivational training.

As a substitute for the standard motivational sales training, I recommend a systematic review of your marketing and sales process. Does your core marketing message align with everything else you portray to the customer? Does it represent a beneficial value proposition to them?

Are the targeted clients and leads a proper fit? Does the sales process maximize the use of selling time instead of burdening down the sales professionals with outdated selling methods that trap them into low performance?

As you continue to work on identifying and removing de-motivators, you may find that you get more than a few improvements in behavior and in performance from formerly “weak” team members.

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Driving a sale can be a pretty difficult task. Rather than selling a product you have to sell an idea. This requires sales motivation. For this reason, the champion salesperson of any organization is among the most highly respected people in the corporate rung and looked up for sales motivation. Well! Sale and finance may never see head to head but finance team knows that each structural planning may turn out to be a farce if there is not the right kind of sale push driven by motivation.

As a sales person, if you want your company to do well, then ensure that your motivation is on a high. Motivated salesmen do a far better job of selling products. Let’s take up a few ways of enhancing motivation.

Always look to learn- never be shy of the learning process, the more you become aware, the more you become confident and determined, it will give fillip to the sale process and add to motivation.

Improvise- do not always follow the herd mentality. Look to improvise on certain occasions. Think beyond the box for sales motivation

Carry burdens on your shoulder- try taking more onus than being expected of you. Once you feel responsibility, you will automatically feel like being part of the system and will be driven by motivation.

Try making meaningful contributions- if you contribute in real essence, your self esteem will rise. This will motivate you towards more sales providing you sales motivation.

Do not look for reward, they will come – though rewards are always attached to labor, you look to the labor part of the job. Unselfish labor reaps the biggest rewards in regards to motivation.

Look for a sense of purpose to drive sales motivation – if you have a direction and a focus, if you know which way to make the leap, then you will stand a better chance of doing well through sales motivation.

Make short term goals for sales motivation- short-term goals are higher on perspective; you can concentrate more and create more planned avenues. Once there is method, there will have motivation and you will make a decent job of the sale process.

Be a team person driven by motivation – if you are part of the team dynamics you learn to assume collective responsibilities. This helps in feeling like a person with some task on hand. Of course, such a feeling is a great for motivation.

For motivation look at the macro idea of a plan- look for the bigger picture. Your vision will drive you towards sales motivation.

Don’t shy away from risks- if you be a rabbit, the cat will jump from behind. Be a tiger on the prowl. Take your risks; the feeling of adventure will provide you with sales motivation.

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