National Sales Center

Discover How To Get Sales Training Motivation To Work

I hear the term “sales training motivation” a lot and always find it a bit confusing. Sales training and motivation training are two different topics. Motivation training is about building a desire to increase sales activity. Sales training is about turning that increased activity into increased commissions by improving sales skills.

That said, since the term is used so often, let’s stay with sales training motivation. My primary practice is sales training however I do find requests for my motivational training presentations. My thoughts about both subjects are different than most and I’ll share them with you in this post.

Successful salespeople are intelligent and quick thinkers. For that reason, sales training motivation for the sake of motivation has to be real and packed with power. Some empty “success mantra” either never works or is short lived. Salespeople need tangible reasons to believe tomorrow will be better than today. That message must be delivered with power for it to successfully work.

Companies that approach me about sales training motivation with a focus on motivation often have some internal factors that are de-motivating their salespeople. Consider the following…

• Recent reduction in commission rates
• Price increases
• Reduction in sales support and resources
• High rep and management turnover
• New micro management direction

Considering the above, do you think a pep talk in a sales training motivation presentation will turn things around? For that reason, I often ask management teams why they feel they need sales training motivation and I then dig to uncover if factors like those mentioned above exist. My goal is to get the sales leadership team to begin removing de-motivators factors and conditions before they invest money on sales training motivation.

Management teams often request sales training motivation in hopes of motivating sales reps to achieve corporate goals. Salespeople get out of bed in the morning to achieve their own goals not some other person’s goals. The key is to show salespeople how they can achieve their own goals. That’s corporate sales training at it’s best!

For example, a rep’s goal may be to earn $200,000 in the next 12 months. The sales manager should develop an activity plan for that rep so that the rep knows what needs to be accomplished so the rep can achieve their goal of earning $200,000. That’s sales training motivation at it’s best because it’s focused on the reps goals and not the manager’s goals.

As mentioned, sales training and motivation training are quite different yet sales training motivation that focuses on improving sales skills can be very motivating. Reps are always anxious to start using their new skills in the field because their new skills represent tangible evidence that tomorrow will be better than yesterday.

When seeking sales training motivation, never overlook the motivating power behind solid sales training programs. Some programs focus on improving sales skills as they relate to the sales process. Other programs focus on sales prospecting techniques or introduce reps to new sales strategies. Give reps new tools and you’ll find them anxious to use those tools to improve their standard of living. Isn’t that what sales training motivation is all about in the first place?

I wish you great sales success!

Nick

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Tags: Sales Training