June 4, 2019, 9:46 PM
3 Min Read
Being a sales rep in the security industry is a tough job. It involves long hours on the road, countless prospect meetings with endless questions, and the strong chance of rejection. After weeks or months of exhaustive days, maintaining a positive attitude can become increasingly challenging.
Business owners and sales managers must recognize keeping your sales team positive with a motivated attitude is what will set you apart from other security companies. However, fostering this type of attitude isn’t always easy, especially if you can’t afford to increase salary or commission.
Good news is there are 4 things you can do to motivate your sales team without having to spend any extra money!
Communicate Effectively
It is imperative that Sales and operations teams work together. Sales can only succeed if operations is building a good reputation for the company, and operations can only succeed if Sales is bringing in new clients who hold appropriate expectations.
In order for Sales and operations to work cohesively, the teams must communicate on a regular basis. This can be as simple as cross-functional team meetings every month or setting meetings between the sales rep and operations personnel who are working with the client to ensure the client’s needs are met.
Communication is also important when something goes wrong. Let’s say an issue occurs on-site that the client is unhappy about. They approach their Operations Point-of-Contact (PoC), but the Operations PoC doesn’t communicate the incident with the sales rep. This may cause an issue when the sales rep approaches the client to renew their contract.
Each member of your security company that has contact with a client should be well-informed about what is happening with that client. This will cause less frustration with your teams and clients, driving motivation and contract renewals.
Compliment Often
Just as it’s important for your teams to communicate with each other, it’s important that you, as the business owner or sales manager, communicate with your sales team, particularly providing compliments when they are successful.
Sales reps love closing big deals so give them a chance to share their excitement with you. Allow this to be an open discussion where the sales rep can talk through their process with you. It’s a great opportunity to talk about what it took to close the deal, pain-points, and potential tips for other sales team members.
Harness Competition
Sales teams tend to be competitive, and of course, the commission structure tends to fuel that competitive drive. Performance-based rewards for those that meet sales goals can be a strong motivator.
Performance-based rewards should not take precedence over team-communication though. It’s important to have a balance of healthy competition and team communication.
Ultimately, each member of the company should be working for the greater goal of advancing your security business. Sharing tips and tricks on how a rep won a deal can benefit everyone.
Low-Cost Incentives
One of the toughest parts about being a sales rep is the time spent on the road away from family. It can cause a strain between your employee and their family when they are gone for the majority of the day and then need to take a deal-closing call as family dinner is being set.
The added frustration and stress of an unhappy family can wreck a sales rep’s driven spirit.
A few paid days off can be a great incentive. It will allow the sales rep the time to catch up with their family and reset. Helping a traveling employee create work/life balance can make all the difference when trying to close bigger, better security company contracts.
Don’t Forget...
I've built a lot of sales teams over the years, and I’ve learned that everyone needs support. You can’t just hire a Business Development Manager and expect them to take care of everything on the sales side.
Stay involved. Treat your sales team well. And finally, give them clearly defined targets and quality marketing tools so they can do their job well.
