Sales Training - Searching Deep Behind Self-Motivation

A majority of sales reps grapple with self-motivation on a regular basis. Even the most successful reps sometimes struggle to keep doing the little things that are critical to their success, so one can imagine the constant battle within for the average performers. Just one or two months of missing quota can rear its ugly head and gather negative momentum. The reps might begin to doubt themselves which of course leads to loss of confidence and self-belief. Furthermore automatic negative thoughts inside their head spurred by rejection and anxiety brings down their enthusiasm all together decreasing their overall chances of success.

Sales managers must dig deep to evaluate how their sales reps deal with motivation when they fail to hit their goals. It's critical that the reps learn patience if they are not successful. Knowing their past history when things don't go their way is also important. Emotions play a huge part in determining self-motivation. The sales manager should ask questions relating to the rep's feelings and state of mind during past challenges. They must understand how the rep truly feels when he fails to meet his goals and connect the dots with prior behavioral patterns. Some struggling sales reps may become too overcome by past failures to push forward with the necessary enthusiasm.

It's the nature of the beast that certain actions taken by senior management in the form of verbal warnings may further de-motivate the reps. It then becomes imperative for the sales manager to turn that negative action into positive by any means possible. One way to transfer the negative into a positive outcome is to connect the sales rep passion with his true motivation. Senior management can learn to create a positive environment that can fuel the rep's creative juices to work his way out of the slump.

Focusing on the true source of their sales team's motivation will allow senior management to tailor the incentives and rewards programs accordingly. If sales managers truly understand what gets their sales team blood pumping, then you can get them bought into the required action steps. When sales reps learn to maintain their motivation through ups and downs, they are more likely to be successful when seeking to work themselves out of a sales slump. Reps need to have their confidence boosted when they encounter slower sales, not de-motivating factors. Managers should not under-estimate the ability of the sales rep to search deep within to come up with solutions to get themselves back on the right track to consistent success.