“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.”
~ Buddha
The inside sales modification of Buddha’s wisdom? “There are only two mistakes a salesperson can make along the road to success; not going all the way, and not starting.”
One key to keep salespeople going all the way and to unlock self-motivation on your team is to inspire them with their own intrinsic motivation. That will keep them moving toward the finish line when things are difficult. It will get them started on their personal inside sales success path.
Because you are inspiring individual salespeople it may appear to be odd to discuss team inspiration.
To inspire self-motivation on your team every salesperson must feel they are part of the vision. You need to create a way that each person can insert their own intrinsic motivation into the success puzzle picture you’re putting together.
Here are a few ways inside sales managers have found effective for team inspiration:
Generalities: Choose a generic description for a goal or reward that multiple salespeople have shared they feel is important. Perhaps there is a group on your team who each have big events coming up (wedding, birth of a child, graduations, etc.). It doesn’t have to be the same big event to use that to inspire self-motivation.
Questions: Instead of telling the team something, some managers find that questions inspire their team. Two examples are:
- How will ______ help you achieve your goals?
- What is this doing for insert their intrinsic motivator?
Reminders: In the conversations you have with your team, sprinkle in ideas the individuals on your team have for their own motivation. Again, you can be general and not share whose internal motivation you are talking about. Yet getting people to share the public face of their motivation can work as well.
Quotes: This section started off with a quote from Buddha. Standing on its own, it may or may not have been tied to your conceptualization of inspiration and self-motivation. Always remember to make the quote relevant to your team by sharing what the quote means in the context of the conversation you are having.
“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”
~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
The goal is to create an environment of self-motivation on your team. Self-motivation will get the inside salespeople on your team to do something you want done because they want to do it. They see how it will help them achieve their own goals and satisfy their intrinsic motivators.
Regardless of what external factors are happening outside the team, whether inside or outside the company, on the team each inside salesperson must believe that their intrinsic motivation is important and personal goals achievable.
Their success has to tie in and help the team’s success.
This isn’t easy!
As their leader you must consistently demonstrate your own self-motivation. Give the team an opportunity to catch you walking the walk.
As their manager you have to look for chances to encourage self-motivation and congratulate the inside salespeople on your team when they are doing a good job.
Ironically, if they are self-motivated, the inside salespeople on your team don’t seem to need celebration. As their leader and manager, you can’t become complacent by their self-motivated success.
The less critical the motivation piece of your job feels, the more important it is to keep up your motivation efforts with the team. It is important to remember that although an individual salesperson may have the intrinsic motivation, that doesn’t necessarily indicate they BELIEVE they can achieve their goals.
Satisfying internal motivators is difficult and as inside salespeople hit roadblocks to their personal success, they will need you to help them to continue their self-motivation habits.
The key is to help them continue to inspire themselves.
Motivationally yours,
Lynn
ps: Not sure how to have coaching conversations to uncover the people’s intrinsic motivators? Not sure what your own are? Click reply and let’s schedule a conversation!
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