| Motivational sales training as a discipline is highly | | | | kind of time or training) rather than motivational |
| suspect. Very often, no analytics are applied to | | | | training.b. A process takes time, you sir, don't |
| these programs to determine whether they | | | | have the patience (it requires slight edge coaching, |
| deliver ROI. Over the past few decades, some | | | | and you are a sales performance administrator - |
| movements that began outside the sales | | | | sales managers don't coach, and often don't lead - |
| management field have crept insidiously into sales | | | | they preside). |
| training methodology and have given rise to the | | | | It takes a lot of coaching, counseling, training and |
| financial abuse that often passes for motivational | | | | monitoring for a person to evolve to the |
| sales training. | | | | realization that fuels self-motivation. It is most |
| 1. Human Performance Movement Deceptions | | | | often outside the scope of a sales manager's job |
| Long established motivational research has | | | | or ability. It can only be consistently achieved in a |
| repeatedly pointed to the futility of extrinsic | | | | larger context of a culture that supports in-depth |
| motivation and the dominance of intrinsic | | | | coaching and training as well as brutally honest |
| motivation. However, other movements in popular | | | | dialogue. |
| culture have largely determined the types of | | | | 4. Paradigm shifts and motivation are in the |
| investments that sales training programs have | | | | details. |
| made in motivational sales training. | | | | The most successful coaches of all time all had an |
| 2. Extrinsic Motivation Does Not Work | | | | eye for the greatest detail, and coached the |
| In place of a well thought out strategic process | | | | minutest corrections until the proper adjustments |
| that incorporates everything from how | | | | were made. This is how all great coaching occurs. |
| salespeople are hired, to how well they are | | | | Unfortunately, many sales managers have poor |
| trained, managers opt for the bribe as motivation. | | | | coaching skills and end up exacerbating an already |
| While these may work in very short time | | | | trying situation. |
| horizons, the numbers show that over time, they | | | | 5. Identifying and removing De-motivators is more |
| are absolutely limited as means of motivating a | | | | effective than any motivational training. |
| salesforce. | | | | As a substitute for the standard motivational |
| Motivation that works and that lasts is based on a | | | | sales training, I recommend a systematic review |
| set of logical and mutually reinforcing beliefs and | | | | of your marketing and sales process. Does your |
| ideas on the part of the motivated person. For a | | | | core marketing message align with everything |
| salesperson who displays a relative lack of | | | | else you portray to the customer? Does it |
| motivation to suddenly snap out of it takes a | | | | represent a beneficial value proposition to them? |
| massive paradigm shift - or a major triggering | | | | Are the targeted clients and leads a proper fit? |
| event. | | | | Does the sales process maximize the use of |
| 3. Paradigm shifts are multi-layered (Intellectual, | | | | selling time instead of burdening down the sales |
| emotional, psychological) | | | | professionals with outdated selling methods that |
| The sorts of paradigm shifts that bring about | | | | trap them into low performance? |
| significant changes in a person's motivational profile | | | | As you continue to work on identifying and |
| are not based on a "good seminar" or good | | | | removing de-motivators, you may find that you |
| "motivational presentation". They take place | | | | get more than a few improvements in behavior |
| block-by-block, step-by-step. They require some | | | | and in performance from formerly "weak" team |
| of the following:a. A process based on robust | | | | members. |
| dialog (sales managers often do not have that | | | | |