Introduction
Practices that increase the sales of various companies have formed day-to-day responsibilities of any individual serving in the world of business. In response to this, any company that wants to succeed needs to motivate its workers especially with the increasing tough times in the economic systems of different countries in the world. It is the responsibility of the senior management team in a sales organization to find ways of motivating their staffs in order to have their employees perform at good levels. This is mostly required from those to those working in the sales and marketing departments. Motivation of the employees is also a phenomenon applicable for associations and their members. Motivation of the workers is an essential component for all company employees independent of the level in which they are serving but is even more critical for those working in roles that have consequences that are more direct on revenue of the organization, company or any other entity (Guard and Wayne 23). A clear example would be the organizational sales force. Another primary segment that requires motivation is the customer care department. These two departments are crucial and form both form a platform where the customers interact with the representatives of the organization. Dealing with dissatisfied customers day in and day out can be a very demotivating situation. In organizations where the firm deals with production, manufacturing team also falls in this group because the overall quality is impacted by the efforts of people in this group
Job security is not the only way through which a company can motivate its employees particularly the younger ones. Even though it is correct that employees may stay within a company without motivation from the senior management, it does not suggest that these employees will be motivated to do their work at high levels. In fact, the quality of the job done will decrease in this case. This is the main reason through which the companies including sales organizations still need to motivate their employees. This paper discusses various ways through which sales organizations can inspire and motivate their staff on a regular basis. This paper also compares and contrasts these different approaches with a significant emphasis on the advantages and disadvantages of each method. The following are the various ways through which a sales organization can motivate its employees.
Fostering a team environment
Fostering a team environment is a primary way through which a sales organization can motivate its employees. The spirit of teamwork is recognized as a primary way of creating a team attitude that can offer high results. Even if the nature of the sales organization requires that each employee work independently, team spirit is valued since it has a significant advantage towards enhancing shared sales goals and shared business identity. The other advantage of this method is that it enhances communication unlike the incentive method of motivation where each employee works hard independently. This form of motivation also varies from the other forms of motivation such as incentive method since it puts more emphasis on sales conferences, group trainings, team meetings, and social gatherings. One disadvantage of teamwork as a mode of motivating sales team is that when one member cannot leave his or her ego, conflict and resentment usually arise. This may make some of the participants in the sales team to become unwilling to give their perspectives and thus making them intent on either forcing their point of view or not cooperating with others. Increase in the conflict will result to a decrease in innovation and implementation of goals.
Coaching and mentoring sales people
Sales are an evolving role. In the present, sales job is not only about selling but also nurturing relationships with customers. Therefore, the management team should ensure that it nurtures a conducive environment with the sales team. As compared to other forms of motivating the sales team, this method has an advantage in that it improves results quickly. Sales men and women using this approach are able to respond to personal feedback on performance. This method just like the incentive method also provides an opportunity for the management to give praise when it is due and helps the struggling salespeople overcome the challenges, as well. One disadvantage of this method is that it relies too much on high quality coaching methods. Without an efficient coaching, the method stands a little or no chance of success. Unlike the incentive program where individuals work hard in order to receive a reward, this method offers no tangible benefit and, therefore, few employees will be willing to put it into the application.
Giving incentives and appreciating the hardworking members
This method is considered the most effective means of motivating the sales team. This method involves recognizing excellence with a reward. This can be done by rewarding employees with material things such as gifts, cash, and plaques of appreciation among other things. Whether the management implements some of these offers or all of them. The method requires that the sales team members be motivated continually to yield better results. One disadvantage of this method is that its costly to the sales organization. Therefore, the organization must calculate whether it can afford to give incentives to the sales men and women who perform well in their job.
The other disadvantage of this method is that it often brings out the issues of unfairness and jealousy unlike the other methods where incentives are not given. Since incentives are given out in several different forms such as incentives for meeting goals, profit sharing, or end of the year best performer, some sales people who have never received incentives may feel sidelined. Performance and profit sharing incentives are usually earned by the employee himself. This may make some of the employees to become jealous of the employee who has the good fortune. However, this method is considered the best method of motivating the employees. This is because each employee will be willing to outdo the fellow employees in order to be rewarded with the incentive at the end. This, in turn, brings a healthy competition between the sales people and thus generally leading to a higher performance by the organization.
Giving employees the tools, they need to succeed
This form of motivation requires that the organization provide the sales team with updated sales tool. This may include sales tracking tools, Customer relationship management tools and order fulfillment tools that help salespeople do their job. The management should also ensure that they upgrade these tools in order to help the staff become better at what they do (Howard 245). The continuous efforts of improving the processes translate into a team that is able to continuously improve its performance. As compared to the other forms of motivation such as incentives, this method of motivation is cheaper since sales tools can be achieved through market research. In fact, this method is even cheaper than coaching and training the sales men and women. One of the immense disadvantages of this method is that it requires a lot of time to implement, and at time the sales tool may change and, therefore, rendering the method incapable of responding well.
Creating a friendly competition
Sales clerks and women tend to become more competitive by nature especially when motivated through money. Establishing some internal competitions can go a long way to inspire high results. This can also be a grand way to enhance teamwork and collaboration between different levels of management and the sales team. In fact, regular contests can bring a significant difference in the mindset and the morale of the sales team. This method is an efficient method as compared to coaching and provision of sales tools. However, just like providing incentives to the best performers, this method is expensive as it requires the company to use more money in funding of these competitions. This method is, however, highly applicable in many sales organizations.
Conclusion
As a method of organizational motivation, it is good to have a group of inspiring company managers and leaders who can motivate their staff. Achieving the best in any organization requires a teamwork spirit between the leaders and the sales team. Apart from the team spirit, there should also be motivation of the employees. Motivation is a feature that stimulates the sales team to act towards a desired goal or objective. Motivation is also critical in sustaining certain goal-directed behaviors.
Works Cited
Guard, Julie, and Wayne Andrew Antony. Organization Motivation Theory. Halifax: Fernwood Publications, 2009. Print.
Howard, David G. Motivation. California: Sage Publications, 2009. Print.
