Many of you have heard me repeatedly talk about the importance of driving healthy motivation among our sellers.
To reiterate a concept that we mentioned a few months ago in this series, the motivational level of a sales team represents, according to experts, at least eighty-five percent of the possibility of its success.
Success, within this context, translates into a staff with greater satisfaction for their job, with better interpersonal relationships, more communicative and innovative and more willing to provide a first-rate service to clients. In short, having a motivated sales team is a good business for any company, because it means higher sales and greater overall productivity.
Human nature, and the very dynamics of organizations, suggests that sooner or later, hopefully or not, some of our valued salespeople will suffer deterioration in their motivational level… and then you, the Sales Manager, will have, so to speak, than "go to the rescue."
That's what this article is about. We are going to try to convey some key concepts about the rescue of the unmotivated seller (and every worker), and also some practical techniques of easy application, that will help to put that person back on the right and desirable lane.
Mind you, let us clarify something from the start. We are going to talk about the good seller who, for some reason, goes into a "tailspin" and falls into inadequate levels of demotivation. In other words, people who have noticeably lowered their motivation.
The clarification is worth it, because sometimes we confuse what is demotivation, with what is insubordination. It is a fact that sometimes demotivation can go to the extreme of insubordination, but generally insubordination is another story. An insubordinate seller is one who is generally considered negative, not very participative, not very collaborative and who even performs actions contrary to the instructions of his boss, or that goes against the interests of the team and the company.
So let's focus on the unmotivated seller.
What are the symptoms? Definitely many! As we accumulate experience as Sales Managers, we are developing a “good eye” to identify members of our team who become unmotivated.
Some will start to be late and even have high levels of absenteeism. Others will withdraw at meetings, or make pessimistic remarks about the company, its programs, or people. Others will show with their body language little interest in what we say or what other classmates try to convey to them. All of them, among many others, can be translated into demotivation.
And the most obvious symptom could manifest itself in unreached sales quotas, in the seller's "excusitis", in customers complaining about poor service, or in a marked deterioration of the seller's personal curve.
Or let's look at it backwards. The positively motivated person looks enthusiastic, energetic, agile. Her comments focus more on possibilities than limitations. They try to do a little more than what is expected of them. They propose solutions, not just point the problems.
They are optimistic about the future of the company. The absence of these qualities in a member of our team can be a symptom of this fearsome work and social illness.
Identify the cause of the demotivation:
A first action to successfully undertake the task of rescuing a unmotivated seller is to understand the cause of their demotivation.
We know that our staff is made up of integral beings, who have other interests, other facets of experience, beyond work.
What was said before "I left the problems of the house at the door of the office" is unreal. You and I both know it. If there are problems in the worker's home, that person will reflect them in some way at work. Perhaps you will be concerned, your production will drop, and you will make more mistakes. O Maybe he will become irritable and his relationship with the team will deteriorate.
So, in this case, our primary job as leaders of a sales team is to try to identify the possible cause or causes of demotivation.
If we determine that the trigger is outside the office, for example at home, our role as "counselors" will come into play. But if we determine that the cause is related to work, it is there where we have the greatest responsibility for the rescue to be effective.
Possible reasons for demotivation:
The Sales University has made repeated measurements on the general factors that motivate and demotivate the salesmen of the companies.
Some are general factors - sometimes difficult to solve, let's accept it - but others, the majority, have in us, in our leadership, the possibility of managing themselves.
For example, a person might become unmotivated for taking a look back at their career and feeling that they have made little progress. That is, feeling stuck in a position, perhaps with little chance of effective upward mobility, is one of the most common reasons for demotivation, especially in the seller who feels that she has tried hard.
Poor relationships with peers are also a cause of demotivation. If a salesman has maintained cordial or normal relations with a circle of colleagues, and suddenly they suffer deterioration… the demotivation may arise.
Let's keep in mind that one of the most motivating factors is the good relationship with your team.
Unfair workloads is also a factor worth evaluating. The theory of motivation teaches us that everyone expects to find justice within their work nucleus.
If the person perceives that they are performing functions for which they are not remunerated, or if they conclude that he or she is overloaded with work, while other colleagues - perhaps less contributory than he - are not, definitely the Manager of Sales must face cycles of strong demotivation.
The causes can be multiple, or only one. Every case is different. But it is necessary to identify them before trying a recovery treatment. Like a doctor, you as chief must diagnose the cause of the demotivation as exactly as possible, and based on that knowledge, propose the recovery strategy.
It is worth remembering that postponing the resolution of one of these cases is not necessarily the best solution. Obviously, it is not that you, at the slightest hint of demotivation, are going to resort to "direct intervention", no. This would rather be "burning" credibility and downplay the action in the most important cases.
But it is also true that when you have determined that there is a problem to be solved, it is better not to postpone it. Problems of this nature that remain without intervention do not tend to resolve on their own, but rather to worsen, to complicate. A state of demotivation "badly cured", like a cold, tends to reappear at the moment when we least expect it.
On the other hand, a unmotivated salesperson, especially in a case that lasts for a certain time, tends to "contaminate" the other colleagues with his mood.
Possibly at first he will reserve the causes for himself, but because by nature the person needs to communicate - even as a way to release tensions - he will begin to voice his complaints and perceptions more often, and perhaps other colleagues will join him. its cause. This is another very important reason not to postpone when there is a need for an intervention.
How do we get into the situation?
Through the number one resource of management and effective leadership: Communication. You will probably have heard comments from other colleagues regarding erratic or overtly inappropriate behavior of that seller. Based on them, you will have determined that “something is happening” and perhaps even begin to reach conclusions about the causes.
Or perhaps you have been the primary observer of the behavior and decided that "something needs to be done" to return that person to his or her usual positive state. But in either of the above two ways of determining the situation, you will be relying primarily on guesswork.
Solution? Instead of working on conjectures and assumptions, we better get into the situation directly. Let's call the seller to a private session and tell him about what we are getting. There are countless cases in which we are surprised by the true cause of the demotivation, and we realize that it had nothing to do with what we had supposed. So the personal interview is decisive.
Identification of Motivational Values:
An interesting and necessary task for everyone who has human resources under their charge is that they must periodically carry out Motivational Values Identification sessions.
It is an individual and private meeting with each vendor in our unit, preventive (that is, before a crisis level arrives) in which we will identify a series of key motivational aspects for that particular individual. We asked him, for example, what do you like most about working in your position and what do you like least? We try to find out what your development expectations are, who you feel works best with as a team, what you like to learn the most.
Refreshing our notes on that vendor's Motivational Factsheet prior to meeting with him will help us guide the conversation. Do you see why it is very important to carry out the motivational values session periodically?
Focus on the situation, not the person:
Suppose, then, that you already decided to enter the situation directly, and summoned the seller to your office. Keep your goal in mind at all times.
You are a strategist. You know that the human resource you have at the forefront is a valuable element of productivity and contribution to the organization. What happens is that, for some reason, at this moment it has been "miscalibrated" a little.
Your goal then is to "recalibrate" the seller and bring him back to the previous level or to the desirable level of attitude and performance. This is key. Your goal is not to scold, your goal is not to make the seller feel bad, your goal is not to scare with penalties or put the person in a defensive frame of mind. His goal, remember it well, is to recover it as smoothly and healthily in favor of the company.
That being the case, it is important that you focus on the situation, not the person.
That way you can be tough on the situation and friendly to the person.
How is it done? Trying to remind the person of the great value they have for the sales department and for the company, reminding them that their attitude and behavior have been different in the past, and trying to pose the current situation only as a transient, manageable state of mind, surmountable.
In all of this, the seller must feel in you a leader genuinely interested in listening to you, not someone who seeks to manipulate or take advantage of him. The essence must come first, the human being, the person… then, almost in addition, the situation arises and the benefit for all… including the company.
So from the beginning of the conversation try to show yourself to that unmotivated salesperson as an open, communicative, impartial boss.
Be specific about what you are looking for:
Once you have established the course of the conversation, and it has become clear that what you are looking for is a solution that will have the dignity and well-being of the individual as a value, it is important, now, that you are specific about the case.
Being indirect, beating around the bush, trying to garnish too much exposure to undesirable behavior, may rather lead to a breakdown in the communication process. Clarify communication. State clearly, specifically, what you have noticed in the person as an undesirable attitude or behavior, explain how this is affecting the entire team and the performance of the unit, and ask the person to speak out in relation to it.
Just saying, for example, "Pedro, you have to change your attitude," is just information, not feedback for the change. This phrase indicates to the collaborator that there is something that you perceive as inappropriate, but it does not indicate what it is or how you want it to be corrected.
That is why he prefers to be specific: “Pedro, I have noticed that in the last month your participation in the meetings has been openly negative. You have opposed how much idea your teammates have given for team improvement and I am very concerned about that attitude. I would like to know why. Maybe there is something we can do together to solve it. ” This type of communication leaves no room for doubt or double interpretations.
Very important, once the collaborator has been honest with you and the causes of his demotivation have been determined, it is key that the same seller is the one who reaches his own conclusions about the damages that his attitude brings to him and to the team.
Ask him how he feels about it. And ask him what he thinks should be done to regain the collaborative and positive person he was until recently. Generally the same vendor will give clues about the solutions.
Try not to impose, but to propose:
What if, due to the collaborator's emotional level, the collaborator does not want to propose solutions? Very simple: Here you enter as an inductive guide. Tell him how you think the work situation that leads to his state of demotivation could be solved, but do it by means of sentences or inductive questions.
For example, "Pedro: Have you considered that perhaps what you perceive as heavy workloads has something to do with the organization of your tasks and the use of your time?" Or something like: "What would you think if we helped you organize yourself better in your tasks and in your time?" In other words, you are going to propose the solution, but it will give the seller space to feel that he is also a participant in the idea and the solution.
A key step is that at the end of the meeting it has been made clear what are the actions to be taken. The seller must be aware that his performance, attitude or general behavior will be evaluated in the future, to know if the situation has been resolved or if it continues.
It is also important to establish what the parameters will be by which you will evaluate your progress. This is important: it cannot be hazy or ethereal. They must be very specific, concrete, measurable and even timed agreements.
Set up a monitoring plan:
Agree with the seller on what actions will be taken to resolve the cause that leads to demotivation and set review dates on the progress. This is also essential. People like to know if they are making progress or if they are perceived as stagnant. Be sure to periodically feed back to that seller.
Now: to reinforce the seller!
Very good. The session ended. The causes have been determined. Solutions have been proposed. Both parties have promised to do their best to return to the desired motivational level.
Many times, just by talking to you, if they notice that the conversation has been sincere and that you have focused more on improvement than punishment, change will begin to happen. That is the interesting thing about communication: on numerous occasions alone, by the simple fact of being listened to, recovery begins to be achieved.
Now you must put into practice one of the most successful techniques in the scientific process of motivation: positive reinforcement. It is about that effort that every good leader makes, to demonstrate to the seller that he is achieving it.
It works as a positive process communication. That is, we do not have to wait for the seller to have recovered his motivational level one hundred percent, but we recognize the small advances as they arise.
Positive reinforcement works, of course, as long as our staff feels that we are sincere. When we congratulate for causes without great importance or if we are "manipulative" in our reinforcement, rather we will achieve the "boomerang" effect.
Obviously, in all this it is expected that there will be a real and effective recovery of the seller. If you notice that the situation, despite your sincere and arduous efforts, does not improve… what does it do? Well, seek help from professionals. In all of our countries we have professionals in social work and psychology who can possibly guide you in the search for new solutions… always keeping in mind your objective, which is to recover that valuable element.
What happens if recovery is not achieved?
What if recovery is not achieved? Then it is time to make a more drastic decision. Remember, dear Sales Manager, that there is nothing more demotivating for a good human team, than having to work with people who have already become a daily psychological burden for the staff. People who, despite being immersed within a positive human group, are themselves the antithesis of this desirable behavior.
Nothing discourages a good human resource more than to see that at the end of a period that negative and low-income colleague is receiving a paycheck, perhaps the same as theirs. You have to do something, on pain of encountering a general demotivation process throughout your sales team.
Author's Note: I hope that this information is useful to you, and that you are able to put it into practice, for the benefit of your unit, the company and your own image as leader and manager of a team of salespeople.
