Sales motivation to be a top performer, get out of a sales slump or just to stay consistent all comes down to your mindset and the way you think. The activities you do in relation to taking action are about setting up your mind to succeed.a man looking at a mountain and thinking about climbing it

Everything is achievable

Where does your sales motivation come from?  Are you thinking about how much money you will make if you increase your sales (external)?  Or Do you have a personal desire to be the best in your company (internal)?

External goals like money may be great and the reason that you got into sales in the first place, but do you think all the great and successful sales champions are motivated only by money?  There is already enough research out there to prove otherwise. Go ask a top performer where they get their motivation!

For me, it’s about being the best I can be and it doesn’t matter how many deals I write, it’s never enough.  Also, being able to live the life I choose.  Materialistic things like cars or fancy cloth don’t do it for me, but for others it does.  What values in your life inspire and motivate you to be the best?

Sales Motivation to Increase Sales

You will notice that my writings and coaching has to do with going below the surface level.  Sales motivation comes from within each of us and sometimes we have to find it by digging down to expose the core issues that inspire and mean a lot to us.

It’s the “motivation behind the motivation” and in some cases the “problems behind the problems”.

When you have a deeper understanding of what makes you tick and the things you find important, you will then be tapping into the areas where your sales motivation comes from.

So instead of me giving you a step by step procedure to follow, which you probably wouldn’t follow anyway, we will work on where you get your sales motivation.

This will be achieved by looking and learning how you tick and what you need as a person.   You will become aware of how your values, goals, and actions must be aligned, and how they have a direct relationship with your sales motivation, and in turn, increase your sales.

First – Learn How To Handle The Negatives

A salespersons motivation can go up and down and I’ve always felt it’s better to be able to set yourself up for success by learning how to deal with negative thinking from the unset.  Rejection of sales which can lead to negative thinking is a big one to conquer.

Possible Scenario:

You can be consistently writing lots of business and then it starts to slow down.  Now your mind starts to wonder and the blame game starts – the economy, my company doesn’t support me, the business has changed, the clients are idiot’s, I hate selling or whatever excuse that you may use.

With all of this negative thinking, how are you going to move forward?  If you don’t change your mindset your sales will decrease and you will find your self in a slump.

It can be an emotional roller coaster for some.

Rejection is normal and learning how to handle rejection in sales is a required skill that prevents negative thinking.

Negative thinking is one of the causes of sales slumps.

Then the question is, how do you prevent sales slumps from happening and should you find yourself in one, then how do you motivate yourself to keep going so your sales increase and you get out of that slump.

Read my article called “how to get out of a sales slump

A sales career can take a toll on you that’s why it’s important to stay motivated to increase your sales.  It’s your sales motivation that will drive your success, which is based on your thinking.

How bad do you want to succeed? Can you feel it, can you see it, can you taste it.  Do you want it so bad that nothing will hold you back from achieving it?  Do you have that burning desire inside of you which is crying to get out?

So let’s talk about the other main factors which will bring you success and increase your sales numbers.

Values – Goals – Priorities

the word values spelled on different colored cards

How do your values have anything to do with your success???

Your values (things that are important to you) the things you believe in “must” be in line with what you do.

Then your goals must be in line with your values.

Then you prioritize your activities and make sure they are inline with your goals. These priorities and activities are the action steps to make you successful and increase your sales.

Prioritized Activities and Actions = Sales Success

Values

This is a biggy to being successful in sales, but for some reason is always overlooked.

The great salesman knows what motivates them to be great in sales.  It’s the reason behind the reason which is embedded in their brain.  And it’s this reason or what some call the Big Why, which propels and inspires greatness.

What’s important to you in life? What do you want in life?   These questions will elicit your values or what’s important to you in your life. You may wonder what does my values have to do with me being a great salesman?

Values in life are the things that are important to you, and each person has their own set of values and beliefs.  Maybe it’s about being the number one salesman in your company – but when you dig down you will find it’s most likely about how the salesperson feels about himself.

For others you may want to have a family, travel, have a house, be in love, learn, teach, save the world, feed the poor, be healthy, have a fancy car.  Honesty, integrity, happiness, respect are all values so is cleanliness.  The things that are important to you are your values.

Our Goals Come From Our Values

The goals or the things in life that you want to accomplish comes from your values. Dr. John Demartinie says that our values are created because of voids we had or have in our lives.

Example:  If you were poor when you were young, the void was not having money and the inability to live a certain life.  So as an adult, you would value and be motivated to have money and to fulfill those areas that were voided or missing when you were younger.

It’s worthy to note that values do change and you can also change your values.

Can Values Change?

What was important to you at one time in your life may not be important at another time.  Money may have been the main reason when you first got into sales, but after being in the business a while, and helping so many people in their lives or business, you may look at it differently.

Maybe your value of making money changed to helping people?  Or maybe you don’t think about the money because you value being the best salesperson in the company, or your motivation comes because you want to be # 1.   Of course, the money will follow, that’s a given

Values aren’t only related to having a lack of something, they can also be based on characteristics, ethics, and morals. You are honest and believe in helping people, great value to have, isn’t?

What happens when your career and what you do aren’t aligned with your values?

Let’s use an example for a salesperson:

You are honest and think in terms of helping your clients achieve their goals. The company you work for comes up with a new product.  You know that the product is ok, but there is better out there.  Yet, your company wants you to sell their product at a high price and you are to tell your clients that your product is the best out there.

Your values are honesty and integrity to do the right things for your client. But now, your company is asking you to do stuff which is in total contraction to your values.  This is called a “value conflict”.

How successful do you think you are going to be selling this product? How motivated are you?  You would have to be a con artist and a liar to be successful, wouldn’t you?

What happens when your values are in line with what you do?

Example salesperson:

Again, your values are honesty and integrity with helping your clients achieve their goals.

Your company creates a new product that will increase your client’s productivity and make them more money. You know that it’s the best product out there and your client will really be happy, so you want to present it to them.

The price of the product is about 20% more than a less efficient product, but you know that the ROI would be about 2 years.  You are so excited to show the product to them. You really feel good about it.

So, you meet with them, you are enthusiastic and authentic because you are helping them. Your values of honesty and integrity are being met. You believe in your product. Do you think you will be successful?  Are you motivated?  Damn, right you are.

Do you get how your values affect your success?

I invite you to write a list of your values, the things that are important to you, all of which will give you clarity and help you move forward and achieve your goals.

Goals

picture of ocean and sky a written on the picture is 2018 Goals

Now that you have a good understanding of what is important to you, what you value, you can now set your goals

Goals are the things we want to achieve, the things we work towards achieving or moving away from.

Setting a goal in itself may be all the sales motivation you need

There is documented research that salespeople that set up sales goals and track them have a substantial increase in their sales numbers.

Examples of Goal Setting:

“My goal of 70 km to bike ride, will be the longest run to date and is now in my head.  I start my ride and it was easy at the beginning but it was different after a while. My leg was killing me, I could hardly keep my head up due to my neck muscles being overworked. At 60km, I was ready to give up, but I had 70km in my head and I was so motivated to make it,  I did it.”  Or,

“When I cold call, I would set up a goal of having 20 conversations in 3 hours with prospective buyers. 

I would work until I did those 20 calls.  I set a goal of 20 calls, and it was my integrity that kept me going, day in day out.  The reason for having 20 calls a day for 4 days has to do with me converting 15% of them to sales appointments. 

And if qualified right I would convert 5% of them to clients.”

Setting Goals

Did you ever hear that you should write your goals down and tell someone?  There’s a whole lot of truth in this. Have you ever set goals, even wrote it down and forgot about it?

Besides the sales motivation you will get from setting goals you will find it quite helpful having a system for your goal setting.

If you haven’t heard of SMART Goals, now you have.  Setting “Smart Goals” is a systemized method of setting goals,  which actually works.   Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reasonable, Time.  It’s worth checking out and using.

Another important element to actually achieving your goals would be to keep it top of mind or you will find that it’s easy to slip up and lose focus on why you do what you do.

Could you post your goal somewhere so that you see them every day? How about putting them on your smart phone calendar so that it rings and you see it. Or can you get in the habit of reviewing them once a week?

The easiest way to make it a habit would be to add it to a current habit that you follow religiously.  Remember you will have long-term goals and short-term.

Get Those Feel Good Brain Chemicals Working For You

Did you ever complete a small task or goal and felt good? Dr. Ralph Ryback M.D. in his article “The Science of Accomplishing Your Goals” which was published October 3/16 in Psychology Today, says “It’s possible to manipulate your dopamine levels by setting small goals and then accomplishing them”.

The chemical dopamine is known as the feel-good neurotransmitter.

Therefore, if you want to achieve your big goals break them down into small goals.

How Can You Align Your Values to Your Goals?

Let’s say you decide to marry and have a family. You are also honest and love helping companies become more efficient.

With marriage and family, it’s also important to have a roof over your head, food, and clothing, etc. You are a professional salesman and you make a good living.

Based on your goals above, you figured that you need an income of $ 150,000 a year and in order to do that you must sale $ x dollars of product a month. It breaks down to 10 appointments per month and you will close 30% of them.

You set up long and short-term goals that will allow you to live the life you want, marriage, family, etc.

Not only that, the product you are selling is a great product and you really believe in it, which is also in line with your value of honesty and integrity and helping others.

Beware of Unreasonable And Not Attainable Goals

What happens when you set a goal that is unreasonable and is not reasonably attainable?  Do you think you’ll have the sales motivation to achieve the goal?

confusing strategy

“I did a course through the real estate company where I worked, whereby we had to come up with a one-year goal in terms of money, then double it. I can honestly tell you that I was so unmotivated.  It was B.S. I knew that it was completely unreasonable and not attainable, as the result I questioned the entire course. I questioned the process at the time and I was told that was what the founder of the company did. Ok then.  You’d think that this big company would have the understanding that each and every person is different and what motivates one person isn’t necessarily going to motivate another. This is a discussion for another time.”

Priorities

What are the most important activities that you require to achieve your goals? What do you have to do?  As a professional salesman in order for you to increase your sales, you will either lead generate or be given leads.

Garry Keller in his book “The One Thing”, ask:  What is the one thing that is the most important action for you to do that will make you successful in your business?

Being in Real Estate, Keller identifies that the number one thing to do is to lead generate because, without leads, there are no appointments which mean there are no sales, which means there is no business.

The other question is:  When is the best time that will ensure you do the one thing?

If you are provided with leads, what would be the most important activity for you to do?

The bottom line is that by prioritizing your actions will allow you to achieve your goals, which in turn will help you achieve what’s important to you and keep you motivated.

And wait, there is more! Do you have a mindset that will allow you to be great in sales?  When you combine your motivation with your want to be great in sales, it’s a dangerous combination.  You will conquer!

“The Stockdale Paradox” – Prevailing When All The Chips Are Down

In his book Good to Great, James C. Collins while interviewing Admiral Dean Stockdale on how he survived 8 years of being a prisoner of war in a Vietnam Prisoner Camp and being tortured over 20 times, was given the following answer, which is now referred to as the Stockdale Paradox:

“You must maintain an unwavering faith, that you can and will prevail in the end regardless of the difficulties

And at the same time…

have the discipline to confront the worst brutal facts, of your current reality”

Do you have the faith that you will prevail in your sales career and be the best there is?

Your mindset the way you think is a key element and if missing or not right can be the difference between an average salesperson vs. a great one?

Are you ready to increase your sales and be the best there is?  Contact me now 647-703-9313


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