Motivating Yourself-Move It Or Lose It!

A few years back I was at a Sales Conference, and yes I do occasionally amuse myself by going to one or two conferences to actually learn something new. Throughout the conference, this particularly pressed, perky, pumped up, little pain in the ass, starting talking about how great a sales rep she was, which naturally pissed me off.  I hate arrogance.  I like confident people, but I hate arrogant people.  If you're talking about yourself and your accomplishments without anyone asking, then you're an arrogant jerk.  And naturally she fit the bill perfectly.  She was constantly getting up and speaking out of turn in the general session, and speaking particularly about what she did, and how she was able to help people, and how she...you get the picture. Consequently, I couldn't keep my mouth shut during our round table session, when she was seated right across the table from me.  Our discussion topic was "What Motivates A Great Sales Person?"

"Terri, you've been telling us all how great you're doing.What makes you such a great salesperson?"

She stood up from her chair to ensure that she would be the center of every one's attention. " Well, uhm, I'm sorry I can't remember your name.", she was obviously blind, or didn't care to read my name tag.

" It's right here on the tag.", I said and pointed at my GIANT name tag.  People in the room started laughing. As a sidebar, I  think conference organizers make tags large enough for a person to read them across a crowded room. Subsequently,  for her not to know my name was absurd, or she was just so involved with herself and her own agenda, she didn't care to know my name. I believe this was probably closer to the truth.   

" Oh right, it's M.  My bad.  Well M, if you must ask.  It's because I'm super motivated everyday, and it's infectious.", and as she said this she made a fist pump, and then actually hopped forward like a well dressed bunny rabbit.  Wow! She was so annoying.

" So if you're super motivated how do you motivate yourself." I asked in the most droll and boring voice ever to illicit a reaction.

" I can see you're not a motivated person like I am M. I can sense it in your voice." she said and then made a frown and continued by imitating me, "How do you motivate yourself? M you sound like you don't want to be here first of all.  That's your problem.".  A few people chuckled uncomfortably, but I just laughed along with her. 

" I didn't realize I had a problem but thank you for pointing that out Terri.  Since I'm apparently a social idiot who needs motivation can you explain how you stay super motivated.", I said loudly, gave her a little fist pump, and then smiled broadly with a great deal of fake enthusiasm cocking my head to the side. 

"I just get up every day and greet it with a smile, and then carry that with me into the field.  People always react well when you smile, and I have a great smile so people just like me naturally.  Smiling is a great icebreaker.  You should try it sometime." , she said and gave me a smile but then rolled her eyes, and at this point no one at the table was laughing.

" Okay well Terri.  I didn't realize this was going to be a personal attack on me, but since we're going down that road.  Can you please give an emotionless loser like myself some better advice than to just smile more.  I  really think there has to be more to motivation than that."

She looked perplexed at first and was definitely confused by my question, "I'm not sure what I do to stay motivated.  It just comes naturally to me.  I greet everyday with enthusiasm. I guess I'm just lucky to be born so perky." And again she gave us all a fake smile.

One of the other participants chimed in, "As you can tell not all of us are born so...perky as you put it.  I'm just wondering what is it that keeps a rep motivated."

"I don't know what is I do each day buy I'm always so excited!", Terri said and jumped up again.

"Cocaine maybe?", I answered and she gave me a dirty look, while everyone at the table chuckled.

"Terri since you have so much energy, grab that white board and we'll all write down what motivates a great sales person.", I said, and I phrased it politely so she couldn't get upset.  She rushed to the white board and grabbed a marker. We wrote down what we perceived were 7 key motivators for reps and why. They are listed in no discernible order because they all seem to motivate people to varying degrees:

• Money - Despite what everyone thinks, this is still probably the key motivator in every one's life.  I know there are theoretical people who will argue that Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose are the key intrinsic motivators to people's work, but they live on the planet Theory and not Earth.  Money makes the world go round, and with it, you can provide a better life for yourself and your family. 
• Family-In the age of "Generation Me", family is still very important to people.  No matter how much we value our own lives, we value the lives of our children more and we want to be able to provide for them.  If you're a rep and you need motivation, take a picture of your kids with you when you're out in the field and that will motivate you pretty quickly.
• Security-In light of the decline of Social Security, Medicare, and pensions, people need to feel secure as they get older, and making a good living with do that for people.  Having a job today in lieu of all the layoffs in recent years in good incentive to keep a rep motivated.  No one wants to be struggling to make ends meet in today's business environment.  People want to feel safe and secure in their current position, and working hard is a good way to start. 
• Recognition-Sales people have egos.  Boy do we have egos!  And when we are recognized for doing well, we let everyone know how great we are.  We party and celebrate, and tell everyone what we did, and if we win an award, you can bet we're going to place that thing where everyone can see it.  Maybe even mount it on the hood of our car.  Recognition is a key motivator for reps. 
• Fear-Fear is always a motivator for any job.  Fear that you're going to fail, fear that you'll be fired, fear that you'll be laid off, and fear of your boss.  It's a sad fact that it still motivates us, but in the wrong ways, and eventually people leave a job where there working with fear as a main motivator.  That type of environment provides too much stress for most people to handle.
• Competition- Many reps I've met are former athletes, cheerleaders(men and women), so they are naturally motivated by competition.  They want to out perform their peers so they can win awards, receive a raise, and be recognized for their achievements.  I remember as a manager, I was motivated to kick this one manager's ass every year, because he was an asshole, and I don't like assholes.  So my goal was to be the best in the region, but mainly my goal was to be higher than him in the standings every year.  And when he was fired, I had to find another thing to motivate me, because there weren't any assholes left in the region.  Weird story, but true. 
• Autonomy-Many people are in sales because of the autonomy of the job.  They embrace it! It allows them to be free with their schedule, and to really take responsibility for their own success or failure. For me, it allows me to virtually run my own business, give myself raises, and partake in my own success.  A lot of reps I've noticed get caught up in what happens at corporate, but for me I try to focus on what I can control and what works.  Plus if you're a good rep and you don't like the direction corporate is taking, you have the autonomy to leave and find a better job.  Autonomy is a great motivator especially in the sales environment.

By the way if you're not motivated by any of these things, you're probably an alien, and you might need to consider returning to your home planet.

Have a good week selling!

-M

Homeland Security Or Salesforce Nazi's. What's The Difference?

I just left another company to return to more familiar territory and I am so happy.  First of all, at my most recent employer,  I was in the top ten in the country and not making any money based on some weird commission structure. Consequently I returned to the company I had worked for two years ago.   Smart move on my part.  Why?  I was just informed that my company had implemented a new "Strategic Call Initiative" to all the reps.  What does that mean?  It means "get ready to be micro managed until you quit or get fired."  Fortunately for me, I found another job right when they made this transition so I don't have to put up with the bullshit.  The reps are now required to log all their calls into salesforce.com... from the field!  What's funny is management is not even trying to hide the fact that they want the reps to do this in order to track their sales rep's position.  In other words track them via GPS! What is this an episode of "Homeland?"  Are Carrie and Brody going to show up and arrest a rep who isn't logging in their calls properly?

What is even more bizarre is the message management is sending to the field. "We don't trust you to manage yourselves or your time so we're going to do it for you."

 I think the Communists had more freedom under Stalin than this blatant form of salesforce fascism.  Here's a clue to all sales managers, junior and senior. MICRO MANAGEMENT DOES NOT WORK!  Here's why:

• It Turns Reps Into Liars - If you're a manager and you tell a rep he has to do 10 calls per day or even 20 cold calls per day, they just start making shit up. So why do it?  I'll tell you why, because the manager is an idiot who doesn't trust his/her reps.  If a sales rep doesn't want to work he/she won't make money and will eventually be fired.  Whether they log in 20 calls per day or 2.  If they don't work, they get fired.  Sales is about results...NOT ACTIVITY! If a rep isn't working instead he/she is just going to get creative with the calls they supposedly make during the day.  Do you want people working and telling the truth, or do you want them sitting at home putting more effort into creating a story then Nicolas Sparks.  I would rather have a rep producing sales than producing lines on a page. If management wants screenwriters, just try to micro manage sales reps, and the management team will read more bullshit on salesforce.com than you'll find after the bulls run in Pamplona. 
• Do You Want Sales Reps Or Data Entry Clerks - If a rep is on salesforce.com throughout the day, logging in calls on his/her phone or computer, then when are they selling?  I know that it's getting easier and easier to log these calls but if as a manager, I have reps more worried about keying in data then selling product, they're no good to me or my company.  Logging calls should be short,sweet, and simple, not an arduous task where you have to input who you called on, what was discussed, and what is the next course of action.  If I wanted a data entry clerk I would hire a nerd straight out of high school with an aptitude for computers, not a sales rep. Simply put, logging in sales calls,  IS data entry, and it has nothing to do with sales. The philosophy here is that if you have a lot of activity, eventually you'll sell something.  Personally I would rather shoot a sniper rifle at a sales target then a shotgun full of buckshot.  I can be more deadly with a rifle. If you don't get the analogy please don't ever purchase a gun. 
• It Alienates Your Entire Sales Team - If managers think some reps have a bad attitude and they implement this nonsense, they are sure to piss off every rep in the country.  Why do you think sales reps choose their profession?  For the freedom to manage their own work schedule! Any manager who doesn't know this is a moron.  Ask a senior manager how they would respond if he/she were asked to log in calls from the field, and I guarantee they wouldn't like it one bit!  It's hypocritical for them to ask the same thing of their sales reps.  The reason work in the sales profession is so they can manage themselves and manage their own lives.  If you can manage yourself and your time you can be a successful rep. It's about freedom.  If management takes this away from a rep, then it just upsets the rep and they will inevitably leave the company.  
• Do Not Confuse Activity With Results - When I was a young and inexperienced sales manager, I always assumed sales was about the numbers.  It was about the activity.  So I rode my reps like plow horses to get activity from them...and they hated me.  What's even worse is that I had them focused on all this activity and never on the final result.  So what happened?  My numbers were so bad, I finally had a meeting and I asked my reps, "Obviously our focus on activity is not working.  So what do you think we should do to get better results.  And I want honest answers."  Maybe that was the wrong thing to say but they gave me candid responses:
• "Get off our asses about the stupid call logs.  We can't be writing pre and post call plans for every frigging call.  It takes up time when you're doing ten appointments per day.  Sales reps don't like paperwork that's why we're in sales. " 
• "When we spend 30% of our time logging in calls, when are we supposed to market to our bigger accounts?  When we're sleeping? I need to hit my top ten targets with seeding pieces and I don't have time when I'm logging in calls all day and night."
• "When I sell a big account don't cheer me one minute and then chew my ass out for not filling out all my call log the rest of the day.  It just pisses me off.  I had just sold a big account and one minute your praising me and the next minute you're asking what the fuck is wrong with me, and why can't I fill out an activity report. "
• " Get a new tie.  I hate that stupid brown one you always wear. It looks like a dog took a shit on your shirt.  Go out with me, we will sell an account and I'll buy you a new tie, but please don't wear that thing anymore."  I gotta big kick out of that one.  And I did go buy a new tie.  And the next year, after I eased up a bit, we were #1 in the region.  
• Micro Management Is Micro Minutia - In light of the changes in the sales arena in recent years, and the advent of Sales 2.0, everyone seems to think Sales is now a science.  Sales is a science but activity is not what will always lead to results.  There a many components to the sales process and a happy and engaging sales force is the best weapon to have in you want to increase your numbers.  I can remember as a new sales manager there were times when I was so bogged down with paperwork that I couldn't leave the office!  There was always one more call to make, one more conference call to be on, or one more report to file.  I was buried in minutia, and I never wanted my reps to get caught up in the same type of scenario.  So I made sure they weren't bogged down with entering data, keying in orders, writing up presentations.  I assisted them as much as I could so they could focus on the more important things...like selling!

I am so glad I will not be participating in the "Micro Management Marathon" at my previous employer.  I'm sure there will be a lot of fierce competitors, and many contenders, but unfortunately it's hard to run a marathon in lead shoes.  Because management has just shackled their reps with a bunch of clerical duties and not given them the freedom they need to be successful.  Can you say the word "implosion", because that's what I see in the company's future.  

Have a great day selling!

-M