Sales Motivation: Quantity vs. Quality
For many software and SaaS sales teams, increasing sales means increasing demand generation. So, we try to motivate salespeople to prospect to fill the front end of the sales funnel.
Quality vs. Quantity
Organizations try to motivate salespeople by “holding them accountable.” Sales Managers push for MORE: more contact time, more outbound calls, more quotes, more demos, and more proposals.
The results are often disappointing.
The reason is that you impact quantity but not quality. Or worse, you impact quality in a negative way.
The Sales Motivation Secret of Top Software and SaaS Salespeople
Prospecting, especially cold calling, is often the hardest part of the job for salespeople and sales managers. When you look at call stats, I suggest that the people who are doing well have figured out HOW to prospect and they do it well.
They do more because salespeople are motivated by the positive outcomes of their behavior.
The greatest sales motivator is success.
A Method for Sales Motivation
The Sales Star coaching model is a model for optimum sales performance. There are five dimensions of sales performance. If sales leaders focus only on Activity, ignoring Ability, Beliefs and Style, Morale and motivation will plummet.
Salespeople who do not know how to prospect and sell, may initially work very hard (Activity). But if their sales process is ineffective (Ability) or they execute it poorly (Style), they lose motivation. They burn out. They will avoid selling because they lack selling skills. They are de-motivated (Morale) by their failure. They haven’t figured it out and may never get better without some help.
When you push them, what happens? You get more bad behavior; more quantity with no improvement in quality. You may even lower the quality of their performance due to the pressure they feel.
Stop Digging a Hole with a Bowling Ball
The last thing your prospects need is another call from a desperate, stressed out sales rep. It will help if we just learn the art of making a better sales cold call. The call ought to be a fun and playful experience for both the salesperson and the buyer.
It takes skill to call a perfect stranger, catch them by surprise, get them laughing and opening up to you in a matter of seconds.
How Sales Leaders Can Break the Downward Spiral
As a sales leader, you can measure and impact the QUALITY of sales skills. Here are my personal favorites:
- Record phone calls and review them with your reps – like game film.
- Use an objective yardstick. Visit the Coaching Toolbox and download THE PERFECT OUTBOUND CALL COACH’S CHECKLIST
- Send them to the Software Sales Bootcamp and we’ll show them our proven seven-step cold call process, as well as how to follow up on leads in the most effective way humanly possible.
- Register for Sales Tips for ongoing sales tips and motivation