What makes salespeople tick?
By: Tiffany Trautman
Tags: Motivation, Strategy, Sales, Psychology, Competition

You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. — English proverb

Photo by Lindsay Moe on Unsplash

Why do incentives act as motivation for salespeople? Incentive Theory tells us that, as with most in human behavior, it stems from our childhood.

Remember when your parents promised dessert if you’d eat all your veggies? Or when you worked tirelessly on a school project to earn a good grade or fun prize? Since childhood, your behavior has been modified by incentives and positive reinforcement. Respected leaders still employ this theory in the workplace. Because it works.

Recognition is a motivator, as are prizes.

The key to unlocking the potential of your sales team lies within the team itself. Positive reinforcement only works if the reward to be gained is seen as positive and desirable. Therefore, if you want to be an effective leader, you must dive inside the minds of your staff to understand what motivates them. What makes them tick?

Dangling a carrot on a stick might motivate your donkey to plow a field, but it might have the opposite effect on Heidi in Customer Service. What are your staff’s ‘carrots’, and how can you incorporate those carrots into your recipe for success? Finding the right prize for your staff is clutch.

Photo by Aaron Thomas on Unsplash

Anything you can do, I can do better.

I know I can’t be the only one at the gym who secretly competes with the guy on the neighboring treadmill, daring myself to go just a little further or faster. Sure, it’s easy to win a competition when you’re the only one who knows it’s happening, but that’s not the point. The point is, it inspires an extra push. It breaks through the barrier of complacency.

Festinger’s Social Comparison Theory states that individuals determine their own personal worth based on how they feel they stack up against others. People often compare themselves to others as a way of motivating and fostering self-improvement. In this theory, the satisfaction one gets by besting the competition is also influential when triggering motivation in others. Having your hard work and efforts recognized and praised by an authority can often be an incredible motivator.

Gamification, like a sales contest or a great quiz, perfectly combines all these psychological theories by keeping rewards unpredictable. This keeps the sales staff continually striving to do their very best day after day. Because who knows, maybe today’s their day? They are psyched and ready to make those sales and earn the prize.

Image courtesy WireImage.com

When I worked in sales, we played tic-tac-toe when selling sales products. Just like the old Hollywood Squares gameshow, but instead of Whoopi Goldberg, each space on the board was represented by a sales item. If your team (X or O) sold that item, you win the space. The winning team earned dinner at a favorite local eatery. Not only did that fire up the competitive nature in us, but it also inspired comradery and broke the ice for the newly trained team members.

We worked well as a team because we played well as a team. And teamwork makes the dream work.