Outside the walls of the sales department, summer beckons with the promise of warmer weather, outdoor fun, and a long-awaited week – or more – of vacation. With so much going on outside the office, it’s easy for sales staff to lose motivation during this period.

How can you keep your sales staff motivated and encourage them to meet or exceed this quarter’s goals? Consider the following tips:

1. Know your team. Is your sales staff internally or externally motivated? What’s the mix in your department? “Internally” motivated sales staff draws from their own inner goals, plans, and values in order to find the motivation to keep working, while “externally” motivated staff respond well to rewards like money and prestige, and work to avoid negative consequences like reprimands or slumping sales numbers. When you know what your staff needs, you can create a motivational mix that speaks to everyone on the team.
2. Break out new knowledge or tools. Summer is a distracting season because it constantly promises new things: New experiences, new events, and new opportunities. Fight back against the allure of summer’s “newness” by offering some novel knowledge or tools within the workplace. Dedicated salespeople want to know everything they can learn about their work, and they want the tools to do it effectively and efficiently, whether they’re motivated by an internal drive to succeed or by external commissions or bonuses.
3. Set up a friendly competition. A summer sales contest is a great way to inject some fun into the workplace just in time to grab your sales staff’s attention away from the promise of outdoor summer fun. Create clear rules and concrete, reachable goals, then post results on a real-time leaderboard displayed prominently in the office. Teams that know where they stand at all times are motivated to grab the lead – and keep it – and the transparency and clear rules help keep competition friendly and foster trust while also boosting motivation and productivity.
4. Touch base with your recruiter. Even if you don’t need new sales staff immediately, take the opportunity to touch base with your staffing firm. Let your staffing partner know what’s working – and what’s not – in your sales department. This helps your recruiter find the right people or offer expert advice on maintaining your momentum all the way into fall.

At SMR Group Ltd, our recruiters focus on placing standout sales and marketing talent in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotech industries. Contact us today to learn more.