Sales Motivation

Purpose - Product - Customer Benefit - Dopamine Hit

When I first got into the selling profession, I made the move based on all surface motivations. My wife and I wanted a geographic relocation, no eight to five office routine, a move to a Fortune 500 company, and more money. None of these reasons were necessarily bad in their own right, however none of them had any long term deep motivational aspects.

Employers can set the table to create an atmosphere of motivation by job design and placing the salesperson in a position to succeed.  But ultimately it is the individual who develops a purpose for their life, believes strongly in their products, clearly sees the benefits that the customer receives, and personally gets a dopamine hit in their brain based on that experience. 

According to author James Clear, who wrote the book Atomic Habits, the neurotransmitter dopamine is a key factor in not only developing good habits, but establishing an action as a source of pleasure or the anticipation of that action, which also becomes a source of pleasure.

Please allow me to amplify on these points to provide more clarification. 

From an employer's perspective, it is important to take extreme care when hiring new people, regardless of their position. For the outside sales job, I recommend two in depth interviews and a battery of personality tests to determine energy, focus, decision making skills, communication abilities and human relations skills just to name a few. Their past history should be investigated and they should be required to submit an essay explaining why they will be the best choice for the job.   

Structure the salesperson's job to match their skillset with a detailed job description and expectations. Do your best to not burden the salesperson down with unnecessary admin chores. As the rep shows more productivity and maturity, give them the latitude to manage their job responsibilities with less oversight.

Be aware that all sales rep's skillsets are not a universal fit for every job opening. Personality types and experience will indicate the best fit for the open positions. For example, some applicants will make great new account development specialists, however they would fail in an pure account management role. There could be multiple role matching scenarios. It will be wise to thoroughly investigate the maximum return on investment assignment for each open position.

For the individual salesperson, it is important to understand yourself so well that you find your purpose in life. Then match some aspects of your purpose with your job responsibilities. I highly recommend that you take the test included with the book, Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath. The test results does a very good job of uncovering your God given personality strengths. Those talent strengths can then be applied in the sales job where you have a high probability of success. The better you match your job responsibilities and skill sets, the more dopamine your brain will create and the motivation you experience will drive you to higher levels of success. (Success being described as meeting or exceeding your capabilities)  

Every salesperson must be convinced that their job involves a win-win-win situation. This means a win for the employer, a win for the customer, and a win for the salesperson. The employer must remain competitive in their field, and produce enough profit to compensate themselves adequately, and the salesperson. Over my career, I found this to be a difficult task to achieve. A poorly planned compensation program can penalize a higher achiever or hurt the employer.     

In summary, we all can understand that a compelling level of motivation and action levels are a responsibility of both the employer and the individual salesperson. The employer must select the best people and structure the job to allow for individual success. The employee must choose the right job, and be aware of their skill sets. Once they are aware of these variables, then internal motivation can be a consistent factor in the success of the  salesperson, and ultimately the customer as well.

For the employer, here is three straightforward questions to ask about each of your salespeople.

1. Do they believe there is value for all three parties in the selling equation?
2. Is work its own reward for your salesperson?
3. Does your salesperson lose track of time and forget outside pursuits?

Score your answers with this scale.

1. Strongly disagree

2. Disagree

3. Neutral

4. Agree

5. Strongly agree

Author: Gary D. Seale - MBA

Principal at The Trucon Consulting Group, LLC

www.truconbd.com