A motivated sales force can be a powerful asset. In order to foster such a team, it is essential to pay attention to the details of a happy, focused and engaged sales team.
When salespeople feel they can reach unlimited personal growth through their performance, they are often more likely to have higher levels of engagement and subsequently outperform their industry counterparts who may not have compensations structures that help them reach their potential.
Through innovative sales software, tools are now available for companies to design, plan and track sales incentives by means of updated formats that go beyond the black-and-white of mere spreadsheets.
However, before enhancing sales teams through creative compensation strategies such as merit increases, commissions and team contests, companies must first identify qualified candidates with sales savvy during the recruitment phase.
Here are a few key personality traits to keep in mind when looking for sales candidates:
Curiosity: Successful salespeople are always asking questions, whether to a client or to executives internally, curiosity demonstrates a thirst and hunger for knowledge. A Harvard Business Review study on business salespeople found that 82 percent of top sellers scored extremely high in categories measuring curiosity.
Confidence: According to the same study, less than 10 percent of respondents noted they felt high levels of discouragement, whereas 90 percent also said they feel low to infrequent moods of sadness when compared to their lesser-performing counterparts. This is what gives salespeople the competitive edge to trudge forward even if a deal isn’t sealed.
Creative: The reality of sales situations is that many times there are unique and individual challenges so sales goals require innovation and creativity. The ability to think on one’s feet and craft a solution that clinches the deal while still meeting personal and company goals is the sign of top talent, according to Inc.
By ensuring salespeople boast this range of personality traits, compensation structures that are equally well-rounded will be easy to design. For example, organizing sales contests is a way for individuals to express autonomy while being motived by monetary rewards as well as office recognition, an important aspect of employee engagement, according to Entrepreneur.
Any sales compensation structure can be easily tracked by both the company and the individual through incentive compensation management (ICM) software, leading to a more transparency between the company and its salespeople when attempting to reach mutual goals.
