By Peter Gracey, President and COO, AG Salesworks
When there are only a few days left in the quarter, what’s the atmosphere like in your sales office? Are your team members ripping their trade show stress balls to pieces? Are your sales reps snapping at each other like tired and cranky children? How many arguments over who actually “owns the deal” that just closed did you mediate this week?
Maybe a few of your reps are gently sobbing in their cubicles as their last and best chances at breaking quota just called to push out their orders until Q4.
By Peter Gracey, President and COO, AG Salesworks
When there are only a few days left in the quarter, what’s the atmosphere like in your sales office? Are your team members ripping their trade show stress balls to pieces? Are your sales reps snapping at each other like tired and cranky children? How many arguments over who actually “owns the deal” that just closed did you mediate this week?
Maybe a few of your reps are gently sobbing in their cubicles as their last and best chances at breaking quota just called to push out their orders until Q4.
The end of any quarter can be a very stressful time, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. With better time management throughout the quarter, and the right motivational tactics and incentives, you can ensure that the last moments of each can be, dare I say, enjoyable for everyone. Here are three ways to help make that happen:
Emphasize Week #1
Change the conventional mentality by prioritizing week one as the most important of the quarter — not the least important. Start by kicking off each quarter with a team meeting. Review the best performances from the previous quarter, and make everyone in the room commit to a goal for the new one. Stress the importance of week one pipeline building. Set VERY aggressive activity goals for that first week; reward solid performances through one-time bonus payments (aka spiffs), verbal thanks and team wide praise whenever someone hits their targets.
Continue to meet with your team every morning during that first week, and have each person review their previous day’s performance. An aggressive week one sets the table for accountability, communication and celebration for the rest of the quarter.
Incentivize Monthly
Set up sub-categories in your compensation plan that rewards monthly performance. Additionally, present a theme for each month with a different team goal. Have your team goals map directly into the individualized monthly goals you’ve set. For example, if you pay a monthly accelerator for being 110% of your individualized goal for a month, have a team goal to match. That way, you will get the best of both worlds — reps that focus on real-time individual achievement while also having a vested interest in the performance of their peers.
Change Your Own Attitude
It’s simply not true that you will get the most out of teleprospectors and sales people by constantly badgering them in a negative and aggressive way about hitting their numbers. In my experience, instilling division and animosity between your reps doesn’t create competition; it creates an environment that leads to failure. Instead, dust off your cheerleader pom-poms and old college fight song to motivate your troops. Constantly pick up your team’s spirit and keep them smiling. Let your incentives motivate the behavior.
Whether you hit your goal in Q3 or not, give these three tactics a try in Q4. You’ll earn more and your team will thank you for it.
Peter Gracey is the President, Chief Operations Officer and Co-Founder of AG Salesworks, a leading provider of high quality and fully qualified sales leads to technology companies. Pete oversees client engagement, personnel management, business strategy, across-the-board data analysis and long-term strategic planning. He is also a prolific blogger who posts frequently to the AG web site and contributes online video presentations. Gracey is an Adjunct Professor of Sales and Marketing for the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
