There must have been more words expended on the topic of motivation in business – and especially in sales – than almost any other, along with enough hot air to fuel the Greenhouse Effect well into the next millennium.

What actually motivates: the carrot...

Complex set of drivers

Sift the wheat from the chaff, however, and you find that what motivates humans to perform is a complex but understandable set of drivers which changes according to the people involved, their environment, their upbringing and their own psychology. What, then, is it that keeps a salesperson motivated? Is it money, recognition, team spirit, job satisfaction, fear of failure, carrot or stick?

... or stick?

Competent manager

One answer, of course, is that it is all of these and more, depending on the individuals involved, their personal circumstances, age and the particular stage their career has reached. Another answer is that it’s the hard work of a competent manager working within an effective system that keeps the team fired up. So, at the risk of adding to the Global Warming problem, let’s take a look at what really motivates people in business and salespeople in particular. 

Maslow

Serious psychological and sociological studies of motivation at work have been carried out since the 1920s, but the discipline really took off after World War II. I guess everyone has heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

In his 1954 publication Motivation and Personality, Abraham Maslow described individuals’ motivational imperatives as defined by five levels of need – physiological (the most basic), safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation (at the top) – with higher levels like esteem and self-actualisation only playing a part once lower levels of need have been satisfied.

Snakeoil salesmen: beware quick fixes.

Safety, too, we tend to take for granted though, once again, the importance the electorate attaches to law-and-order issues underlines the point that this need remains deeply engrained within our psyche. 

Social drivers

It’s at the social levels and above that the interest for sales managers lies. Salespeople tend to be social people. To be successful they need to mingle, to empathise with customers and relate to buyers, even if some field-based jobs are, in many ways, isolated roles cut off from the support of the company mainstream.

Salespeople need to feel supported and then they need to feel valued….

Esteem

Esteem is, of course, hugely important when considering how to motivate salespeople. Wanting to be the best – or at least a fear of being the worst – is often a driving force. Personal reputation, social status, appreciation from management and recognition in front of one’s peers are all strong motivators. Exploiting this characteristic is a staple of most company incentive and recognition schemes.

Abraham Maslow: motivational theory.

Beyond esteem lies self-actualisation or self-fulfilment. At these heady heights, the individual is seeking self-development, creativity and job satisfaction. The elite – the most successful performers and the truly self-motivated – tend to operate on this level.

Other theories

Clearly, different people are motivated at various levels depending on individual circumstances, and Maslow’s is not the only model worth exploring.

Douglas McGregor presented his Theory X and Theory Y in the 1960 work, The Human Side of Enterprise, while Frederick Herzberg’s 1966 Hygiene Factor theory is described in Work and the Nature of Man.

Maslow’s classic hierarchy of needs pyramid.

Demotivators

At the same time, he listed other factors which actually demotivate if they are inadequate or poorly implemented: supervision, company policy, working conditions, salary, peer relationships and security.

High fliers

Harvard professor David C McClelland has been concerned with what motivates top achievers – the consistently over-performing salesperson, the high-flying manager, the completely focused director. His seminal 1961 Three Needs Theory described in The Achieving Society looks at top-performers’ need for:

• achievement (with achievement, personal responsibility, feedback and moderate risk as drivers);
• power (influence and competitiveness as drivers); and
• affiliation (acceptance, friendship and co-operation as drivers).

Take in goal-setting theory and one or two others and we can start to move towards a universal theory of motivation at work.

Motivation checklist

Here is a checklist for motivating sales staff and other employees:

1. lead by example, wherever possible, but it’s not a manager’s role to try to outsell or make all the sales for the team;
2. recognise individual differences – one-size-does-not-fit-all either with customers or employees;
3. match people to jobs – for instance, business development and account management are highly distinct sales roles;
4. set achievable but challenging goals and involve employees in the process;
5. tailor rewards to the individual;
6. link rewards directly to performance;
7. check the system for equity by eliminating unfairness;
8. don’t ignore the basic issue of money; and, above all,
9. communicate – be clear and concise; tell your team what’s going on, what needs doing, what you expect, and accept feedback.

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