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CoolHundo

VP of Sales

Contributor
Fire Starter

How to motivate a remote sales team?

Any suggestions on how to motivate a remote sales team and get them excited?


We currently have weekly virtual sales team meetings, weekly virtual 1:1s, a monthly sales contest, SPIFs, etc. The team is spread out so we only get to meet in person once a year.


Any other ideas?

๐Ÿ’ช Motivation
14

27 comments

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SaaSam
Politicker
4
Account Executive
Learn about each member individually and what motivates them. Everyone is motivated by different things. Sometimes they want recognition, sometimes money, sometimes titles. The list is way too long to go down. Seems like you're doing the right things to motivate them as a group. If you need/want more, take an individualized approach.

Also, you should meet in person at least twice a year.
TennisandSales
Politicker
2
Head Of Sales
agree 100% here.

Also a monthly contest can get exhausting. you may be doing too much here.
CoolHundo
Contributor
2
VP of Sales
Perhaps! We just started doing this a few months ago and it's a fairly simple model for a contest. But might be worth doing quarterly with a larger prize instead!
TennisandSales
Politicker
0
Head Of Sales
yeah play around with it for sure! what sort of contests are you running?
CoolHundo
Contributor
0
VP of Sales
Just created a simple formula with points in Google sheets and it's based on 1) Activity (emails, calls, tasks completed), 2) Net New Meetings booked, 3) Upsells Closed, 4) Net New Deals Closed. All of the data can be pulled from Hubspot.
TennisandSales
Politicker
0
Head Of Sales
nice. seems fairly standard.
CoolHundo
Contributor
1
VP of Sales
Thank you for this! I agree that we need an individualized approach based on what motivates each rep.
ChumpChange
Politicker
1
Channel Manager
First things first... don't be on their ass. If they're salespeople who are worth a shit then they have all the reasoning and motivation to produce. Saying that... I do bi-weekly 1/1's, morning pump-up songs, big-money lunches, and team rewards if we hit quota for the month.
CoolHundo
Contributor
0
VP of Sales
I really don't like to micromanage but the team is currently underperforming so we've needed to become more explicit with goals for activity and reviewing activity / new deals opened more regularly.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by morning pump-up songs (like do you just pick a hype song and send it through slack or email?) and big-money lunches (how are you doing this remotely)?
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
๐ŸฆŠ
Weekly one on ones gives me anxiety. Let me do my damn job. I'm a peacock I gotta flyyyyy ๐Ÿฆš
CoolHundo
Contributor
3
VP of Sales
I hear you. I was the same way when I was a sales rep. I would prefer less frequent 1:1s. But some of the team are very junior and like having the regular touch base because they have a lot of questions. It could be worth asking the more senior reps if they would prefer a bi-weekly 1:1 instead.
AnchorPoint
Politicker
1
Business Coach
Sales meetings are to motivate. 1:1s are to hold them accountable. Both should give you insight into what makes each tick.
CoolHundo
Contributor
0
VP of Sales
Thank you! I think we could definitely switch up our sales meeting format to be more motivational.
AnchorPoint
Politicker
0
Business Coach
True leadership is that of a servant. IF I can help further, let me know.
GDO
Politicker
0
BDM
One thing: do not Micro manage. Al lot of management does this once their people are wfh
CoolHundo
Contributor
0
VP of Sales
I really don't like to micro-manage but most of the team is currently underperforming in terms of meetings booked and revenue, and the activity is under where it should be, which is why I'm trying to get some ideas of how to motivate them more. Also, our team has always been remote since we launched during covid and have remained remote.
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
0
Rolling 20's all day
Be helpful without micro-managing. Trust but verify. Do what you can to enable your team when you're on 1x1's
CoolHundo
Contributor
0
VP of Sales
Thank you. Definitely trying to operate this way! I do not like to micromanage but most of the team is underperforming and I'm trying to find the best way to motivate them and facilitate them.
SADNESSLieutenant
Politicker
0
Officer of โ™ฅ๏ธ
Since noone said it yet - MONEY
CoolHundo
Contributor
0
VP of Sales
For sure! That's why we are doing the sales contest and SPIFs and we have a great commission plan.
adrienmc
Good Citizen
0
Founder @LaGrowthMachine
Remote work means high trust that your team will do their work ethically. No need for micromanagement, then itโ€™s as any management : get to know them personally during your weekly 1:1, work hard on their training and helping them grow, make sure they make a killing via their comps, keep them challenged with tougher deals and allow them to enjoy the perks of remote life - if they feel this is a unique job opportunity they couldnโ€™t get elsewhere, theyโ€™ll stay motivated
CoolHundo
Contributor
0
VP of Sales
Thank you!
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
0
Sales Rep
I would say dont have those virtual sales meetings be about work. People dont need to be reminded of where their number is everyone knows/new template for cold calling/or hear about how someone closed an inbound, especially if you have weekly 1:1. Team meetings that I enjoyed were 50 min of people talking about anything, last 10 being about "important" stuff reminder to update crm, reminder for contest or complete lms training
CoolHundo
Contributor
0
VP of Sales
Thank you!
Anryan123
0
Sales Associate
Give more incentives. Sales is the most crucial part of every business so it is only right that they earn more.
CoolHundo
Contributor
0
VP of Sales
Thank you! We offer lots of incentives (regular SPIFs, monthly contest with a cash prize, a great uncapped commission plan, salary increases based on total amount sold $).
Kmoney
Valued Contributor
0
Account Exec
Why do they need to be excited?

Some people just want to do their job. Some people just want to do their job well. Some people want to excel.

I agree with a below comment. Learn their motivation styles. Use what works best for them.

And seriously, donโ€™t shy away from constructive feedback. Passively telling someone they didnโ€™t hit their numbers is ineffective.

-ask if it was difficult to hit their numbers because of external factors, or if they felt they could have donโ€™t more/things different
-offer to help them restrategize

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