By Deborah L. O'Mara
Motivating your sales force means more than frenetic sessions where "Sell, Sell, Sell!" is the battle cry. Sure, having former athletes, coaches and military personnel speak to salespeople to get them keyed up may still have its place, but savvy remodelers have found other common-sense techniques and strategies to motivate their sales force. After all, motivation comes from a deep knowledge of the business and what your customers want — and passing that along to your employees.
Stephen Wilson and Patrice Olivier own Biz-comm Inc., a Reston, Va., marketing agency that works with remodelers. Stephen, a member of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, offers five tips for motivating the sales force:
- Have a single 'funnel' where all leads come into.
- Have a well-defined contract for salespeople that says what's expected of them and how they will be paid.
- Generate quality leads for them and have a method to track them. Targeted marketing equals good, qualified leads that have a good chance of closing.
- Provide sales training — a professional program that's a process they can put to use, not just a litany about overcoming objections.
- Hold weekly sales meetings. Talk about what's happened, what contracts closed, which ones didn't and why or why not. Avoid finger-pointing, but identify what went wrong or look at the leads that didn't close and find out what might have happened, especially if it's similar to another contract that did close.
As for providing qualified leads, Stephen says it's critical that professional remodelers target their market and know their customer base. "Profile your customers and target people you're most likely to sell to. Generally your future clients will mirror your past clients. You will sell best to a certain demographic, so market to those people. At least once a month, send everyone on to your mailing list a direct-mail piece that drives prospects to your website."
People with passion
Sales motivation, says Gary Marrokal, founder and president of Marrokal Construction Co. in Lakeside, Calif., comes from having the right sales person: someone who has a passion for sales and the industry, can accept rejection and knows the right time to ask for the order. They also have to be good listeners, because this will always result in a job custom-tailored to the client. Avoid high-pressure types, Gary says.
"One of the greatest ways to motivate the right people is to provide them with the right tools, such as a showroom, good advertising and marketing people," Gary concludes. "A motivated sales staff is one that has everything they need to be a success, and that includes a satisfied customer."
| 
