Motivation
We have discussed motivation in the past, and it is a hot topic in sales. There are hundreds, probably thousands of books on the subject. Sales consultants throughout the world are hired to come and provide motivation to salespeople.
What we have discovered at SELLability is that motivation is tied to results. Motivation is only sustained if you are getting results, and each completed step of the sales process is a result that will keep the salesperson motivated. Without consistent results being achieved, motivation fades away.
Motivation is certainly one factor when it comes to production. Now, let’s have a look at another major production component.
Opinion and Fact
In our last blog on knowledge, we talked about finding the difference between an opinion and a fact. If we don’t notice that difference concerning a piece of information, an opinion could become a standard meaning, something that everyone takes for granted and uses as a foundation for important decisions. When this happens, it can hang up production.
An Example
As an example, let’s say you are a salesperson selling auto parts. There is a standard around your company that no part for any car older than 10 years can be sold without consulting an employee named Norm. Norm is the expert on older cars and will be able to tell you if that part will actually fit that car. All kinds of sales are held up while salespeople wait for Norm to make a ruling on whether they can sell a particular part or not. Some sales might even be lost because a customer gets fed up with waiting and decides to shop somewhere else.
You, as a salesperson in this company, get smart and realize you can easily find out yourself if a particular part will fit a particular car simply by searching online. Suddenly your sales soar as you no longer have to wait for Norm. Norm might be a little peeved at being robbed of some of his “authority,” but he did not deserve it anyhow if his authority only resulted in lost sales and unhappy customers.
This is an example of an opinion that becomes a standard, and how damaging it can be.
Final Notes
In the end, happiness is tied to communication, knowledge, and production. Production, of course, is what we are all about—so make sure you’ve got your communication and knowledge solidly in there so that production can occur.
