Written by: Sean Burke | Kite Desk
The lazy, hazy days of summer are just about behind us. For many in sales, summer can be a demotivating time. Vacations make it difficult to catch someone in the office and get them to pick up the phone. Emails either go unanswered or your inbox becomes flooded with out-of-office replies.
Unless you are trying to connect with a company whose big season is the summer, your prospects are likely experiencing a decrease in sales as well. This makes it very easy for a decision maker to say no to any additional expenses during the summer months.
It’s time to put those months of no, no, no behind you.
It’s time to get out of your summertime slump and reinvigorate your sales team. It’s time to get back to selling! You can start by:
Having ‘Back-to-sales’ blitzes – When the kids get back-to-school, it’s time to get back-to-sales. Give your team a reason to refocus by sponsoring a little healthy competition. Pick 1 day a week and make it a blitz day, where you give spiffs for just about anything and everything: most calls, most closed revenue, most social connections, most demos…what ever activity or results you need, blitz days can help motivate the entire team. Introducing new tools and learning opportunities – after stagnating for the summer, kicking off the fall by learning a fresh approach or incorporating a new tool can get your team excited about selling again. Planning a team-building event – After being away from each other and the office, plan a fun team event to get everyone reconnected and aligned. Partying with your partners – your clients are likely looking to reinvigorate their sales teams as well, so invite them to join you for a baseball game, or a dinner cruise outing. Work with your marketing team to throw end of summer bash for all of your new clients. Give your clients an experience to remember and they are likely to spread the word, which can lead to additional business. Kicking off a Fantasy Sales Team – another fun way to build camaraderie and boost productivity is through gamification. While putting together your brackets for your fantasy football league, create one for your sales team as well. Teams can go head-to-head weekly, either competing in certain categories (similar to blitzes) or by creating a point system for a combination of activities. You can keep the competition going throughout the fall with the two top teams competing in a Super Bowl of Sales. Or, apps like Fantasy Sales Team will do all the work for you.
If you have any innovative ways to motivate your sales team, we love hearing from you!
