Motivation?

Who needs it? You do…


While in Santo Domingo on a trip, a friend of mine who gives motivational speeches to top level executives needed some motivation, I was on hand to do just that. Even persons who give the best motivational speeches need someone or something to motivate them. From my perspective, drugs, alcohol and other substance additions do not propel you to be motivated in fact they may be doing the exact opposite. In this game of sales, you will need a motivator, whether it is a motivational book or seminar or colleague, whatever it is – if you do not have one, get one and fast.

There will be the down moments, but this is where your motivator kicks in to give you the much needed jump start. I will suggest that the best time to find your motivator is when things are going well, such that when things aren’t going in your favor you can easily use it to get out of your slump.

Anyway, when a person queries why my sales channel leads the pack, it can of-course be attributed the motivating factor. Think about it, when you set yourself a goal you put things in place to achieve it, but believe it or not – you had some motivating factor. Whether that factor was not being a failure, or to be the first to achieve the feat or to be competitive, there was motivation. Over time you meet with your sales people on a one-on-one and have a chat, and you see what motivates them. At times, they tell me it’s just to be treated like they are important to the business, or to show that it is because of sales that the business survives.

When I go on sales projects, I let them know and also demonstrate that I can get in the trenches and dig in for the long haul. When you look it, motivation must also come with some measure of trust, that is, if your customers do not trust you then they don’t feel the need (motivation) to purchase from you. When you do not appear excited about your product and that this is the best thing to ever happen, no one believes you.

Some sales managers I know, call it the killer instinct whilst others call it the burning in the chest or hunger in the gut. Motivation can easily be likened to any of those things but the effect is the result which you get. That is, if you have a lot of burning in the chest, then you will go out and sell more and if you only have a little burn? Well you know the result.

The question which should now come to mind is: What is your hunger in the gut?