Motivating Your Telephone Sales and Service Teams
Compensation is great but a well thought-out incentive plan can add $$ to your results and longevity to your team.By Denise Clancey
Excerpted from the guide of the same name first published on http://www.work.com July 2007
In the fast-paced and intense world of Teleselling and Teleservicing, motivating your team ranks at the top of the list of things managers need to do often and do well. Many surveys have identified that, similar to other Sales and Service people, Telesales and Teleservice representatives are motivated by incentives in addition to commission.
It is important to develop an incentive plan that matches your department’s goals, is consistent with the jobs your representatives perform, and motivates the individuals and the team to do their best work.
Motivating your Telesales and Teleservice teams requires Planning, Matching, and Thanking.
Action Steps:
1) Create a plan with specific goals and objectives A specific plan has a greater chance of being implemented and has a greater chance of being effective. Budget for incentives, develop a plan, and work the plan. And, if you have the opportunity, you should consider introducing new components occasionally to see if you can get better results with different or new offerings. ‘Managing for Dummies’, Second Edition, by Bob Nelson, Peter Economy, and Ken Blanchard, offers practical advice and information. It also spells out the SMART definitions for goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Bound.
2) Match the motivation and incentives to the requirements of the job What motivates a Telesales ‘hunter’ is very different from what motivates a Telesales Account Manager, the person assigned to maintain accounts. In his whitepaper ‘Principles of Sales Compensation’ (http://www.chally.com/research/publications.html, section 1:7, page 9), Howard P. Stevens identifies the vast differences. A ‘Closer’ (‘Hunter’), is motivated by highly visible, ‘big hits’. A ‘Relationship’ (Account Manager) sales rep is concerned with compensation stability and perks. The expectations of the job drove the style of Telesales representative that you hired. It is equally important to match the incentives to the expectations of the job.
3) Use personal ‘thank yous’ to motivateOne of the simplest ways to motive Telesales and Teleservice representatives is also the least expensive. Look for ways to show that you value the contributions of the individuals and the team. Say ‘thank you’, show appreciation. In her article ‘How to Motivate a Staff’, author and business relationship expert Andrea Nierenberg (http://www.selfmarketing.com/article7.html) identifies a variety of gestures of thanks and appreciation that require management effort but do not require a huge budget.
Tips and Tactics:
Keep simple thank you gifts readily available so that you can recognize contributions in the moment. Examples: small denomination gift certificates, movie passes, $$ off coupons for the local coffee shop.
Arrange for your boss to send personal thank you notes recognizing the performance of the individuals on your Telesales and Teleservice teams.
Use payday as an opportunity to thank your Tele representatives. Ignore the fact that many use direct deposit. Mark your calendar for every payday and make the rounds thanking representatives personally.
Once you have a motivation plan in place, be sure to survey your Teleteam to determine the impact of each component.
Include members of the Teleteam when you develop new components or overhaul your current plan.
