Solving Your Most Pressing Business Problems: Part Two

In the last article I talked about how to get more money from your existing customers. I talked about bundling, cross-selling, and up-selling. Although I did not use those terms, the processes were discussed. In this article I am going to talk about how to motivate your employees to sell more. Employee promotional sales are not new. Many industries use them for their professional sales staff. Things like going over your quote this year and we’ll send you on a cruise or you’ll get a $500 savings bonus. But what can you do if your sales force is just a couple of internal employees? How can you motivate them to sell more?

The key to motivation is to keep it current. Set the time frame to something with a short deadline. Working with your staff toward a single goal that may take a year to accomplish will rarely work. But having them work toward a weekly or biweekly goal keeps it fresh in their minds and that keeps them motivated toward the goal. But weekly or fortnightly gifts are expensive, right? That’s the good thing about motivation. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just something you’re willing to put in a little extra effort to achieve.

Let’s say you have a doctor’s office. You want to increase your customer referrals. Each staff member receives a set of reference cards with their name printed on them and a space for the customer to put their name on as well. You make a contest. For the employee with the most referrals over the next 4 weeks, you’ll give them a dinner and a show. He will also pull a client’s name from all referrals and provide them with a free dinner and ticket to the show as well. You have now motivated the clerk to make sure the customers are aware of the promotion and motivates the customers as well.

Other ways to motivate the employee is with embroidered clothing. Starbucks does this. Have you ever noticed that some Starbucks employees have their names embroidered on their aprons while others don’t? Or have you been to Cracker Barrel and noticed that the staff have different numbers of stars on their aprons? These personalized clothes are a reward for employees for reaching certain goals. You can offer shirts or jackets embroidered with the employee’s name when they reach certain goals or milestones. This also helps reduce turnover and builds pride within the organization.

Goals are best set when they are personal to the employee. The best way to do this is with your input. Everyone is different. Motivation is different for each of us. Some like more money, some like a trophy, some like a simple thank you, some like free time. To truly motivate your employees, find out what motivates them, and then sit down and craft a goal and reward system that is geared toward the company goal and your own personal rewards.

Plaques, trophies, engraved pens and pencils, jackets, personalized aprons, embroidered shirts, and hundreds of other items can be used to motivate your employees to sell more, provide better customer service, generate referrals, and generally build your business. .

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