Sales motivation is not about money. Money is a temporary sales motivator, as are many other external incentives. For everlasting sales motivation you need to get inside and discover internal motivators.

Sales motivation has traditionally been about money - bonuses, commissions, incentives, etc. These are good sales motivators if you want results in a short period of time, but they are temporary, and do not last long. And what is worst, the next time round sales people want more and to maintain sales motivation, you will have to give them more.

Remember the story of the donkey with the stick and the carrot. It is no different here with sales people. Once you give them a carrot, they want a bigger carrot the next time round.

For sales motivation to be everlasting, it requires a bit more time, but it is well worth the effort. Instead of looking at short term, consider long term sales motivation, such as annually or still better for the term of employment which could be life.

Everlasting sales motivation requires ongoing coaching, which could be from sales management. Coaching is all about asking questions - questions that will assist the sales person to self discover their dreams, desires and ambitions, from the inside-out.

Through this self-discovery process, the sales person takes ownership through their answers creating sales motivation. Then they need to be coached on setting written SMART goals and supporting action plans. Because this is what the sales person wants, on a personal and professional level, from the inside-out, not the outside-in, everlasting self motivation comes into play.

Then the maintenance of everlasting sales motivation is to provide ongoing monitoring and coaching based on the goals and action plan outlined.

Once this is accomplished sales motivation becomes self motivation, as we all know no one can motivate you, only you can motivate yourself!

Tags: marketing and sales strategies, goal setting worksheet, sales coaching, sales techniques