Let's face it as leaders and business owners we always want
more and in many ways need more. More productivity, more sales,
more profit, better service, better quality and the list could
go on and on. Whether we are faced with the challenge of increased
costs or an increasingly competitive environment, the most
effective resource that we have to quickly get "more"
are the people that we lead and manage.
The quickest way to get anyone to do anything is to simply
ask, and the most effective way to get them to keep doing
it is by providing some recognition. In poll after poll, survey
after survey, employees say that they are motivated more by
recognition, than by money. So why don't we use this tool
more often?
Maybe we feel it's time consuming, or we forget! or we've
never tried it before, or it's just not in the budget and
the list could go to infinitum. Frankly, these are all poor
excuses for not giving your people what they want most and
crave. Recognition.
I am going to lay out a comprehensive recognition plan that
anyone can use to increase sales and productivity. Some of
what I am going to share may seem corny - but trust me it
works. (Tell me it's corny if you follow my instructions to
the letter and see no improvement).
Track Everything:
This will be the fuel for your recognition program. You need
numbers, numbers and more numbers. You'll need these for each
individual on your team. If you do not have an automated way
to get numbers, you'll have to do it manually (I know it sounds
difficult but you must do it. Anyway, what did we do before
computers).
In particular we need to track sales and things that impact
sales and profits. You'll need detailed sales results. How
many of each item was sold and by whom. Was the item discounted
or not? Was an accessory or an upgrade attached to the sale.
Was the sale made by cash or credit - or on account. What
time was the sale made.
Once you have the cold hard data. We need to make it relative
by breaking things down into ratios. How many add-ons were
added per sale? What was the dollar value of add-ons per sale?
How many premium units were sold? And so on
As you collect this data and compare it you will come up with
numbers for your unit and numbers for each individual. Your
unit may have a rate of $35 per sale, while Steve may average
$50 per sale, Bob $20 and Carrie $25. Even though Bob was
your top sales person, his per sale average is low and he
may be losing you money. Tracking gives you insight into your
business in ways you may have never thought of.
Now that we have the data what do we do with it? Share it.
Share everyones results with everyone on the team. You need
to do this in several ways.
Visually you'll need a board to detail the critical results
- those that are most important to you. List everyone's name
from top to bottom and their results from left to right. Leave
the last column as an overall rank column.
Next you will need to email the results - just the chart is
fine. No commentary is necessary. Hopefully everyone on your
team has an email address - if not Yahoo is free.
Now you need everyones wireless phone for the next two. It
would be perfect if your team had company phones (if not don't
worry do it anyway - as of this writing most carriers include
incoming texts free).
Send a text blast - with ranking from the prior day and a
congratulatory message for the #1 rep. You may need to send
two messages if it gets lengthy.
Here is a sample text that you could send:
'Awesome Day: Christina - Our Champ with 15 sales, Evelyn
8 sales, Mark 4 sales. We finished with 27 that's 2 ahead
of our goal. Thank you everyone.'
Send a voice mail blast. This will get you your best results.
This is like having your own 5 minute infomercial. If your
team uses the same carrier and your service offers it, set
up a group distribution list and send a message detailing
the prior days results. Rank each person and talk about your
leaders
Here is the outline of a 5 minute voice mail:
Greeting
Comment on previous days business
Highlight the leaders
Detail everyones performance
Comment on the laggards
Close with a motivational statement or quote.
Now I will tell you how to use these to grow sales. Instantly,
daily, weekly, monthly:
Instantly - as great sales occur throughout the day
send out a thank you to the person who closed a big or tough
sale. Use text, email and/or voice mail.
Daily - Thank the days leaders and recap the previous
days business. Do this one on one as well as in voice mail
and text. Be excited in your delivery. Nightly have someone
post your teams results on a board for all to see.
Weekly - You should be having at least a brief meeting
but ideally a 60 to 90 min. meeting, with your team - Every
Week. Detail everyones performance for the week and highlight
the leaders. Use them as examples of how to execute. Let them
participate by sharing their technique.
Monthly - At the 1st meeting of the next month hand
out certificates and takes photos of your leaders. Thank them
profusely for their efforts. Be very energetic and motivational.
Send out a message thanking your leaders. Do this on the 1st
of every month - Voice mail or email is a good medium to use
here.
To recap - Keep in mind your goal; whether limiting
costs or growing sales etc. Determine what you want to achieve
and in what time frame. Decide what behaviors and actions
your people can take, to contribute the most to achieving
your goals and communicate the actions you expect from them.
Devise a simple way to monitor results by individual employee
and keep score (detailed above).
Thank your people verbally and electronically for even the
slightest increases as you progress through your recognition
period. Instantly, daily, weekly and monthly - thank the top
producers publicly. Provide your top people with recognition,
awards and prizes.
The end result will be you getting the "more" that
you needed and your people feeling pumped up and excited about
contributing to the results.
Darryl Gee has 18 years of sales and management experience.
He shares his entrepreneurial and corporate management expertise
on his website http://www.madmanager.com
and the madmanager message board at http://www.madmanager.com/forum
