How to Keep Your Direct Sales Team Motivated All Month Long

Have you ever struggled to keep your direct sales team motivated?

Especially through the middle of the month, when things are starting to get a little messy?

Sometimes, direct sellers get so caught up in everything about themselves that they forget to think about their team. They get caught up in recruiting and parties, and then before they know it at the end of the month comes along and their team volume is somewhat down and their team feels a little below the weather and so they start messaging everyone with motivational quotes and questions and saying hey, Time to get those numbers up.

UGH.

This almost never works.

For someone who is on the fence, someone who is kind of middle of the line, it might be enough to get them to book that one last party of the month. But for someone who is already down and out, someone who is already behind on their goal, all it does is highlight the fact that you are not paying attention to them. And when you finally saw what was happening, you didn't really know how to get them back on track.

Part of being a leader means understanding where your team members are, not just where your team volume is.

As a leader, you should have at least some idea of where each member of your team is mentally and emotionally. Are they going through any circumstances that might make it harder for them to book any parties? Are they struggling to learn the back end of the office? Are they struggling with a new schedule and launching a new business while they have a family at home or another job?

There is something to be said for personal responsibility, but the minute you brought these people onto your team, you also assumed part of the responsibility of teaching them whatever it is that they need to know in order to reach their goals. You can’t teach them to be like you, you can’t teach them to run their business the way you want to run your business.

But what are they trying to get out of their business? That’s the responsibility you took on—to help them reach that vision.

And that means checking in throughout the month, either individually if you need to or as a group, to see how everyone is doing. Do they have any questions, is there any other training that they’re looking for, do some of them just need a pat on the back?

Not just “when's the next party you have booked” or “did you even try that script I posted in the team chat?”

Or, worst of all, “hey I was just checking the numbers and I see that your sales are down, how can I help?”

Remove that phrase from your vocabulary because it never sounds as helpful as you think it sounds.

Behind the scenes, numbers are important to the company. The numbers determine your bonuses, your compensation, and sometimes even your title. But on the front end, those numbers are meaningless. And bringing them up to your team at the very last minute isn’t necessary because the back end of your website does that.

Don’t repeat the information that they can get from the back end of the website. Instead, make sure that you are asking the right questions in order to track how your team is feeling and correct the course as needed to make sure they have what they need. If you can, develop a system that will help you do this regularly and consistently and not only will you see your team members faring better throughout the month, but you'll also see your direct sales team start growing as more people feel like they matter to you.

#EmpowerSocial