Motivating Sales People in Tough Economic Times with Jim Keenan – Episode 22

What motivates sales people?  How do great sales managers keep their teams motivated in tough economic times?  Those were the topics we discussed with Jim Keenan in this episode.

Jim Keenan is the Regional Sales Leader for Emerging Service Providers at Avaya and author of the popular sales blog asalesguy.com.  He’s also the former CEO of CreateBuzz, the 2007 runner-up of Mashable’s Open Web Awards for Best Niche Social Network.  Jim has been a sales guy from an early age; Jim uses the same people skills today that he used to get out of trouble as a self-proclaimed “wild child”.

Managers have a choice when it comes to motivating their teams: they can do so in a positive way, using support, encouragement and rewards, or in a negative way, using threats, coercion and the dreaded write-up.  Jim considers writing someone up to be a failure on his part, a failure in the hiring process, the vision process or the support process.  In other words, if you hire the right people, give them a clear understanding of your vision for the results you expect them to achieve and provide them with enough support and encouragement along the way, there is no need to resort to the negative tactics.

Jim suggests that managers need to do two things when it comes to motivating their teams.  First, you need to find out what motivates your people, then you need to find out why it motivates them.  That knowledge will help you to have the critical conversations with your people that will keep them focused and motivated to stay on task, no matter what the economic climate.

Jim makes the bold statement that the only way businesses are going to get out of the current crisis is to have highly motivated teams of people who are confident they are not in danger of being laid off.  While recognizing the need for the tough business decisions that need to be made in times like this, Jim recommends that sales leaders do their best to create alternative solutions that will meet the needs of the company and at that same time take into consideration the human element of the concerned employees.

The basic idea is that people in fear for their jobs, not to mention their homes and 401(k)s, are far less effective  their jobs.  In order to sell effectively, your people, in particular your top performers, need to be confident that they are not going anywhere, no matter how bad things get.  Jim is one sales executive that we are proud to know.  Heck, he may even be a Business Heretic!

Give the episode a listen, then post a comment or start a discussion.  And definitely check out Jim’s blog and follow him on Twitter.  He’s a great guy to know!

Brad and Jerry

 

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