In the first post of the series of Magic Steps That Will Make Your Exhibition a Success, we concluded that setting the goals for your next fair is the first step to take in order to achieve them.
Well then, involving your sales team is not only the second step, but also 50% of said success.
“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”
Walt Disney
If you want someone to feel part of a project: listen.
Once you have your goals very clear, share them with your team - no matter how clear your ideas are, you should be open to new suggestions, or to reconsider some notions.
Your team can help you improve your goals, but, most importantly, you should always make them feel active in the definition of said goals: they must interpret your goals as their own, so that they feel motived to pursue them!
“None of us is as smart as all of us”
Ken Blanchard
Organize an appointment with your team and, before the meeting:
- Send a brief email to all members of the team, explaining the goals you have for the fair
- In the same email, briefly argue why you've chosen each one of them
- Close each goal explaining what its accomplishment would contribute for.
- Finally, invite your team to reflect and let them know you'll be having a meeting to discuss those proposals.
The meeting will be much more effective if your team is prepared. Debate, listen and negotiate, and keep in mind that the objectives need to be SMART:
SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound
- Specific: the goals must be clear and concret
- Measurable: the goals must be measurable
- Achievable: the goals must be challenging, but also achievable
- Relevant: make sure they will bring enough value
- Time-bound: must be bounded in time (we don't want to measure 5-year objectives)
You should always keep these five points in mind when setting your goals and when you share it with the team; more: we invite you to share your goals with them, so that everyone can understand what you're persecuting.
At this point, if your goals are SMART, and your team has adopt them as their own, we feel confident to say that you have maaaaaaany chances to make this fair a success!
It might not look like we've done much, however, in many occasions, small changes have great consequences, and, at least at this stage, we are walking together as a team.
If two oarsmen rown in opposite directions, the boat does not move.
If there are 100 oarsmen rowing in opposite directions, that best thing that can happen is that the boat does not move.
If there are 100 oarsmen rowing in opposite directions, eventually 99 of them will get tired and stop rowing, while the only one that is left rowing takes them all down a cataract.
Alberto Sanz, CEO en neventum
Perfect. Now what?
If you have as clear as water that:
- setting goals is the first step to reach them;
- that reaching them is a team effort;
- that in order to achieve said goals your team must feel them as their own;
- that the tema's motivation is an asset of the company,
Then we are ready to prepare all the necessary material, so that each team member can write down and measure their individual goals.
Please, apply the "keep it simple" philosophy! It is a fair, not a Big Data project: collect all the necessary data in a easy way and, above all that, keep in mind that your team must be able to record the information in real time and without a great effort, - you don't want your team to take an aspirin instead of a beer whan they get to the hotel...! -
Measure and catalog the data from the first day of the fair and, our suggestion is that you don't do it from a paternalistic position, but that everyone knows the data, so that conversations can flow without embarrassment or shame.
By sharing them, if a team member has difficulty in reaching a specific goal, his teammates will surely be able to help.
If peers don't want to help him out, then the problem is far more serious than the goals themselves...
3 ideas to motivate your sales team during the fair
Recognize the effort, don't only reward the best sellers
Recognizing and thanking someone who has done a lot of work but has not achieved the goals, transmits fundamental values to the team.
Introduce short “sprints”
If you have a common goal (attracting new customers, for instance), the second day of the fair give a special prize for the first seller that gets 3 new customers.
Make up a daily prize
Do not wait to get to the office for the "Big Prize"; instead, you could make little rewards everyday in order to rewars some results. Shortening the cycle between achievement and reward is an extra motivation you'll need for the next day!
Not everything in life is money... but if you pay in peanuts, you'll hire monkeys
We suggest that you find an appropriate mix/balance of economic prizes and/with more emotional prizes.
You should recognize the generation of wealth with money, of course, we don't even need to talk about it (we've been doing it all our lifes), but emotional gifts may also be worth giving a few seconds of reflection
Some suggestions that can bring great value:
Gifts for the absent!
For instance, regarding that idea of rewarding whoever brings the first 3 clients, a nice prize could be a dinner for two in restaurante in your city.
The winner will then choose someone they love to share the dinner with, and they'll surely say that thay've "won that dinner". And it is true: he earned it!
Let him share it with some beloved one, because the greater the prize, the greater motivation he will show for the next challenge!
Reward the team, not only individuals
If the team has reached the individual goals, and if they worked hard for it, you should find a way to reward the group, not just the individuals.
It doensn't have to be a gib prize: it can simply be a beer or glass of wine. Take advantage of that social moment to recognize the collective effort.
This is a great moment to talk about team, group, effort and goals achiever. You shouldn't talk or cite individuals at this point - our humble proposal - talk to the whole group instead, make everyone feel part of it... and most importantly: proud of it!
Defined goals, a motivated team... now what?
If we have our destination very clear and a motivated team, that's willing to help us getting there, it is now time to draw the path that we'll walk!
Let's go for Strategy, the road that will lead us to success (next post!)