Discover how to keep your Sales team happy

You've probably figured out that keeping your sales team and account managers happy is crucial to achieving great results.

But how do you do this? You don't need to spend a lot of money or time, but, by giving your team attention and ensuring they feel valued, they're more likely to be motivated to make sales which will reflect well on you and the business. Whether you're a branch manager whose team's focus is new business or your team is more account management focussed, here are 8 useful tips to ensure you have a happy sales team selling roofing products across the country.

1. Set measurable and achievable goals and targets
Working towards both a team and individual targets is a great motivator for your team. It will help guide them in their work and keep them on track. Have sales figures displayed around the office so your team know whether they are near to achieving their goals. Set weekly, monthly and quarterly goals to see the bigger picture. Make sure you pay attention to everything going on in your team. If you're not hitting targets, you need to know why and quickly so you can identify issues and turn the situation around.

2. Show your appreciation
When a member of your team is performing well, it's important to reward them and give them praise. You can do this both privately and publicly, as it will motivate the rest of the team to perform better (but don't have favourites). Provide rewards, celebrate milestones and most easily, just say 'thank you'. It'is an easy and cheap way to make your team feel valued. It's also important to communicate if a client has been particularly happy with a team member's work, and to communicate this back to the team member.

3. There is no 'I' in 'team'- get savvy on your language!
It is easy to caught out doing this, so watch out! By saying 'we' instead of 'I', 'us' instead of 'me', etc. when talking about your team will make everyone feel included and recognised as part of the team. Try to get into the practise of doing this by not only using this language at work and when speaking to your team, but when speaking to anyone about your work. It also shows other people that you care about your team, which will reflect well on you.

4. Remember, a sale can involve more than one person
Recognise at times that although one person may be making most of the sales it doesn't mean that the rest of your team aren't working. Check who is working behind the scenes and remember to give them praise too. If your products sales team are working hard and someone else appears to be getting all the credit this might create tension, they may feel devalued, and not feel inclined to help others with tasks in the future.

5. Have an open door policy
You will probably want communication between you and your team to be strong. One of the best ways to do this is to have an open door policy, which creates a sense of transparency and openness. Your team will feel that they can speak to you more often and honesty increases trust. This will also help everyone to have a good understanding of the company they're working for. By knowing what their return on investment is, and how beneficial a sale is to the company it will make a sales team feel that they are contributing to the business.

6. Keep the small gestures coming
People tend to be happy when they see others happy at work. As soon as tension is created in your team, it may affect motivation and morale. You can keep everyone happy by doing little things, buy nice biscuits for the office, or show a clip from a comedy movie in your next sales meeting. You don't need to spend a lot of money, just think about what perks your team might enjoy.

7. Recommend your best sales talent for a promotion
If a vacancy opens up in the company and some of your team have been working particularly well, recommend them for a position higher up. This ensures they feel valued and their hard work is recognised. Similarly, if a team member wants more responsibility, providing they are working well currently, give them a bit more responsibility.

8. Anyone for go karting, laser quest or a pint down the pub?
Research has shown that members of a team who get along well and spend time together are likely to work well together. So, it's vital to spend a bit of time with your team outside office hours. There are loads of ways to do this, go for a drink after work, organise lunch at a restaurant, or go to the gym together. Be as creative as you like! Just make sure your team will enjoy what you've organised. This way you will also learn more about your team, and giving them recognition will make them feel valued.

It's important to remember that everyone is unique and members of your team will prefer to be rewarded in different ways. Salespeople often find financial incentives most effective, however, this does not apply to everyone, try to personalise all rewards and work out what excites your staff.

Whether your team are back out in the field selling, or are more office based selling products, by following these tips, your team should feel motivated, valued and that all their efforts are being recognised. This should produce some great results and aid business growth by having a productive and happy team dynamic.