About Karine Vandenberghe

As a psychologist, consultant and coach, Karine has a passion for change, people and culture. Analyses of people’s interactions and work processes help detect the opportunities. Building on strengths and increased resilience, Karine helps create dedicated commercial teams that continuously show high performance. Get in touch with Karine for advice on how to enable the extended commercial team doing the right thing at the right time with the right people: karine.vandenberghe@perpetos.com.


Understand the motivation of sales people 

A good sales leader not only succeeds in organizing the sales team well to achieve the goals but he or she also supports the team with the right tools to be successful. And still, the best sales leaders you recognize by the sellers themselves. If you look closely, you can recognise them by the spark in their eyes, the discipline at work and the motivation to reach target. They are not one-time performers but consistently perform well, even over a longer period.  

Is there a secret manual? And if so, can this be taught? 

There are several basic principles. Thus, a good motivator puts the other person first and realizes that each person is different, with individual wishes, expectations, and motivations.  

And there are many aspects to consider such as the fact that people can change. What used to motivate, it doesn’t have to be today. Also the intensity of motivation can change.  

Research shows that most people have one or two decisive motivators or drives, such as wage components, training, friendships at work. If you can define these motivators, you will have the basics to build your dream team of successful sales representatives.  

Furthermore, it is important to realize that managers can never keep all employees 100% motivated 100% of the time. That’s okay. If you can avoid demotivation and increase motivation – any win is welcome – the final results will increase with a multiplier effect.  

Most sales representatives will be open and transparent about their demotivators. Often these lie in a surfeit of administrative tasks and solving customer problems that contribute little to (more) sales.   

Motivators are often much more varied and harder to discuss. A good relationship of trust with the manager can make the difference.  

It turns out that sales representatives are surprisingly often driven by growth. Growth in the job, their career, the number and type of clients they can handle, etc. With this motivator, it is advisable to demonstrate how commitment leads to more possibilities. Providing a career path and delegating responsibilities will give this seller extra incentive. 

As a result, some sales representatives are stimulated by challenge. They want to win. These individuals are at their best when they are given visible appreciation for their achievements, when they can build on their strengths and their imperfections are glossed over.   

Some sales representatives prefer to work in a team, others need their independence. It is important to create situations where both profiles come into their own, by assigning specific projects: for example a project where you have to collaborate with a different department or if your manager wants to delegate a certain task to you.  

And we have to be honest, quite a few sellers think the pennies are very important. Therefore, reward plans need to be well aligned  with sales results, with attention to short- and long-term results and adapted to the sales strategy. 

Excited for some tips to share a sales strategy with your team by using a virtual sales kick-off? And to inspire and motivate them? Then read our blog ‘a virtual sales kick-off?

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Sales Kick-Off (SKO) going virtual?

Excited for some tips to share a sales strategy with your team by using a virtual sales kick-off? And to inspire and motivate them? Then read our blog ‘a virtual sales kick-off’.