Strategies for Maintaining Motivation in Sales Teams

First year in B2B sales. Dog bit me during a cold call in person. Literally punctured through my suit, drew blood. My first thought? "F*** cold calling." My second thought? "Nah, I'm gonna keep going." That same hour I walked into 2 more businesses and booked meetings with decision makers. That moment taught me something BIG: → Your resilience determines your results. But here's what I learned after 13 years of exceeding quota … resilience isn't just about "toughing it out." It's about systematically building what I call the M5 Framework. A way to hack your best self and tap into maximum potential. The 5 M's: 1. MIND Control the territory between your ears. Stop feeding your brain junk (news, doom scrolling). Replace with books, podcasts, content that builds you up. What you focus on expands. 2. MUSCLE Energy management > time management. Energy × Focus × Time = Results. Sleep, nutrition, exercise aren't luxuries - they're requirements. Better body = stronger willpower = better performance. 3. MISSION Get crystal clear on your WHY. If you're unclear on your why, you'll quit when obstacles show up. Ask: "If I died tomorrow, what 3 words would I want to be remembered by?". Mission drives what you do beyond just quota. 4. MARRIAGE Treat every important relationship like you're married to them. Show up as your best self daily. For family, team, clients. Cut energy vampires, invest in energy givers. Quality of relationships = quality of life. 5. MONEY Do income-producing activities daily. Audit your calendar: $1000/hour tasks vs $10/hour tasks. Run personal finances like a business. Track, measure, optimize. The dog bite taught me to keep going. The M5 taught me how to keep going at the highest level. Sales leaders: Your team's resilience isn't built through motivational speeches. It's built through systematic habits that create mental, physical, and emotional strength. When your reps face rejection, setbacks, or even the occasional dog bite. They'll have the framework to bounce back stronger. — Want to see a deeper dive into the framework? Go here: https://lnkd.in/gJhYugXB

You've probably heard this advice: "pressure makes diamonds." Well, the opposite is true for your sales culture. This is a massively flawed belief in sales. And it leads to toxic company cultures. Even elite athletes like Patrick Mahomes, with three Super Bowl victories in his first six years, can buckle under pressure. In football, defensive coordinators pressure opposing quarterbacks to cause — interceptions and fumbles. This strategy is clear -> pressure leads to mistakes. But in sales, pressure can backfire in similar ways. Strategies for a Winning Sales Team: 1. Create a Supportive Environment: Protection: Like a quarterback is protected by their offensive line, salespeople need shielding from excessive pressure to focus on their strategies. Stability: A stable environment reduces panic and rushed decisions, akin to a quarterback with enough time in the pocket to make the right decision and throw accurate passes. 2. Provide Quality Training: Skill Building: As quarterbacks need to practice throws and reads, salespeople need continuous training to successfully navigate customer interactions. Adaptability: Training should include handling pressure situations without making mistakes, much like quarterbacks train to evade sacks. 3. Focus on Deal Coaching: Guidance: Coaches help quarterbacks adjust tactics mid-game; deal coaching helps salespeople refine their approach for better customer engagement. Strategy Refinement: Continuous feedback on deal strategies improves performance like quarterbacks learn and improve by watching game film. 4. Celebrate Quality At-Bats: Effort Recognition: Just as football teams celebrate all types of stats for offense and defense, sales efforts—successful or not—should be acknowledged to motivate and build confidence. Morale Building: Celebrating small wins and efforts enhances team spirit like a football team high-fives each other after a good play. -- If pressure can derail an elite athlete... What effect do you think it has on your salespeople? Instead of pressuring your sales team, consider yourself the supportive offensive line coach to better set up your team for success. Give your sales team the tools, training, and support they need to execute their game plan confidently. A calm, focused quarterback—free from the threat of massive pressure and facing an imminent sack is more likely to lead their team to victory. The same is true in sales. -- 👋 Follow Steve Heroux ★ for more sales content. ♻️ Repost to share with your network.

How about a reset! I gave the wrong impression of an approach with rep motivation yesterday, so I thought a better way would be to share some of the ways we are positively impacting culture and motivating reps at Quantcast - Quarterly Development-only Conversations Separate from a career pathing or review conversation. This is a forward looking chat every IC/mgr has to discuss what they want to add to their toolbelt and to sketch out a mutual plan to achieve it - Team Contest SPIFs Individual contests are great, but the support and camaraderie from a team competition is even better - New Hire Buddies Everyone gets someone from the senior cohort to help guide them through their first six weeks (or more). Helpful to have an outlet beyond your direct manager or team Slack - Skip Levels I do this both at the team and individual levels. A chance to connect directly (rep-direct privilege functions like attorney client privilege where needed) to hear what is/isn't working and provide more direct support - Team AH Shares Our team meetings are geared towards peer shares. What was a client/prospect story that others can learn from? Highlight some great work and leave with something to take to your own GTM - Hands on Support Fine line between micromanagement and "hands on support" that every manager walks, but managers on our team are close to the reps supplying lead lists, conducting supporting outreach, and adding their voice to our initial conversations - Comms timing Making sure Slacks and emails, regardless of when they are sent, are received within working hours (and being mindful of time zones!) Most importantly, I think any work to motivate a team hinges on the individual. There can be broad strategies applied, but at the end of the day the rep-manager relationship is so critical to modify the support and comms to put them in the best place to succeed! Hopefully some nuggets that are helpful within this list that can be applied for other teams out there! Fostering competition is just one component, and of course, competition is healthy..... until it isn't (and only an authentic ear to the ground can tell you when that is) #SalesMotivation #MeaCulpa #CorrCompetencies