Creating and growing a direct sales team that’s engaged and motivated takes time and effort on the leader’s part. But it’s so worth it!
Your motivated leaders will, in turn, motivate their team members better. Your engaged team will want to strive for goals together to grow as a team and as individual businesses.
And it’s more fun and satisfying for you and your team too!
Below are a few things you can do to create an engaged and motivated direct sales team.
Challenges
When you set challenges, you’ll also need a reward. Think about what your team members would love and what is convenient for you to post (not too heavy) or get to them digitally (vouchers, gift cards, etc.).
When setting your challenges, you want to target something you want them to do more of in their direct sales business. For example, you might want to set a recruiting challenge, a Facebook party challenge, booking challenges, or sales challenges.
Besides the different aspects you can focus on, you also want to have challenges for all ‘levels’ in your team. For example, I have a challenge for people to keep their accounts open, but I currently also run a challenge for people striving for the next international trip. More about challenges here.
When I see that one of my team members is coasting and could do better, I might set them a personal challenge. Some of my teamies want to extend and appreciate setting a big goal. So I work with them individually and reward them when they meet the challenge.
Recognition
I recognize people who achieve a certain standard (for example, the different commission levels in my company) or recruit or have a certain number of parties. Some teams have a monthly Top 10 for recruiters or sellers, which can be very motivating!
But I also sometimes recognize an individual who’s put in a lot of effort or stepped out of their comfort zone. They may not have achieved the goal they’re aiming for just yet, but I want them to know I see the hard work they’re putting in and cheer them on.
When you do recognition, it’s essential to do it in many different ways. For example, you can do a team Facebook post, a fun Facebook Live, send certificates or trophies, postcards via the mail, or call someone personally to congratulate them.
I use all those methods!
Another fun thing to do is to start a ‘brag thread’ in your team group. And you allow them to brag about their achievements or step out of their comfort zone. It’s an excellent way for members to inspire and celebrate together – not just from you as a leader.
Loyalty
Loyalty is about recognizing what your team members do in their business and what’s happening in their lives.
I send cards and messages for significant moments like weddings, birth, graduating from studies, etc.
I want my team members to know how much I appreciate them and how each contributes to the team.
Goal Setting
Encourage your team to set their own goals. You can set up a Facebook poll to learn about their goals and keep track of them.
You can follow up with a text or Facebook message to see how they’re going and how close they are to meeting their goal.
When they meet their goal, I congratulate them and recognize them for that!
I have created two printables for my team to use to track their own goals. It’s a ‘savings jar’ and a rocket ship that they can color in as they progress towards their goal. If you’re interested in providing these to your team, grab the printables below.
Spend your time wisely
You are probably just as busy as I am, so you want to spend your time wisely. The best way to do this with your team is to spend little time on your small players. Then invest more time in your ‘rising stars’ (people striving for the next level in the career plan) and your leaders.
It’s a bit of a tightrope: you want to create an engaged and motivated team, but you also need to guard your time.
