why motivational sales training gimmicks

Motivational sales training as a discipline is highly suspect. Very often, no analytics are applied to these programs to determine whether they deliver ROI. Over the past few decades, some movements that began outside the sales management field have crept insidiously into sales training methodology and have given rise to the financial abuse that often passes for motivational sales training.1. Human Performance Movement DeceptionsLong established motivational research has repeatedly pointed to the futility of extrinsic motivation and the dominance of intrinsic motivation. However, other movements in popular culture have largely determined the types of investments that sales training progras have made in motivational sales training.2. Extrinsic Motivation Does Not WorkIn place of a well thought out strategic process that incorporates everything from how salespeople are hired, to how well they are trained, managers opt for the bribe as motivation. While these may work in very short time horizons, the numbers show that over time, they are absolutely limited as means of motivating a salesforce.Motivation that works and that lasts is based on a set of logical and mutually reinforcing beliefs and ideas on the part of the motivated person. For a salesperson who displays a relative lack of motivation to suddenly snap out of it takes a massive paradigm shift - or a major triggering event.3. Paradigm shifts are multi-layered (Intellectual, emotional, psychological)The sorts of paradigm shifts that bring about significant changes in a person's motivational profile are not based on a "good seminar" or good "motivational presentation". They take place block-by-block, step-by-step. They require some of the following:
a. A process based on robust dialog (sales managers often do not have that kind of time or training) rather than motivational training.
b. A process takes time, you sir, don't have the patience (it requires slight edge coaching, and you are a sales performance administrator - sales managers don't coach, and often don't lead - they preside).It takes a lot of coaching, counseling, training and monitoring for a person to evolve to the realization that fuels self-motivation. It is most often outside the scope of a sales manager's job or ability. It can only be consistently achieved in a larger context of a culture that supports in-depth coaching and training as well as brutally honest dialogue.4. Paradigm shifts and motivation are in the details.The most successful coaches of all time all had an eye for the greatest detail, and coached the minutest corrections until the proper adjustments were made. This is how all great coaching occurs. Unfortunately, many sales managers have poor coaching skills and end up exacerbating an already trying situation.5. Identifying and removing De-motivators is more effective than any motivational training.As a substitute for the standard motivational sales training, I recommend a systematic review of your marketing and sales process. Does your core marketing message align with everything else you portray to the customer? Does it represent a beneficial value proposition to them?Are the targeted clients and leads a proper fit? Does the sales process maximize the use of selling time instead of burdening down the sales professionals with outdated selling methods that trap them into low performance?As you continue to work on identifying and removing de-motivators, you may find that you get more than a few improvements in behavior and in performance from formerly "weak" team members.

Original :: why motivational sales training gimmicks