We all know sales can sometimes feel like a grind, but for the savvy salesperson, the gig can also come with a whole lot of rewards. From work-from-home privileges to all-expenses-paid vacations to the Caribbean, local tech companies are going way beyond commission checks to keep their sales teams motivated.
We caught up with five local sales leaders to learn more about their team cultures and the traditions and incentives that keep morale high.
Zayo Group provides communications infrastructure solutions — including fiber and bandwidth connectivity, colocation and cloud infrastructure — to businesses around the globe. A former Marine and leader in the local veteran community, Vice President of Sales Erik Thomson knows a thing or two about the importance of teamwork. He explained how a team-first mentality and a focus on professional development help his team succeed.
Do you have any special traditions that help your team stay motivated and focused?
Our team promotes a healthy, competitive culture, but the team goal is always the number one priority. The result you see is that people sometimes get even more excited about big wins from their teammates than they do about their own. By ensuring we have a clear goal that’s larger than any one individual everyone gets to participate in small successes every day.
Our team is built on three pillars: We take care of our customers, we produce results and our management team provides life-changing career trajectory opportunities for all team members.
We don't just hire people who want to make quota but people who have big dreams.”
For larger milestones — think, quarterly or yearly targets — how do you make sure success is recognized and incentivized?
We don't just hire people who want to make quota but people who have big dreams. We do have team dinners, happy hours and barbecues to celebrate some milestones, but we really focus on the individual to calibrate our reward system. Want to become a sales director? Great! Let's build you a path and give you some interim leadership opportunities. Want to improve work-life balance? Let's help you build a sustainable funnel. Want to earn more money? We'll help you dive into your white space and build a clear, measurable plan to get there.
HomeAdvisor’s home services marketplace connects homeowners with vetted professionals across the globe who can assist with home repair, maintenance and improvement projects. Director of Sales Leadership Development Jacqueline Marks reflected on her time as a sales manager and the strategies she used to keep her teams motivated.
Do you have any special traditions that help your team stay motivated and focused?
One mindset that I strived to live by as a sales manager was to always find time for fun and to focus on keeping my reps happy. When people are happy, they will sell. This means having a constant pulse on each individual as well as the team as a whole. If someone is clearly burnt out or having a bad day, pull them into a room and let them vent. If the whole team is struggling, put together a motivating contest.
Be proactive: Do not sit there and hope these things just go away, because they won’t. Negativity from one person can spread through a team like wildfire, so it’s important to alleviate individual issues before they become group issues. As a leader, you must constantly be looking for new ways to keep your team motivated and working hard.
One mindset that I strived to live by as a sales manager was to always find time for fun and to focus on keeping my reps happy. When people are happy, they will sell.”
For larger milestones — think, quarterly or yearly targets — how do you make sure success is recognized and incentivized?
I used to have one-on-ones with each of my reps to review their performance from the previous month and set goals for the new month or quarter. It is important that you set the goals together. If you tell them what they need to hit, they might not believe they can do it, but if you agree on a goal together, they will hold themselves accountable to it. I would post these goals on our team whiteboard and send weekly scoreboard updates in an email to constantly remind team members of the goals they set and their progress up to that point.
This not only pointed out those who were on pace, but it was a reminder to those who were falling short to hold themselves accountable as well. Monthly goal-hitters got to go to a group lunch or dinner with me, and quarterly goal-hitters won a day off. We then had monthly and quarterly recap meetings at the beginning of each new month, where anyone who hit their goal received public recognition.
From voice to video, conferencing to messaging, RingCentral’s cloud communication tools allow teams to more easily collaborate with colleagues and clients — no matter where they are. Channel Signature Sales Manager Matt Sutton gave us a glimpse into the perks that push his team to give their best.
Do you have any special traditions that help your team stay motivated and focused?
The main thing we focus on is having everyone’s voice be heard and finding a way for everyone to contribute to knowledge sharing. In our team meetings, we have rotating topics that people volunteer to present each week.
We also really like to celebrate monthly quota attainment. When a rep hits above 125 percent, we allow them to work from home on Fridays the following month. We find people love this reward, and it keeps them motivated well beyond hitting just 100 percent.
The main thing we focus on is having everyone’s voice be heard and finding a way for everyone to contribute to knowledge sharing.”
For larger milestones — think, quarterly or yearly targets — how do you make sure success is recognized and incentivized?
At RingCentral, we are constantly looking for ways to make sure success is rewarded and fun to achieve. It’s important to make sure it’s attainable, but a little healthy competition can go a long way. The award that comes to mind would be our Pathway to Excellence award. Only the top three reps from each segment are recognized per quarter with this award. This means you qualify for a day out of the office to do things like skiing, rafting or attending a Rockies game.
When it comes to yearly awards, we have the RingExcellence award that has been hosted in various locations such as Costa Rica, Mexico, Hawaii and, most recently, the Bahamas.
SambaSafety turns data into action with risk management software that helps businesses with a mobile workforce assess and manage driver risk while also helping drivers improve their behavior. Director of Insurance Data Solutions Rick Fendell explained how communication and knowledge sharing help set salespeople up for success.
Do you have any special traditions that help your team stay motivated and focused?
At Samba, we are always looking for ways to increase communication and share ideas amongst our team through weekly team pipeline reviews, “Feisty Friday” trainings on new sales techniques and team-building events.
At Samba, we are always looking for ways to increase communication and share ideas amongst our team...”
For larger milestones — think, quarterly or yearly targets — how do you make sure success is recognized and incentivized?
Our top performers are consistently recognized through bi-weekly reviews of top wins in our sales meetings. In addition, we have a weekly tracker toward qualifying for our annual president’s club trip, which was hosted in Puerto Vallarta last year.
Managing the full lifecycle of company-owned mobile devices can be a cumbersome task, but brightfin's mobility management portal, MAX, aims to simplify that process, saving businesses time and money in the process. Executive Vice President of Sales Steve Haddock gave us a glimpse into the traditions that make his team unique.
Do you have any special traditions that help your team stay motivated and focused?
It is important to us to celebrate wins, and we celebrate success with the ringing of bells. At brightfin, we provide mini bells that sit on everyone’s desk, in addition to the big bell that hangs from the wall. We have a system whereby sales reps will ring the bell on their desk one to three times to get recognized for their achievement, in addition to the big bell (cover your ears, as it’s loud) for free trials started and signed clients. This is a great way to celebrate each and every step of the sales process while also providing motivation from peers and excitement throughout the company for our sales progress.
We recognize everyone that achieves their annual goal with five days of fun in the sun, with amazing food, drinks and relaxation.”
For larger milestones — think, quarterly or yearly targets — how do you make sure success is recognized and incentivized?
Brightfin is a very sales-focused environment. We conduct monthly happy hours and quarterly team celebrations out of the office to build comradery and recognize accomplishments. While these are all great, our big event is an all-expenses paid, five-day president’s club trip, which has been in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, the past four years.
This event is like no other. We recognize everyone who achieves their annual goal with five days of fun in the sun, amazing food, drinks and relaxation. This is an annual tradition that is built deep into our culture, where we take time to recognize individuals, and their spouses or significant others, for their commitment to the business.
