Staff Motivation is providing a work environment that is motivating and that recognises good work. It is an essential element to running a great team.
When a telemarketer is right for the job, well trained, is provided with a good framework in terms of scripts and has the right environment to work in, their job is quite a simple one. It is not always an easy job though. Anyone who has ever prospected by phone knows that.
We can motivate staff in a number of ways and in fact each person can be motivated by different things. The key to good staff motivation is making sure you are appreciating and recognising each staff member in a way that is meaningful to them.
Many times we try to motivate our telemarketers with money. When it doesn’t work we are bewildered….. everyone wants more money don’t they?? Actually, no they don’t.
Everyone needs money, that’s why they work. But that doesn’t mean that money is a motivating factor in their work performance and level of satisfaction in their job.
Let’s look at what motivates people in a work environment…
RANK
Many people are incredibly motivated by the rank they hold. I’m sure you know people who are far more concerned with what title is on their business card or where the office they work in is situated, than they are with how much money they earn. People who are motivated by rank like to feel like they are on a progression path and that they are important.
RECOGNITION
Recognising a telemarketers (or any employees) performance, their ability to work as part of a team, to lead or help others, to build great rapport with customers or anything else is simple to do and leaves your staff feeling appreciated, respected and best of all, Happy!
PRIZES
Funnily enough, I have found that prizes excite people into action far more than if you were to offer that same prize value as cash.
Every now and then I would run a big month long competition. I always got a better performance result from offering a plasma TV than from offering $1000 cash, it’s is a visual thing. With a prize, you can buy it before the competition begins and have it sitting in the room ready to be claimed; this can really get people imagining themselves with the prize and get them motivated to win it.
MONEY
Money is the obvious thing that most people use to motivate sales and telemarketing staff. It can work very well for some staff. Many people who choose to work in the sales industry are very motivated by money and will judge their success by how much money they earn.
The best call center’s provide staff motivation by covering all four elements in their room. Rank, Recognition, Prizes and Money. When you have all four types of motivation present, everyone is a winner. As we know motivated staff equals happy staff.
I spend a lot of time going into detail on this particular subject of motivating staff in my E-book The Complete Guide to Recruiting, Training and Motivating Staff.
