I hear this very often: Dave, your assessment said that Joe was not money motivated but I disagree. It seems like Joe is in here every month asking for more money.
Me: Tell me about that.
Client: Well, he says he isn’t earning as much as he’s worth so he hits us up for more salary or demands an increase in commissions.
Me: So what you are saying is that he is demanding that you pay him more money.
Client: That’s right.
Me: In my experience, a money motivated salesperson simply sells more to earn more – that’s the motivated part of money motivated. It seems that rather than doing that, Joe is asking you to give him more money. He feels entitled but isn’t doing anything about earning it. It’s like he’s on welfare and you’re the government…
Client: Ouch. Thanks.
Money motivation tends to be very confusing to people but there is a huge distinction between being motivated to perform versus feeling entitled to more money. What do you have on your sales force?
There will be a couple of opportunities to hear me and other top sales experts this month (January 2012).
On Monday, January 23 at 2PM ET, I will be on a panel along with Tom Ziglar (Zig’s “kid”) and Lisa Cramer. Host Michael Nick will be discussing the Future of Selling and it should be a very insightful 45 minute teleconference. You can learn more and regsiter here.
On Wednesday, January 25 at Noon ET, I will be on a panel with 3 other sales experts when host Dave Stein, CEO of ESResearch discusses Sales Leadership Strategies in a Virtual, Mobile and Social World. Stein will host additional panel discussions on a variety of topics during January and February. To register for my session click here. For information and/or to register for the other sessions, click here.
