Football players have their coaches and their rituals. Executives have their financial targets. Doctors have the mission to save lives. In sales, what gets you motivated beyond Vince Lombardi quotes and quirky posters on the wall? Knowing that is one of the most important components of sustained sales success over time.

Motivation is about individual, team-wide and organizational momentum. There are lots of external factors that affect motivation. Every person responds differently to stress and adversity, and should be approached differently to get them to push for more. Promotional Consultant Today shares these four strategies to motivate your sales team.

1. Build trust with the people on your team.

The foundation of motivation is trust. If your team doesn't trust you and doesn't believe you have their best interests at heart, it will be difficult for them to feel inspired and driven by their work. When salespeople are unmotivated, you won't be able to re-inspire them unless you have an open and honest conversation about their challenges and goals—something that simply won't happen without trust.

Managers have to create trust and then maintain it by engaging with their team in a consistent, nurturing fashion. The best way to build trust is to be completely transparent. Simply discussing trust can be a great way of starting off on the right foot. Ask your employee, "I want to make sure we are in a trusting relationship. How can we build trust between us?"

2. Ask your direct reports how they like to be managed.

Just as different prospects will require different selling styles and effective salespeople understand how to adapt to those styles, effective managers understand that the best way to get results out of their team is to fit into their reports' worlds, instead of forcing one method of communication or strategy on everyone else.

Here are some questions to ask direct reports to help them figure out their work style:

  • What pace of interaction do you prefer? Do you want to meet with me once a week, every other week or multiple times a week?

  • How do you want me to give you feedback?

  • Do you prefer public or private praise and feedback?

  • If I hear something is amiss, do you want me to tell you, email you, wait until our one-on-one, or something else?

  • If something I do gets on your nerves, will you let me know?

3. Understand your direct reports' personal and professional goals.

You can't motivate someone unless you know what drives them. Understand what your direct reports each want to accomplish in their personal and professional lives. This will not only show you the type of person they are, but also give you insight into what things will motivate them the most.

Once you understand their goals, ask them the following questions:

  • Are you motivated right now?

  • What motivates you long term?

  • What can you do to motivate yourself?

  • How will I know if you are not motivated?

  • What do you want me to do if you don't appear motivated?

Even if it seems obvious, you always need to ask. Forcing your reps to be self-reflective makes it more likely they'll give you thoughtful answers, which will be better for you both in the long run.

4. Set daily, weekly and monthly goals.

Managers need to understand that different salespeople are motivated in different ways. Some people are motivated by team-wide sales contests. Some are driven by quota achievement. Some are motivated by qualitative improvements. Some people are motivated by their impact on the organization. Some people are motivated by money. The key to motivating your sales team is getting their input so they believe that the contest is fun, exciting and rewarding.

Find the thing that makes your reps tick, and those who have the self-discipline and inner talent to work for a reward will shine.

Source: Dan Tyre is sales director at HubSpot. An authority on inbound marketing and sales, Tyre is a regular speaker, writer and coach to those who yearn for inbound success. His favorite topic is the importance of attitude, and he's been known to bring the house down when speaking to groups on this topic.