The primary motivator for most good sales professionals is money, and strong sales managers do their best to make sure that both the compensation plan and periodic sales contests recognize this. However, few of us work absolutely exclusively for money. We also need recognition and praise. One great way to motivate salespeople day-to-day is to be aware of their achievements, both large and small, and offer praise that is very specific.

Most salespeople would certainly not object to hearing words like, "Hey, good job closing Company ABC!" or "You seemed really focused this week. Keep up the good work!" It makes them feel good about themselves and that is never a bad thing. However, praise like that tends to wear off quickly because it doesn't recognize the precise details of their efforts.

Here are some examples of recognition that is specific and involves the salesperson in the discussion:

"In reviewing your productivity numbers last week, I saw that you increased the number of prospecting calls you made by 10%. That's fantastic. How were you able to do that?"

"Congratulations on getting an appointment to see Jane Doe. I know her administrative assistant made it almost impossible to even get her on the phone. You really showed a lot of tenacity. Tell me about your conversation with her."

"That was a really strong presentation. I noticed that you made some changes to your opening remarks that made the introduction much more compelling. How did you come up with the idea for your new introduction?"

Any kind of forward progress, improvement of a skill, or increase in a certain kind of activity typically involves real effort on behalf of the salesperson. By recognizing this and asking them to talk about it, you are reinforcing the desired behavior. As well, during times when they may be in a sales slump, you can remind them of their successes in the past and motivate them to make that extra effort once again.

Talk to employees in other departments, look closely at activity reports, and review notes in your CRM system to find reasons to compliment your salespeople. Though you won't be able to praise each person every day (and that might be overkill anyway) you will certainly have enough data to reach out to each of them on a much more frequent basis and keep their spirits high.