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Get More - Using Recognition To Get Results
By Darryl Gee
Let's face it as leaders and business owners we always want more and in many ways need more. More productivity, more sales, more profit, better service, better quality ... and the list could go on and on. Whether we are faced with the challenge of increased costs or an increasingly competitive environment, the most effective resource that we have to quickly get "more" are the people that we lead and manage.
The quickest way to get anyone to do anything is to simply ask, and the most effective way to get them to keep doing it is by providing some recognition. In poll after poll, survey after survey, employees say that they are motivated more by recognition, than by money. So why don't we use this tool more often?
Maybe we feel it's time consuming, … or we forget! or we've never tried it before, or it's just not in the budget ... and the list could go to infinitum. Frankly, these are all poor excuses for not giving your people what they want most and crave. Recognition.
I am going to lay out a comprehensive recognition plan that anyone can use to increase sales and productivity. Some of what I am going to share may seem corny - but trust me it works. (Tell me it's corny if you follow my instructions to the letter and see no improvement).
Track Everything:
This will be the fuel for your recognition program. You need numbers, numbers and more numbers. You'll need these for each individual on your team. If you do not have an automated way to get numbers, you'll have to do it manually (I know it sounds difficult but you must do it. Anyway, what did we do before computers).
In particular we need to track sales and things that impact sales and profits. You'll need detailed sales results. How many of each item was sold and by whom. Was the item discounted or not? Was an accessory or an upgrade attached to the sale. Was the sale made by cash or credit - or on account. What time was the sale made.
Once you have the cold hard data. We need to make it relative by breaking things down into ratios. How many add-ons were added per sale? What was the dollar value of add-ons per sale? How many premium units were sold? And so on
As you collect this data and compare it you will come up with numbers for your unit and numbers for each individual. Your unit may have a rate of $35 per sale, while Steve may average $50 per sale, Bob $20 and Carrie $25. Even though Bob was your top sales person, his per sale average is low and he may be losing you money. Tracking gives you insight into your business in ways you may have never thought of.
Now that we have the data what do we do with it? Share it. Share everyones results with everyone on the team. You need to do this in several ways.
Visually you'll need a board to detail the critical results - those that are most important to you. List everyone's name from top to bottom and their results from left to right. Leave the last column as an overall rank column.
Next you will need to email the results - just the chart is fine. No commentary is necessary. Hopefully everyone on your team has an email address - if not Yahoo is free.
Now you need everyones wireless phone for the next two. It would be perfect if your team had company phones (if not don't worry do it anyway - as of this writing most carriers include incoming texts free).
Send a text blast - with ranking from the prior day and a congratulatory message for the #1 rep. You may need to send two messages if it gets lengthy.
Here is a sample text that you could send:
'Awesome Day: Christina - Our Champ with 15 sales, Evelyn 8 sales, Mark 4 sales. We finished with 27 that's 2 ahead of our goal. Thank you everyone.'
Send a voice mail blast. This will get you your best results. This is like having your own 5 minute infomercial. If your team uses the same carrier and your service offers it, set up a group distribution list and send a message detailing the prior days results. Rank each person and talk about your leaders
Here is the outline of a 5 minute voice mail:
-Greeting
-Comment on previous days business
-Highlight the leaders
-Detail everyones performance
-Comment on the laggards
-Close with a motivational statement or quote.
Now I will tell you how to use these to grow sales. Instantly, daily, weekly, monthly:
Instantly - as great sales occur throughout the day send out a thank you to the person who closed a big or tough sale. Use text, email and/or voice mail.
Daily - Thank the days leaders and recap the previous days business. Do this one on one as well as in voice mail and text. Be excited in your delivery. Nightly have someone post your teams results on a board for all to see.
Weekly - You should be having at least a brief meeting but ideally a 60 to 90 min. meeting, with your team - Every Week. Detail everyones performance for the week and highlight the leaders. Use them as examples of how to execute. Let them participate by sharing their technique.
Monthly - At the 1st meeting of the next month hand out certificates and takes photos of your leaders. Thank them profusely for their efforts. Be very energetic and motivational. Send out a message thanking your leaders. Do this on the 1st of every month - Voice mail or email is a good medium to use here.
To recap - Keep in mind your goal; whether limiting costs or growing sales etc. Determine what you want to achieve and in what time frame. Decide what behaviors and actions your people can take, to contribute the most to achieving your goals and communicate the actions you expect from them. Devise a simple way to monitor results by individual employee and keep score (detailed above).
Thank your people verbally and electronically for even the slightest increases as you progress through your recognition period. Instantly, daily, weekly and monthly - thank the top producers publicly. Provide your top people with recognition, awards and prizes.
The end result will be you getting the "more" that you needed and your people feeling pumped up and excited about contributing to the results.
Copyright 2005 - Darryl Gee
About the Author
Darryl Gee has 18 years of sales and management experience. He shares his entrepreneurial and corporate management expertise on his website http://www.madmanager.com and the madmanager message board at http://www.madmanager.com/forum.
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