Getting your sales department humming takes attention and focus on the things that get sales people excited about performing well for your company. Sustained success in sales demands a careful investigation of dynamics that create and build sales success.

An organization certainly needs to adopt the processes that make great sales people, but it also needs to demand of itself to discover and practice ways to get and keep its sales team at peak operating capacity.

This approach is not static though it is constant and changing based on the team itself, your product or services mix, customer expectations and where the marketplace is at the moment. The goal is to always be thinking about tomorrow where you can always stay ahead of the competition. Here are some strategies for your company to adopt to keep team sales team operating at peak capacity.

Always be Transparent with Them

The strategy used to be at most companies to hide where things really are in terms of sales. Sales members were only told that they needed to keep pushing to meet goals and that if they slowed even for a second they would fall behind management expectations. Even today, some companies are hesitant to tell their sales team how things are going. They may let them know if a sales quota is reached and if someone is having an outstanding performance or if there will be changes within the sales team due to poor numbers, but in terms of where things are in relation to the overall organization and if they are on an upswing or the opposite, this information gets kept close to management’s vest.

This approach works against a company today. Sales people want to know exactly where things are and how they and the rest of the company are doing specifically as it relates to management’s goals. They want this to be connected to real ideas from management of how there can be improvement and a bigger amount of input if sales numbers are not being hit. This shows to the sales team that they are valuable and a needed part of the company and that the company will not let them fail. The result is that they will work even harder.

Instead of only reporting solely on sales achievements, focus also on other factors including new leads translated to prospects, implementing of new company policies relating to sales and ideas submitted to the company that improve efficiency and effectiveness in any department. The goal here is to create wins for your sales team. Remember, these people are motivated to wins, so give them some opportunities to win. It can stimulate them to push harder for wins in other areas.

When you do this also make the entire sales team aware of everyone’s achievements and find a way to make it a team success. Do the same for others who are not doing well. Let the team know but in a supportive way encouraging dialogue and support. In other setting expectations for sales team performance, not for individuals alone will produce better results.

Give Them a Great Reason to Sell

At the heart of why your sales team will push hard is the fact that they will get rewarded when they do, so you need to give them great rewards. Companies that act the most generously in terms of rewards consistently hire and keep the best sales people so do not hold back in this area if you want the best.

Create a compensation package that makes you excited about telling your sales people what they will get if they are successful. This is a great start. Then find ways to set low bars for them initially so they get motivated to continue early and keep up the pace. But this is only the beginning.

Sales team notoriously have fast and slow periods. Perhaps they get tired or bored or lose momentum or some other good reason, but you need to always be there with a new set of incentives to push them when you see sales slow. After a while you will be able to anticipate when these slow periods will likely happen and be armed with a great set of temporary incentives to get them going again. Try incentives like offering larger bonuses extra time off or a trip away for half a week. It has been proven that non-cash incentives can be as effective as cash incentives Employ incentives that get people in the sales department and the whole company talking.

Sales team want to do well for your company. Create a culture that supports their efforts and give them incentive they need and your sales will go into overdrive.