We don’t recognize the small wins of our sales teams nearly enough.
Sales leaders tend to focus on the thirty-thousand-foot view. Sometimes, that means we lose sight of the sales behaviors that make the big wins happen.
Behind the scenes of every closed deal, there’s a salesperson who spent hours researching, connecting with prospects on LinkedIn, sending InMail’s and emails, making calls, qualifying opportunities, giving product demos, writing follow-up plan letters, and making more calls until the buyer signs the dotted line.
And that’s the ideal scenario.
You know as well as I do that the process ends in rejection and frustration far more often than it results in a closed-won opportunity.
Sales is a game of motivation.
If your salespeople are not valued for the effort they put in day-in and day-out, you have a problem on your hands: A majority of US employees (79%) leave their job because they are under-appreciated.
When the cost to acquire new talent is up to two times the salary of a lost employee, it is crucial to take a people-first approach to retain your team. Let’s look at the top five tactics:
5 Easy Ways to Celebrate Small Sales Wins and Appreciate Employees
1. A simple thank you can be the key to retaining your top-performing employees. According to a Workhuman study, those who were thanked in the last month are half as likely to look for a new job (24% vs. 48%); more than twice as likely to be highly engaged in their work (48% vs. 21%); and more than three times as likely to see a path to grow in the organization (59% vs. 19%).
That’s a powerful reminder—but this simple gesture can easily backfire if done without care.
Take a few minutes to handwrite your own message, mentioning the specific reason why you’re saying thanks. This adds a personal touch, gives a sense of a true human connection, and demonstrates that the person you're thanking is important and valuable to you.
2. Have a fun, theme-inspired virtual team party where you can recognize your team members in a personal way. A former boss took us all to a cooking class and kicked off the event by handing each person a utensil and telling a story about them.
One person got a spatula because they were skilled at flipping a bad situation to a good outcome. Another got a whisk because they excelled at making deals bigger. Someone else got an ice cream scoop because they were good at scooping things up that were getting left behind.
His storytelling made us laugh, and the praise created a team-oriented mindset, motivating us to not only work harder — but also work together.
3. Give a gift card to a salesperson’s favorite retailer, restaurant, or movie theater. Rather than sending out another Amazon gift card, listen to your team and personalize the gift to their tastes.
It’s a good reminder that incentives don’t have to be delivered in commissions or shared in a large public setting. Most people prefer recognition in the workplace that is either shared with a few people or delivered privately, rather than widely shared, according to a Deloitte study.
4. Identify members of your sales team who exhibit the right behaviors and have them share their success story at weekly team calls. Examples include salespeople who are properly pacing their prospecting outreach and staying steadfast in keeping opportunities “warm” until buyers are ready to talk, and those who are rigorous about eliminating no-decision opportunities from their pipeline.
Nothing encourages behaviors in a positive way like sharing successes.
5. Use an instant chat app like Slack or Microsoft Teams to share immediate recognition of an individual with your entire team. At ValueSelling Associates, we have a team channel in our Slack, called “Ring the Bell.” It’s our way of recognizing individuals for every new piece of business sold, large and small.
Your message here can be short and sweet but take the time to be specific and explain why this one was so powerful.
Takeaway – Celebrating small wins goes a long way to motivating your sales team.
As a sales leader, you want more customers, higher margins, more market share — and to keep your top talent. Your team members want to be recognized for the everyday efforts that go into achieving big wins. Recognition doesn’t have to come in the form of a compensation bonus. The thought, spirit, and gesture of the recognition is what matters most.
To build the human connections that keep motivation high, recognition must be natural and authentic and come from a genuine place of appreciation.
Topics: Sales management
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