Even top sales performers want to sell even more, but sometimes it takes a gentle push from their sales manager to get them there. With your help, your top sales performers can continue to drive sales higher, benefiting themselves and your organization in the process. There is no one clear cut formula to motivating sales people to sell even more, but there are several steps that you can take as a sales manager that can help you and your top sales performers reach new sales goals.

Facilitate Top Sales Performers’ Understanding of Key Performance Indicators

Even if you are already posting your sales teams’ individual and group KPIs on a regular basis to motivate sales on internal competition, your top sales performers might not be getting as much as they can out of the exercise if they do not know where to focus their energies for improvement. It might even be the case that your best sales people are questioning the KPIs being used, but are afraid to ask for fear of appearing out of touch. Tackle this problem and help your top sales performers sell even more by setting aside time to analyze KPIs during one on one coaching time. Focus areas could include:

• Lead follow up times
• Average sale sizes by revenue
• Number of sales calls to reach a close
• Customer satisfaction levels

Coach Top Sales Performers on Successful Cross-Selling

Top sales performers are frequently sales “hunters”: They know how to find new business and pursue it aggressively, and are your number one source of new customers. Converting a prospect into a client is rarely a problem for these individuals because the close is one of a top sales person’s strongest performance areas. Yet from time to time top sales performers may become too focused on the close, causing them to drop cross-selling opportunities. Knowing that cross-selling is a leading revenue driver, take the time to coach your best sales people into selling even more through cross-selling your products, services, maintenance, and support packages on their way to the close.

Review Your Sales Compensation Plan with Top Sales Performers in Mind

If your top sales performers have reached a plateau, chances are good that your sales compensation plan is the reason. Sales people who have reached compensation caps have little reason to sell even more, especially if there are no balancing earnings opportunities like sales contests on offer. Particularly if your sales compensation plan has not been updated in the last few years, now might be a good time to: 

• Ensure that your sales compensation plan is in line with your top competitors’
• Check that top sales performers are compensated commensurate with performance – your top 10% should be making considerably more than the median sales rep
• Make sure that your plan compensates top sales performers for selling to existing clients as well as to new ones
• Analyze the possibility of tying bonuses or other compensation to customer satisfaction

Let Your Top Sales Performers Know They Are Appreciated

A little appreciation goes a long way; in fact, it could be the only thing that your top sales performers need to receive to sell even more. Showing your appreciation for the work that your top sales performers do on a daily basis costs nothing and can motivate your sales team to do better. There are many ways to let your top performers know that they are appreciated; you can thank them, ask them for their opinions to make them feel valued, or give them perks for performance that are not tied to compensation, such as an afternoon off. You might be surprised at how effective simple appreciation is as a tool for encouraging sales people to sell even more.