The old ‘carrot and stick’ approach to team motivation offers positive incentives or negative consequences. Here’s a third option: ice cream.
Using the carrot and stick method is all about creating external motivators to get the behavior you want. If your team uses the CRM software, you give them a bonus. If they don’t, you penalize them.
But it requires setting up an external system, monitoring usage, and then doling out rewards or punishments. That’s a lot of work and often only makes a small impact.
What if instead you tap into people’s natural motivation?
I call it ice cream. It’s something people automatically love.
Think about what happens when you check an item off your to do list. Doesn’t that feel good? People love that sense of accomplishment. It’s an intrinsic motivator. Your organization doesn’t have to continually manufacture that motivation. You can create a simple system that taps into the natural way people are wired.
What would this look like?
- It could be a splash of digital confetti on an Opportunity when it is marked “closed – won”.
- It could be customizing a home page with report charts that show progress and leading indicators.
- It could be an automated shoutout in Slack whenever an advance is made or a new logo is engaged.
- It could be a prospect dropping off your list when you’ve had a call and logged an activity.
Quick tip: You need to ask your team what frustrates and motivates them in the CRM and observe their behavior. A digital high five isn’t going to cut it for everyone and training doesn’t solve the problem.
There are a lot of ways your systems, interfaces, and processes can benefit from a scoop of ice cream. The next time you’re looking to motivate your team, try tapping into their intrinsic drivers.