Motivation

How to stay motivated when there’s no obvious incentive ahead? Seven year olds do it every day…

Who’d have thought? Seven year olds up and down the country are enjoying learning their times tables! All thanks to online games that feature rockstar avatars who get cooler the more questions a child gets right (glow in the dark wizard guitar anyone)? Gamification is just one of the tools teachers use to give that tough audience of seven year olds an incentive to learn and stay happy and motivated all year long. It’s not learning…it’s playing!

In the adult world of work, the up-coming Black Friday is keeping everyone from senior leaders to customer service staff motivated and ready for the busiest day in the retail calendar. But what if you aren’t in retail and don’t have a peak sales time like Black Friday? How do you motivate your teams to hit key targets, all while keeping employees happy and motivated, and customers super-satisfied?

Here at Avvio we’ve helped many companies keep their employees motivated throughout the year. Here are a few strategies that have worked for employees, customers and management.

 Rewards really work

Rewards and recognition programmes are a great way to motivate staff. They’re also a brilliant opportunity to share stories of excellence. Communicating and celebrating success company-wide not only boosts employee morale, but is also highly motivating. This has the happy effect of boosting your sales, too.

Knowledge is empowerment

Just because your company has a well-known and respected brand, doesn’t automatically mean that your employees know the ins and outs of the products. Especially recently launched ones. From contact centre staff to head office, all employees should be empowered to talk confidently about your latest product (or your brand). Create a zone for employees of all levels to visit so they can experience hands-on interactive demos of the new product(s), plus online quizzes and video brochures to bring your product to life.

Be sales-ready, for more sales

An educated sales force is essential. It’s also essential they don’t get bogged down by too much product information, as sales teams want to sell not wade through masses of marketing stuff. Give sales staff the know-how they need, when they need it, so they can get familiar with not only your products but your wider sales proposition. E-learning programmes, interactive web apps, gamification, and immersive learning technologies are all examples of great ways to keep sales teams up to speed. Sales conferences are not the power point fest they used to be too: new technology is being used in ever more innovative ways to educate, engage, and motivate sales forces.

A motivated, informed and empowered workforce makes happier customers and better business results. At Avvio we know how to make this happen, and would love to talk with you about it.  Or look at our site and see how we’ve helped Vodafone, Sky, and Thames Water to name just a few.