Finding the right motivational strategies can have a significant impact on members of a sales team. Understanding the key principles of motivation can help you manage your sales associates more effectively and provide you with a solid framework for future growth and profitability.

While every individual is different, here are three motivators that have proven useful with successful sales associates.

1. Money

Studies have shown that compensating your sales staff fairly can prove to be a significant motivator for their current and future performance. Base pay was regarded as the most important factor in the motivation process; however, incentives were also considered as part of the overall compensation received by employees in once such study.

By ensuring that your top sales associates receive compensation in line with or superior to that generally available in the retail technology field, you can increase employee retention and enhance motivation. This leads to improved performance not only for those key employees but also for those interested in moving up to the top levels of performance in your stores.

2. Gamification

Gamification has become a popular approach to motivating employees in the retail tech field. Simply put, this strategy involves the use of game-related theories to promote a more proactive approach to the working environment.

Gamification is especially useful for today’s workers who are generally already accustomed to the concepts and enjoy video and PC gaming. A joint study by researchers at Boise State University*, West Virginia University*, and Brigham Young University* found that gamification strategies can enhance training efforts in the corporate arena. Less experienced employees achieved even greater success in this training than those with years of experience in the field.

The immersive nature of PC and video games can explain their ongoing appeal. Immediate small rewards are the norm in many of these gaming experiences. By adopting this strategy as part of your management approach, you can often motivate employees to perform at higher levels.

Providing first-line managers with smaller incentive options that can be given immediately when sales associates demonstrate a desired set of skills or achieve a highly successful customer interaction can positively reinforce these behaviors to boost overall productivity and profitability for your stores.

3. Access for Success

Providing your sales staff with the tools and training they need pays off intrinsically and in their ability to help customers. In the technology field, maintaining a broad and accurate portfolio of knowledge about PCs, devices, peripherals, and emerging technologies pays off in increased sales and improved customer perceptions of your store.

By ensuring that your staff members have access to the tools and training they need to achieve success, you create the right environment for increased sales and improved productivity. Their success increases your success and the success of the store in general.

The Intel® Retail Edge Program incorporates these elements and many more to help your employees achieve a greater working knowledge of the products sold in your stores. The Program uses Credits that can be exchanged for discounts on products, incorporates gamification elements that spark interest and drive engagement, and provides access to tools and training activities designed to increase knowledge, device sales, and customer satisfaction. Add participation in the Intel® Retail Edge Program to your arsenal of motivational tools for your sales associates.

This article originally appreared here on LinkedIn*.

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*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

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