Genuinely Recognize Your Team Members

"Never miss an opportunity to say a word of congratulation upon anyone's achievement."

- President Lyndon B. Johnson

Everyone loves to be recognized for their achievements. When you give someone recognition, then they feel that they did a good job and want to do even more. When others see someone else being recognized, it generally makes them want to make the same achievement -  if your recognition program is done right.

I'm gonna share some tips for a good recognition program:

Ask your team for input. What do they consider a reward and recognition? Do they value cash prizes, free Ambit apparel, Ambition tickets or f-r-e-e le-ads? If they get what they want, they won't feel like you are condescending to them. If you give rewards and recognition that simply means nothing to your team, then it is a pointless endeavor. So, when developing your program give your team a voice.

Tell them what activities you will reward and what they have to do to earn the reward. When your team knows what they have to do to get the recognition, they know where they stand. But, first you need to decide what it is you are going to reward.

For example, you could use any of the 13 activities in the Performance Tracker such as most appointments set, most number of presentations and most customers gathered for a given time period (week, month, quarter).

Tell them the way to rewards is through training. Nothing is more motivating than knowing what to say on the phone and how to say it. When you and your team member(s) set goals for learning - such as a certain phone script, and they meet the goal, reward them. By mentoring them, they learn, and when they meet the goal, they will feel that they earned the reward.

Just remember that genuine recognition will go a long way toward motivating your down-line. Just remember to reward consistently and fairly. If you make it a policy to reward for most phone calls per week, then you must reward every week. On the other hand, if you are doing a short term Consultant/Customer Gathering push for example, make sure your team is very clear that it is a one-time contest.

When you send a card or flowers to a team member who has made an achievement, you will motivate him to make more of those achievements. You will also make him feel that you are interested in them and their success.

So, now your mission is to come up with a recognition program for your team. Remember to include them on the discussion of what types of rewards they would like. If you need ideas, don't forget my suggestion to use any of the activities in the Performance Tracker.

Check out this video clip promotion on what we are doing for our team at Ambition

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!