Ways to Motivate Teleprospectors, Part 2
Posted by
Matt Fitts on Mon, Dec 21, 2023 @ 01:17 PM
A couple of weeks ago I wrote an entry about motivating your teleprospectors and I spoke specifically about positive reinforcement. Today I want to share with you my opinion on another extremely effective way to motivate employees, which is giving them a level of "job autonomy." (I am not saying to give full autonomy to an employee as there are critical best practices that need to be followed in order to be successful at cold calling).
In the world of teleprospecting, "job autonomy" tends to be viewed as taboo. I am not from this school of thought and believe that, on a case by case basis, providing a teleprospector with some "job autonomy" can lead to a higher level of job satisfaction and in turn lead to a higher level of performance (the end goal for a manager trying to motivate employees). What I mean by "case by case basis" in providing a level of "job autonomy" is that it is something that works in a specific environment with some specific criteria.
The first and most important criteria that must be in place, the correct employee. I am sure you can think of an employee that you have managed that you needed to hand hold through everything and if you gave them any autonomy in there job they would use it to not do their job. Hence why having the right employee is critical; a strong work ethic, good business acumen, etc.
The second, and perhaps just as critical, is identifying those areas of an employees job that some level of autonomy can be given and can result in positive strides. For example you are not going to let someone just pick up the phone and make a call without formally training them on the value proposition they are trying to deliver (an obvious example and I am using it to stress that there are areas you have to remain rigid in your process). Some people might say that in order to be successful at teleprospecting you NEED to follow a set of rigid guidelines - when to call, how many times to call, how to deliver a message, tools (sales slicks, scripting material, etc) leveraged - I would agree there are pieces that are best practices and need to be adhered to. But on the flip side if you have a trustworthy, intelligent employee, try letting them work with you on messaging tweaks, creation of email templates, etc. I have found that this type of work is a very effective way to give a level of autonomy to an employee, and it helps the overall project by allowing the employee to develop something that will give them a better result. Of course, it is critical to sit down and review their work with them as a checks and balances to ensure they are not taking any liberties in messaging, etc.
Not only do I find that this autonomy results in higher job satisfaction and higher performance levels but it also can help an organizations attrition rates - and we all want to hold on to the employees that are successful at the job!
Are there things that you let your employees do that provide them with some autonomy in the work they do? I look forward to hearing some of your thoughts on this!