Today we’re going to take a closer look at motivating “millennials”, i.e. those born between 1980 and 2001, who are now starting to become a material part of our workforces. This generation of people are often referred to (somewhat critically I must add) as the “Trophy Generation”, so we’re going to look at the origins of that term and what it means for those of us managing sales teams.

1. “The Trophy Generation”: Managing sales teams
when everyone wants to be a winner
James Pember – CEO and co-founder

2. What is “The Trophy Generation”?
• Born between 1980
and 2001, often
referred to as
Millennials.
• “Nice try, way to go,
you’ll get it next time”
style of parental
encouragement.
• “Participation Trophies”
for showing up.

3. Is “Trophy” parenting a bad thing?

4. On the other hand..
• One could argue that
constant positive
reinforcement and
encouragement has led to
a generation that is:
• Risk-taking
• Free-thinking
• Ambitious
• Confident

5. Why does “The Trophy
Generation” impact me and
my sales management
initiatives?

6. Millennials are
taking over the
workforce
25%
38%
32%
5%
Workforce 2014
Millennials Boomers Gen X Vets
50%
32%
17%
1%
Workforce 2016
Millennials Boomers Gen X Vets

7. When it comes to motivation, what
worked before won’t work now
• This new breed of sales rep
requires a completely
different mindset when it
comes to motivating and
managing their performance.

8. What motivates these Millennials then?
Below are the 3 motivators that sales leaders need to tap
into in order to get epic sales success out of their younger
colleagues
1. Praise and Recognition
2. Constant (and I mean constant) and Continuous Feedback
3. Milestones, Achievements and Incremental Progress

9. Praise and Recognition
• "The millennials were
raised with so much
affirmation and positive
reinforcement that they
come into the workplace
needy for more” - Subha
Barry - Merrill Lynch
If you want to motivate
your millennial sales staff
into increased
performance - don’t be
scared to push the praise
button a little more often.

10. Constant and Continuous Feedback
• Millennials crave
constant
feedback.
• Annual
performance
reviews don’t
work.
• Review progress
as often as
possible.
Action
DataFeedback
Calibrate

11. Milestones, Achievements and Progress
• Another hangover effect
from years of playing
video games is the desire
to pass milestones, tick off
achievements and make
incremental progress.
• This is particularly
relevant for sales. Make
sure you break down big
ambitious goals into more
easily digestible
milestones.
• Make sure you track and
report activity levels too,
because we all know -
activity levels are the
engine room for
successful salespeople.
Calls and
Meetings
Opportunities
Deals

12. Summary
• The new breed of salespeople are different, and this difference
must be accepted in order to drive high performing sales
organizations in 2016.
• Remember, what worked before won’t necessarily work now.
• If you’re sales culture isn’t built upon continuous feedback,
recognition and praise and incremental progress - you risk
being left behind.

13. Drive sales
performance with
Sparta
• Sparta is a sales
performance software
platform, that makes
it easy to drive
competitions,
coaching and goal-
setting.
• Track, measure and
improve.
• Perfect for millennial
sales teams.
• Learn more at
www.spartasales.com