Need Satisfaction Sells Employees On Their Jobs
Last week, I wrote about the importance of satisfying your customer’s needs. Need satisfaction is the cornerstone of my sales process.
But this approach isn’t just for prospects. It’s for your team, too.
Satisfy Needs to Help Your Team Win
After working with over 100 companies, I’ve realized that building a great team is pretty formulaic.
You decide what big goal you want to achieve: your company Mission, maybe, or a specific goal like your North Star.
You figure out what roles you need to get there.
You find the right people to fill those roles.
You determine what those people need to be successful.
And you align the business so that the entire team is incentivized toward achieving that big goal.
If you can get those things right, then your job is simple: help your people win. They’re the right people to do it. They have the skills, and they’re a cultural fit.
Helping them win might mean holding them accountable—or holding their hand.
It might mean empowering them and then getting the hell out of the way.
It will vary from person to person, but ultimately, this is the only goal—structure your incentives correctly so that when your people win, the company does, too.
A Note About Incentives
I often talk about money and “incentives” interchangeably because at a senior level, your people want to be paid well—and see benefits from any upside.
But there are other motivations besides money. Flexibility, great benefits, on-the-job training, growth opportunities…all potential incentives that can get your team excited about doing their jobs to the best of their ability.
How do you know what your people want? I recommend asking them.
Just like you would a customer.
Need satisfaction means always making the conversation about the other person. What gap do they have that you can help them fill? Why are they in pain? Where are they having a problem?
Identify the need. Show the solution. Summarize the benefits. Close the deal.
When you align what you offer to what people want—customers AND employees—the solution sells itself.
