Tom Reilly knows times are tough for industrial distributors. As president of Tom Reilly Training in St. Louis, he's heard it all over the last two years – from the distributor concerned about losing new salespeople who couldn't make enough sales to draw commissions, to the numerous companies forced to make quick shifts to adapt to a "reactionary buying" environment, where customers purchase goods and services only when absolutely necessary.

These and other issues can wreak havoc on the spirits of outside sales reps who are driven mostly by their own motivation to "get out there and sell." And while most distributors are accustomed to price resistance, Reilly says they're feeling more of it these days, thanks to an economic downturn, manufacturing recession and uncertainty over recent world events.

"Distributors are feeling the pinch," says Reilly, who also writes ID's Strictly for Sales column each month, "and sales employee retention is of particular concern right now." Exacerbating the problem, he adds, is that 70 percent of company executives have never led a company through an economic slowdown, and 60 percent of salespeople have never sold in tough times.

"It can be like the blind leading the blind," says Reilly. "It's having considerable impact because in tough times, salespeople must create opportunities, not just respond to them."

Reilly isn't the only one who knows what it takes to sell in difficult economic times. Distributors nationwide and across all industries are finding ways to keep their sales teams motivated and productive in a challenging environment. Here, Reilly joins those distributors to come up with 10 motivational techniques that you can use with your own sales team:

1. Tweak your goals and incentive programs.

Industrial Supply Co., of Terre Haute, Ind., has always relied on a goal-oriented sales approach, but the economy has forced company executives to better define that approach and the incentives that come along with it.

Jack Simpson, vice president and general sales manager, says the company's outside reps will soon be working with a better-defined incentive system that is being created and tweaked.

"From a management standpoint, we want to better establish and define the sales goals – both for the company itself and for the individual sales reps," says Simpson, whose eight sales reps work on salary rather than commission. "Then, we have to hold ourselves and our salespeople accountable to those goals, and give them the tools they need to accomplish them."

Simpson calls the new system one of "performance measurement," rather than just incentive, and says the company is still deciding what type of rewards – monetary or otherwise – to use. The system will be based on goals established at the executive level, such as a certain number of sales calls per week, accounts serviced per month, new accounts added or new products added to an existing account.

"We'll measure performance more aggressively in hopes of increasing sales, sales reps' salaries and improving customer relations and growing customer loyalty," Simpson explains. "If it all comes together, it will be beneficial for everyone involved – the customer, the sales force and the company."

2. Don't throw money at the problem.

Reilly sees entirely too many sales managers offer reps more money, never realizing that what they really need is support, training and motivation. In lieu of a revamped compensation system, he says, most reps just want a sales manager who spends time with them and helps them work through challenging issues.

One way to do this, he says, is to hold regular sales meetings at which reps can voice their problems or, alternatively, brag about something good that happened to them since the last meeting.

"Salespeople need to be able to shine the spotlight on things that are making them feel good as well as bad," says Reilly. "By letting them brag at a sales meeting – rather than just commiserating over bad stuff all the time – the entire team will be infused with a good feeling."

3. Hit the streets and ask questions.

To cultivate effective sales forces, managers must get out from behind their desks and hit the streets with their reps. The reason is twofold: customers must be reassured that the distributorship is stable, and salespeople have to feel that everyone is in the same boat right now.

"You can't coach from the locker room," says Reilly, who advises sales managers to gather both qualitative and quantitative feedback when talking to and traveling with sales reps, but to concentrate on the qualitative side to keep them motivated and on track.

Key quantitative questions to ask would be, "how much product are you selling and what are the gross margins on those products?" Qualitative questions would be, "how many sales calls are you making and what results are you getting from those calls?"

"Salespeople have immediate control over those qualitative issues, so that's where they need to focus," says Reilly. "That way, they'll feel like they're driving their business to the best of their ability."

4. Train, train and train some more.

Over the last few years, Warrendale, Pa.-based Pro-Am Safety, Inc.'s business has changed dramatically. A safety distributor that once sold primarily to the now-floundering steel industry, the firm has "scrambled around" to replace that business, says John Gieder, sales manager.

In doing so, Pro-Am has also beefed up its sales training program to give its five outside reps the tools they need to penetrate new markets. For example, Gieder says new regulations surrounding electric arc flash protective clothing pushed company executives to educate themselves on the new requirements, then share that information with the sales team.

"We took the time to learn about the products and regulations inside and out," says Gieder. "By passing that along to the reps, we can motivate them to be confident to get out there and talk intelligently to customers about the products."

Atlantic Fasteners of West Springfield, Mass., also uses training as a motivational technique for its six outside sales reps. John Kraus, vice president of sales, says the distributor recently sent all six reps offsite to take comprehensive sales training courses.

"We did it to enhance the reps' sales skills and demonstrate our commitment to their success," says Kraus. "It not only boosted their self confidence, but it also helped them identify their strengths and weaknesses and learn new ways to build their sales pipelines."

5. Stay connected at all times.

At Atlantic Fasteners, Kraus thinks of his reps as a direct conduit to the all-important end users, who have their own needs and worries to contend with in today's competitive business environment.

To get a handle on those needs, Kraus conducts weekly phone or in-person sales meetings to discuss the prior week's results, main customers who were contacted, results of those calls, plans for the week ahead, sales pipeline status and what reps are doing to grow those pipelines.

"This is a strategy that's allowed our company to grow at a compounded growth rate of over 18 percent for the past 21 years," says Kraus. "And although we – like many other distributors – aren't experiencing that kind of growth right now, we still think that motivational strategy prevails over the long run."

6. Urge them to increase customer face-time.

When sales are flat or slumping, unmotivated reps tend to sit in the office, waiting for the phone to ring and commiserating with peers about how bad business is. The approach is flawed, according to Reilly, who sees sales slumps as the perfect time to get out and win more face-time with current and potential customers.

"Part of the management challenge right now is keeping sales reps focused on issues that they have control over, such as their calling activity," Reilly says. "In tough times, I recommend that salespeople increase their face time with customers by a minimum of 25 percent, and managers need to make sure they are doing that."

7. Prod them to sell more to existing customers.

It costs five times as much money to acquire a new customer than to service an existing one, so why not take this time to push reps to sell more product to the customers they already have?

At Pro-Am Safety, Gieder frequently urges his reps to go back to their existing customers and sell them more products. The company also offers outside reps a great deal of inside sales support, and keeps reps trained on new standards and products that might catch an existing customer's eye.

"A good part of my day is spent looking at new products," says Gieder, "and packaging them in a way that my reps can use them to present to a customer and increase business."

8. Provide assurance and support.

When times get tough, sales teams often become the lightning rod for the rest of the company. "If a company is laying off employees," says Reilly, "it's inevitable that someone will complain that 'if the salespeople would just get off their butts and sell something, we wouldn't be going through this.'"

Such talk presents major challenges for sales managers trying to motivate those "lightning rods" to keep selling, but Reilly says it's up to them to reassure their teams that "hey, it's not just you. Everyone in sales is going through this right now."

"Managers have to reinforce the fact that this too shall come to pass, and that it's not never-ending," says Reilly. "They also have to get their reps focused on issues that they can control, and let go of what they can't control."

9. Keep 'em informed.

To motivate its 75-person inside and outside sales team, Porteous Fastener Co. of Carson, Calif., holds contests to see who can sell the most new products or highest-margin products each month; gives out modest monetary rewards to the winners; and has even hired new reps to work with new products and in new territories.

The strategies are standard, which is why Jay Hebert, senior vice president of sales, goes a step further and keeps his sales force informed not only about the industry, the competition and the selling environment, but also about the health of the distributorship itself.

"We keep our reps in the loop about how the company is faring," says Hebert. "While the reps read the papers and know the score, they also need constant reminders about how their own company is doing."

10. Inspire them to succeed.

Pro-Am Safety faces a problem common to nearly all companies right now: customers want more, but they want to pay less for it.

To help his sales team work through this increased demand and seemingly diminished rewards, Gieder often refers to a quote from Admiral James Stockdale, "retain the faith that you can and you will prevail in the end, regardless of how difficult the situation is. At the same time, you must face the brutal facts of the reality that you're dealing in."

"The challenges are out there, all around the reps," says Gieder. "I tell them that if they keep working hard and plugging through, they'll be successful. That's my message."