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Sales Motivation: 12 Videos to Fire Up Your Team in 2019

Dec 19th, 2018

Motivation is one of the most important qualities any sales rep can have.

Hitting your sales targets takes focus and determination, and being a self-starter definitely feeds into that mentality. Like any intangible skill, however, motivation must be continuously practiced, maintained, and supported. As the great Zig Ziglar once put it: “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

There are several different ways keep reps focused on their goals, including incentives, speakers, sales conferences, sales books, sales podcasts and inspirational quotes. But it should be no surprise that 75% of employees prefer videos, according to Forrester Research, given how engaging and easy to consume they are.

Read more: 40 Surprising Sales Statistics That Matter in 2019

So if your sales team needs a little extra motivation in 2019, these 12 videos will help make ambition a habit this year and beyond.

Top 12 Sales Motivation Videos

  1. How to Win in Sales and Business: Gary Vaynerchuk
  2. Shark Mindset: Walter Bond
  3. The Pursuit of Happyness: Will Smith
  4. How Great Leaders Inspire Action: Simon Sinek
  5. Miracle: Kurt Russell
  6. Are You Scared of Change? Peter Dinklage
  7. You Will Not Break Me: Mat Wilson
  8. Stanford Commencement Address: Steve Jobs
  9. The “Iron Lady of Pakistan”
  10. Texas Commencement Address: Admiral William H. McRaven
  11. Fake It ‘Til You Make It: Jill Morgenthaler
  12. Stop Waiting For Life to Happen: Peter Sage

1. How to Win in Sales and Business: Gary Vaynerchuk

Vaynerchuk, public speaker, author and CEO of VaynerMedia, explains why the number one asset for any salesperson or business owner is the buyer’s attention. Too many sales reps, he says in the speech, fail to connect with buyers because they don’t understand their reality.

Video Highlight: “The way you’ve made your money before is my enemy. The way you’ve been successful yesterday is my enemy… You’re really only as good as your last at-bat.”

2. Shark Mindset: Walter Bond

A former NBA player turned professional speaker, Bond helped lead the University of Minnesota basketball team to the Elite Eight in 1990. But his road there wasn’t easy. After barely playing as a freshman, Bond recalls how his father motivated him to succeed by holding him accountable to his original goals.

That theme of continuous effort – “if a shark stops swimming, it will die!” – is hammered home throughout this high-energy speech.

Video Highlight:  “For you to be passionate, your logic and your emotions need to be intertwined. Some of you guys have the intellect, and some of you have the passion. But you have to have both to be successful in this business.”

3. The Pursuit of Happyness: Will Smith

Based on the inspiring real-life story of entrepreneur, Chris Gardner, The Pursuit of Happyness features Smith as a down-on-his-luck salesman who becomes homeless for nearly a year. In this clip, he teaches his 5-year-old son the value of chasing and protecting his dreams, despite anyone who says they won’t come true.

Video Highlight:  “If you want something, go get it. Period.”

4. How Great Leaders Inspire Action: Simon Sinek

The world’s best leaders all think and act in the same way. That’s the concept shared by author and public speaker Simon Sinek, who advocates for an inside-out style of communication that begins with “why.”

Leaders, he says, inspire others to act by first explaining the organization’s purpose or cause, then describing “how” they’ll accomplish that before discussing the “what” (i.e. product or service details).

Video Highlight: “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to do business with everyone who believes what you believe.”

5. Miracle: Kurt Russell

The U.S. national hockey team’s upset of the Soviet Union during the 1980 Olympics was nothing short of legendary. Depicted years later in the Disney film, “Miracle,” U.S. coach Herb Brooks (played by Russell) delivers an epic pregame speech that’s sure to energize every underdog out there.

Video Highlight: “If we played them ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight, we skate with them. Tonight, we stay with them, and we shut them down – because we can.”

6. Are You Scared of Change? – Peter Dinklage

Dinklage is known best for his portrayal of Tyrion Lannister in HBO’s Game of Thrones. In this speech, however, Dinklage recounts his years of “couch-surfing and job-surfing” in New York City, which included working at a data processing company for six years. At 29 years old, Dinklage said he finally mustered enough courage to take a risk and chase his dream.

Video Highlight: “The world might say you are not allowed to yet. I waited a long time out in the world before I gave myself permission to fail. Please don’t even bother asking. Don’t bother telling the world you are ready. Show it. Do it.”

7. You Will Not Break Me: Mat Wilson

Was 2018 a down year? Did you or someone on your team struggle to meet expectations or achieve their goals? Challenges like these can cause people to lose motivation or blame the world for their problems, Wilson says in this video. But he argues that we must accept and fight through hardship on our journeys toward self-improvement and growth. This is sales motivation in the truest sense of the phrase.

Video Highlight: “What are you going to do when you go through pain? Because how pain changes you, is up to you. You can come out bitter, but you can also come out better. We all experience pain. My challenge to you is to not just go through pain, but to grow through it.”

8. Stanford Commencement Address: Steve Jobs

Delivering Stanford’s 2005 commencement speech, Jobs keeps things simple. He recounts three stories from his life – about pursuing his dreams, setbacks at Apple and his cancer diagnosis – and shares the lessons he took away from each. The wisdom Jobs shares here is timeless, and all the more meaningful when viewed through the lens of his legendary achievements.

Video Highlight: “You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever – because believing the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path.

9. The Inspiring “Iron Lady of Pakistan”: Muniba Mazari

It’s easy to overlook our blessings. But Mazari, a paraplegic artist, model, activist and motivational speaker, gives us a powerful reminder to be grateful for what we already have. In this emotional video, she recounts the devastating car accident that left her bedridden for two years and wheelchair-bound for life. Through the hardship, Mazari describes how she was able to overcome her fears, accept herself and live a rich life – and inspires us in the process.

Video Highlight: “I realized how lucky people are. That is the day I decided that I’m going to fight my fears. We all have fears. Fear of the unknown. Fear of losing people. Fear of losing health, money. We want to excel, we want to be famous. We are scared all the time. I wrote down all those fears, and decided I was going to overcome all of these fears one at a time.”

10. Texas Commencement Address: Admiral William H. McRaven

McRaven, a decorated former U.S. Navy officer, shares 10 fantastic lessons learned during basic Navy Seal training – an experience marked by midnight swims, long runs, relentless pressure and “always being cold, wet and miserable.” While the entire speech is worth listening to, his simplest bit of wisdom stuck with us the most: a productive day starts with a made bed.

Video Highlight: “If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. And by the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. It also reinforces the fact that the little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you’ll never be able to do the big things right. And if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that you made. If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”

11. Fake It ‘Til You Make It: Jill Morgenthaler

Retired U.S. Army colonel Jill Morgenthaler has been a trailblazer for women in the military, being the first female company commander in the Army Security Agency Group Korea, the first woman battalion commander in the 88th Regional Support Command, and the first woman brigade commander in the 84th Division. In this video, she shares her method for being an “exponential” leader – and throws in a few jokes for good measure.

Video Highlight: “The one thing you must bring is your vision. Because if you can show people where you’re going, they’re more than likely going to follow you… it should be bigger than who you are. It should be inspirational; something that people will take to heart. And it should be 140 characters or less so you can tweet it.”

12. Stop Waiting for Life to Happen: Peter Sage

Bestselling author and serial entrepreneur, Peter Sage, reminds us that life is precious, and that we must make the most of every moment that we’re given. To feel fulfilled, he says, we need to prioritize our relationships and rid ourselves of self-centered thinking. The sales tie-in: think of the buyer first and remember that the human connection is key.

Video Highlight: “If you could just connect for a second to the fact that some of our ancestors gave their life in agony so that we could be standing here today, the question that poses is this: what do we do with the gift that we got?”

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