Steve Barnhurst – Non-financial ways to motivate and retain sales professionals

A motivation to earn good money is often seen as a prerequisite for a career in sales.  

But, if a leader hires someone who is too money motivated, and you may well have acquired a toxic member of the team that will leave a trail of broken client relationships and disaffected colleagues. 

The challenge every organisation faces is to hire people that are money motivated enough to do the heavy lifting of building a pipeline, but not at the expense of customer satisfaction and playing a part in a successful team. 

If the news is to be believed, the end of 2021 is being seen as the period of “The Great Resignation”.  A booming job market, alongside individuals who have worked at home for 18 months and had time to reflect on the impact work has on their personal life, are both driving people’s interest in moving jobs. 

This means leaders are having to work to retain staff on one hand and attract new employees on the other. 

There are some organisations that are funded in a way that allows them to set new highs for salaries being offered. 

However, most organisations are having to be more creative with how they retain and hire staff using non-financial incentives and rewards. 

In this interview, we speak to Steve Barnhurst, a senior sales leader at the Access Group. With over 20 years in sales leadership, Steve has had to work hard to retain great staff and build teams organically during his career.

Key Areas of Discussions with Steve Barnhurst, Enterprise Sales Director at Ebsta:

  • Is it possible to motivate people to work harder?
  • How does a leader approach understanding someone’s personal motivators?
  • When does money motivation (high or low) become detrimental to someone’s performance?
  • How training someone to understand their metrics and connection with money goals can transform performance?
  • Non-financial rewards can increase engagement and motivation levels.

About Steve:

Steve Barnhurst has over 20 years as a sales leader. He started his career in the Recruitment sector and has spent the last 10 years as a senior leader at Access Group and Broadbean Technologies. Steve’s passion is developing positive and proactive sales cultures, by developing and promoting talent organically.

Steve Barnhurst – Enterprise Sales Director at Ebsta

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

Key Account Management 101

Key Account Management is a term that’s thrown about all the time, with very little substance. Additionally, if you ask a load of people...

The Stats You Need to Know: The State of Sales Today

In the last 18 months, the nature of selling has changed profoundly. There are new ways to sell, new buyer expectations, and new working...
00:06:46

Kyle Murtagh – Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs

In this Sales Toolkit, Kyle shares his insights on the rivalry between two tech giants, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Kyle provides a detailed account...
- Advertisment -

FEATURED

MACH 2026: Julie Holmes – Scaling Manufacturing Sales with AI

Discover Julie Holmes’ 20/60/20 framework for AI in manufacturing sales. Learn how to build a "second story" strategy and move beyond the rising floor.