Ah, summertime. The time of year for vacations, pool parties, BBQs, and staring longingly out the window waiting for the clock to strike 5.

It’s no secret that staying motivated can be tough in the summer. Sales professionals aren’t immune to this. But, there are ways to keep your team motivated, forward-thinking, and maybe even excited about making progress and meeting goals during the warmest months of the year.

Let’s look at some practical and fun ways to keep morale and motivation high all summer long.

Establish a rhythm

Things like vacation can throw individual team members and their whole teams off, and it can take a while to get back into the swing of things. So, use automation software and tracking tools to ensure that things keep moving forward, even if only a little bit, while team members are away or settling back in. Keeping a rhythm will make it even easier for returning team members to get right back to the beat of the team’s drum.

Make it fun

Gamification strategies are proven as a productivity tool, and more and more companies realize that it helps improve team performance and customer relationships. Since sales professionals are pretty competitive by nature, gamification software like the kind Intelliverse offers lets you connect accurate sales metrics and real-time feedback to make work less like work and more like fun.

If you have a competitive team (sales teams, by definition) use these gamification software metrics to reward them throughout the summer. For example, the person with the most calls in a certain week receives a gift card, the team member with the most closes at the end of summer gets an extended Labor Day weekend, etc.

Recognize team and individual accomplishments

There’s nothing more demoralizing than doing a great job, landing a huge contract, and having no one else acknowledge your efforts because they’re disengaged or distracted on the season.

Take special care during the summer to be even more recognition-oriented than usual. You can do this in various ways; sometimes, just a word of acknowledgment or a shout-out at a team meeting is enough. Other times, more tangible rewards, like a team lunch, half-day Friday for meeting a team goal, or something similar, will be plenty to help team members feel worthwhile and motivated.

Don’t forget to include peer-to-peer recognition as well. Do like Zappos and allow team member nominations for doing great work.

Lastly, make the office a place they want to be

No one wants to feel trapped in a dreary corporate box. So do whatever you can to bring light, energy, and a little bit of Feng Shui into your office space. This could mean brightening up the decor, bringing in easy-to-maintain plants, changing window treatments, offering new refreshments and snacks, and much more.

For many people, summer is the best time of the year. With a bit of effort, you can ensure your team still enjoys the summer season while crushing sales goals at the same time.