Working in sales can be incredibly stressful. It’s one of the most stressful jobs and burnout is incredibly common.
So how can you mitigate the risk for you and your team?
- Ask for help.
Regardless of your title or experience level, everyone can benefit from receiving support. If you find yourself falling behind on work, struggling to meet a deadline, or are experiencing challenges hitting your numbers, speaking up sooner rather than later and asking your manager or colleagues for support is crucial. Or work with a sales coach.
- Take intentional time away from work.
Whilst working longer hours can lead to results, that pace isn’t necessarily sustainable over time. Giving yourself intentional, dedicated time away from work to recharge is crucial for avoiding burnout. That means during the time you’re working, you’re all-in and focused on work. And when you’re not working, you’re fully disconnected.
- Incorporate mindfulness practices into your work day.
How often do you take breaks during the work day? If you sit down at your desk and don’t get up until the day is done, you could be doing yourself a disservice.
Though setting aside work to take a break sounds counterproductive, or like a poor use of time, taking breaks throughout the day actually gives you back time because it helps you remain more calm and focused.
- Focus on one task at a time.
When companies are experiencing steep productivity losses, that could lead to putting increased pressure on sales teams to close that gap.
Focusing your attention on one task at a time can help improve efficiency, and quality of work which is good news for your bottom line.
- Balance conversations with prospective and existing customers.
Whilst rejection is a part of the job, being faced with constant rejection can become discouraging. That’s why it is important to stay in touch with your current customers to continue your working relationships with them, not least because they’re 40% more likely to buy from you than a new prospect.
- Set realistic, actionable goals.
Salespeople are an ambitious bunch. While that ambition is admirable, it can also lead to burnout when it’s fuelled by unrealistic goals.
To keep sales reps and managers inspired, sales goals should be realistic, actionable, and clearly communicated so everyone being measured against them understands what they are accountable for.
- Focus on your overall self-care.
Self-care goes much deeper than face masks and bubble baths (though those are great too). When you aren’t taking care of yourself physically, emotionally, and socially, it can be a lot harder to be present and engaged at work — especially when you’re working remotely and the lines between work and home are constantly being crossed. If you can, spend some time each day (even if it’s just a few minutes) finding ways to feel more aligned and present.
- Be prepared for objections.
Rejection comes with the territory when working in sales. With this in mind, a key competency salespeople need is the ability to handle objections in stride (and without taking them personally).
When you’re preparing for sales calls, being prepared and anticipating the possible objections a customer may have is important. By coming prepared and anticipating what questions, concerns, and objections a prospect has beforehand, you’re less likely to be caught off guard, creating a stressful situation when you feel like you have to stumble through an answer.
9.Find your ideal work style.
Do you find you do your best thinking and engaging at certain parts of the day? Or are you someone who likes to batch their work for greater efficiency? Whatever your work style is, do your best to sustain it.
- Investigate problematic areas of your sales process.
It’s hard for anyone to thrive under a broken sales process. If several members of your team are feeling the weight of similar stress points, or if you find customers aren’t converting after reaching a specific point in your sales process, it could be a good time to take a look at what’s going on.
Just because burnout is common in sales, doesn’t mean it’s acceptable. If you’d like more advice on helping relieve stress and prevent burnout for salespeople, then let’s talk.
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