Teams look to their leaders for examples of how to handle challenging situations. They also look at leaders' everyday behaviors, including the ways they manage stress. Sales can be one of the most stressful professions, with 73% of reps considering an exit strategy. The reason they cite is compromised mental health.
In fact, anxiety and depression among sales professionals are three times higher than the national average. The fast pace, unpredictability, and intense pressure to achieve moving targets are some of the factors. Sales reps are also three and a half times more likely to take a break from work to deal with mental health issues.
So, what can you, as a leader, do to both take care of yourself and support your team's well-being? Taking advantage of slower sales periods to mentally recharge while planning for busier seasons is a step in the right direction. Here are some suggestions on how to go about it.
1. Read to Gain a New Perspective
Burnout can lead to negative consequences, such as the inability to support your team. A Gartner survey found four key causes of a lack of motivation among sales professionals: inadequate development opportunities, feelings of unimportance, burdensome administrative tasks, and a lack of clear feedback.
If you're struggling with burnout, it will most likely impact your ability to deliver the feedback your team needs. For example, an inability to focus could easily cause you to forget to provide guidance when it's necessary. Taking a step back to gain new perspectives during a slowdown in activity can sharpen your abilities.
Reading books from industry experts or about unrelated but inspiring topics can add to your store of knowledge and creative ideas. One of the symptoms of burnout is going through the motions. You're not really thinking about what's ahead and how to improve. Reading can open you to new insights, help you see things in a different light, and augment your direct experiences. It also keeps your mind active while providing reassurance you're not alone.
2. Optimize Your Sales Tools
Providing the correct mix of resources is part of effective leadership and planning. Using downtime to examine the tools your team currently has can help you plan for improvements. It starts by finding out what tasks your reps think are slowing them down. If there are applications they don't fully understand the purpose of, you may need to provide further training on the apps or simply get rid of them. In addition, look for opportunities to combine resources that may be leading to duplicate efforts.
Researching new sales tools for the team is a way to recharge the work your team does. It can energize your outlook while increasing the group's chances for success. When sales pick up, you'll probably be in full-speed mode, with little chance to breathe. That's not the time to discover inefficiencies and lose opportunities to them.
You can also find tools to support your sales teams and the buyers they're trying to convince. For example, sales reps who offer buyers self-service resources are 47% more likely to exceed their goals. Discovering tools to enhance your reps' productivity and enable sales wins can help keep motivation levels high. In turn, you can decrease the chance your people will burn out in the future from a lack of results.
3. Honor the Mind-Body Connection
Physical and mental health go hand in hand. If your spirits are down, you likely won't have the energy to take care of yourself. You may find it's all too convenient to skip the gym and eat foods you know aren't good for your body. I know I occasionally grab one too many energy drinks when sales calls are back to back.
One way I've found to combat this issue is to track what I eat and schedule regular workouts. This provides a structured approach to maintaining a balanced lifestyle. There are plenty of diet trackers available from simple calorie counters like MyFitnessPal to nutrient-tracking tools like MacroFactor. Whether you're looking to shed a few pounds or combat a micronutrient deficiency that's impacting your energy levels, it's worth documenting what you eat.
The same goes for your sleep. Tracking your sleeping patterns can help you identify potential disruptions. You might find it difficult to establish a routine where you get enough quality sleep. Anxiety and worry (or scrolling TikTok) could cause you to sleep too little. This can only add to your stress levels, leaving you little room to concentrate on the source of them.
It may not be comfortable to admit bad habits. Yet by acknowledging them, you can see where they might be exacerbating the problem. A lack of sleep can make you more irritable and make small inconveniences seem bigger than they are. Not exercising may compromise your health, leaving you feeling unenergized. Taking advantage of downtime to revamp your self-care routine can increase your resilience to stress and burnout.
Recharge Before the Next Sales Surge
The unpredictability of sales and its compensation structures make for a stressful job. Sales leaders have even more weight on their shoulders, as they're responsible for ensuring their team's success. Slow periods might be anxiety-producing, but you can use them to mentally recharge and refocus. Gaining new perspectives, optimizing your resources, and cultivating healthier habits can help prepare you for the next wave. And by being prepared, you can help your team do the same.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
