Sales Burnout
Sales burnout takes time for it to happen. It just doesn’t happen overnight. Sales burnout is burnout regardless of the title, except it’s the sales job that can cause it.
Is it the sales job that creates the burnout or something about the salesperson or a combination.
I knew I should have taken some time for me
At the end of the day, it comes down to how a person is able to cope with adversities in life and their career. What affects a person in their personal life can certainly affect how they produce in their business life. What is stressful to one person may not be stress to another.
Some salespeople may be resilient to negative events like constant rejection, losing a client, etc. and are able to bounce back quickly. Most likely these salespeople built up their resilience or learned procedures to handle the negative events. But even the toughest of the tough can be overwhelmed when confronted with a few adversities hitting them at the same time and on a continuous basis.
You may find it interesting that a person stresses about an event which is in the future that hasn’t happened yet. And there is no guarantee that what they are stressing about is actually going to happen. What you fear is It’s a perception of “what if….!” It’s all in your head.
Since it’s all in your head and it’s a perception the smart thing to do would be to change the way you look at it!
Let’s face it, that if a salesperson is not selling they will go into a sales slump. The longer there are in a slump the harder it will be to make a come back. Eventually, they will give up hope and they will only see grey skies without the sun rising up. They will sit at their desk without the ability to do anything. So it’s important to turn this around fast.
Is It The Nature of Sales or the Salesperson?
For a salesperson, it’s their focus and attitude among other things that will allow them to hunt and procure new business. What many people don’t understand about sales is that it’s our mindset which will either make us or break us.
For example: Let’s say you have a fight with your wife, you lose your focus and now you go on a sales call. What are the chances of you closes the deal? Probably not too good because of your head not in the game.
Unlike a teacher who will continue to get paid regardless of how they may feel.
“Our success is directly related to our thoughts!!”
You’re Only as Good as Your Last Deal
Sales can be a tough job, especially if you earn a commission. There is a saying that I’ve heard and said many times, which is: “you are only as good as your last deal”. Meaning once you close the deal (make the sale) you are unemployed again until you get another one. This in itself can add a lot of pressure.
I know the new norm: “we don’t close deals, we open up opportunities”. When you sign an agreement it’s the beginning of a new business relationship in which it will be a win-win situation for both the buyer and seller. I agree.
But, if you are in the trenches every day and you live or die based on what you “close”, I would think the saying: “you are only as good as your last sale”, may apply a little more because you know you are a hunter and this is what you do.
You Have Lot’s of Stuff on Your Plate
In addition to the grind of constantly looking and closing deals, there are so many expectations on you:
meeting quotas; constant rejection; no support; negative thinking; competition; loneliness; losing a deal; losing a client; fight with a spouse; dealing with your prospects needs; feeling guilty from not spending time with kids; health issues; money issues; long hours; no time; no life balance, etc.
There is a large turnover rate of salespeople due to the amount of pressure they are under.
Learning how to deal with stress and not allowing all the expectations destroy you is a major step to keep you from becoming burnt out.
Signs of Sales Burnout
All of a sudden all this worry starts to take a toll. You may lose focus and your concentration is not on what you should be doing, instead, you are thinking about your situation. Your sales are declining and before you know it, you are in a sales slump.
You may have insomnia or you lost your appetite, you feel anger and anxious, maybe even depressed. You may feel tired all the time and you aren’t motivated, you start thinking that nothing really matters, and the high you got from closing a deal isn’t there anymore, the thrill is gone.
At times you feel that you are all alone, who can you speak to, why is this happening ….
To put it bluntly, this dark place is pretty bad and the longer you’re in it the harder it’ll be to move on. So I suggest that you deal with this sooner than later or you will have more problems.
My Best Advice
I’m not a therapist and I base my advice on my experience working with salespeople.
My best advice is to prevent sale burnout from happening in the first place.
I’m not going to give you step-by-step do it yourself instructions to overcome sales burnout because if you are down and depressed, you’re beyond a “do it yourself remedy”.
Remember that it is “the strong” that seeks out help. In the end, you will come out even stronger than you were at any other time in your life, so throw your ego away, there is no shame in getting help.
The first thing I would suggest is to reach out to someone close to you like a spouse or a good friend, tell them what’s going and that you need help.
“Reach out to someone close, tell them what’s going on and you need help”
The reason I’m suggesting a spouse or friend first vs. a therapist first is because of your mental state, your focus may not be there to even search out a therapist and give up, but if you can definitely do it, ASAP. Your spouse or friend can help you by searching for a therapist, take you there and stay you there and support you with what you are going through.
Once everything is under control, hire a sales coach who will help you with the sales aspect. For the record, I have worked with quite a few sales professionals who came to me after getting help by a therapist.
Want to talk, call me.
647-703-9313 or fill out the form below.