Salespeople seem to have stress from all places: they are always working, even checking and responding to customer and prospect emails on their free time, and feeling like if they don’t make a sale by the end of the day then they didn’t succeed that day.
There is no doubt that this stress can lead to anxiety or depression. Stress also causes undue wear on the body, it leads to self-medication with drugs and alcohol, stress can trigger health problems like high blood pressure or diabetes which in turn lead to depression due to the feeling of helplessness.
Not only is stress bad for you physically but also mentally.
Stress impairs our thinking ability and prevents you from making clear decisions so it is key to manage it. Sales is an entirely results driven career so if you cannot manage stress then it will limit the results you have greatly.
Fortunately there are multiple ways to manage stress in sales so you can live a happier life and still be successful! In this article I will discuss 5 different strategies for managing your emotions as a salesperson so you can reduce stress levels and keep your sanity while improving your sales performance.
Here are the five tips to manage stress in sales
- Set realistic goals
- Take breaks
- don’t take things personally
- Have Perspective
- Prepare
Take breaks
Sales is a very intense profession. That means that you have to put a lot of energy in on a daily basis. For an intense profession, prolonged periods of work are not only unrealistic but they will lead to greatly reduced productivity. Not only should you be taking breaks throughout the workday but also after work. It is important to get adequate sleep (8+ hours) and limit stresses outside of work.
Time blocks
Time blocks is something my old mentor told me about.
Say you spend thirty minutes dialing and then you take a five minute break. Rinse and repeat. High efficiency work is not a long term Martin but think of it as short sprints. A consistent amount of short sprints. Figure out how long you can comfortably work on some high value tasks (calling, doing cold outreach) and then create a time block based on that amount of time.
In your time block break, do something fun and unrelated to sales. This could be thought of as a brain break.
Have Perspective
Having perspective helps you keep calm in sales. It helps you get through the tough times where you get 20 rejections in a row from cold calls or 5 meetings in a row that don’t lead to a sale. Having perspective means that you need keep in mind the numbers in your sales process. The saying is true, keep in mind that it is all a numbers game.
Know Your Numbers
Know your percentages when it comes to all parts of your sales process.
Know your percentages:
-Know your percentages for cold email outreach-open, reply and meting percentages.
-Know your percentages of cold call outreach-percent
-Know your percentages for meetings-how many meetings it takes to get a sale
These are just some examples of numbers you should know when it comes sales. Knowing the numbers greatly reduces the stress you will have because even after a lot of failure, you will know to keep going.
Preparation
Preparation prevents you from looking like a fool to your prospects. Not only should you prepare for sales meetings but also for any form of contact with customers, that includes cold outreach and client support calls.
Here is how you can prepare better:
- know your product or service better than anyone else
- know how your product or service will help your customer
- know your numbers (how many emails, calls, etc it will take to get a sale)
- know common objections and have responses ready
- know your scripts (but don’t depend on them)
Expect The Unexpected
In sales you have to expect the unexpected. Stay flexible and be prepared for all possible outcomes. Be prepared to handle any curveballs that come your way. Read up on common objections so you are ready when they pop up in sales meetings. Be sure to have contact information of all decision makers with their pertinent data just in case.
Don’t Take Things Personally
This is a no brainer but you would be surprised how many people don’t follow this. Not taking anything personally in sales takes mindset work. It takes time reframing rejection and internalizing the belief that rejection is not something that is personal but because of a various number of factors, some you can control and some that you cannot.
Manage Stress To get Consistent Results
The winning salespeople and organizations are consistent. Inconsistency is the death of all sales organizations. Sales is a roller coaster and managing stress is key to getting the results you want. Manage your stress levels in sales and watch how your consistency will improve.