Are you experiencing fatigue, a lack of motivation, and extreme stress? Wheels spinning, but no progress is visible?
While salespeople go through the emotional rollercoaster, a typical scenario in the sales job, it can be detrimental to their physical and mental well-being. Sales burnout can be the primary reason behind this situation.
First, you should know that everyone experiences it occasionally. You don’t need to worry since you’re not alone here. Although salespeople indeed feel overburdened by the jumble of obligations at work and home, on top of mastering new sales techniques and meeting quotas, there are still reps who are successfully handling everything with the help of sales prospecting tools.
Let’s discover how to avoid and manage sales burnout to proceed toward a better future.
What Refers To Burnout In Inside Sales?
A state of emotional and physical distress that occasionally happens in a sales job refers to sales burnout. Salespeople are frequently placed in stressful situations when interacting with demanding clients, and even the best rep sometimes has to deal with rejection.
According to a study, an astounding 67% of salespeople are on the verge of burnout. Additionally, they also rate their stress level as 7 out of 10. (source)
Therefore, salespeople require constant motivation and physical wellness to meet their work requirements without being devastated.
How Can You Help Your Sales Team Avoid Burnout?
1. Look out for the obvious burnout signs
Burnouts are unpredictable. These can occur even if you take precautions. As a sales manager, keep an eye out for signs of burnout among your team members so you can prevent it in its tracks.
The following are some of the main burnout signs:
- Everything seems more challenging, and even the tiniest chores may seem laborious to your salespeople.
- They quickly get angry when talking to colleagues or potential clients.
- Although new sales prospecting tools or methods promise to reduce their work stress, change still feels daunting to your reps.
- They don’t care about their professional improvement and have no or unstable goals.
- They find it difficult to close as many sales as they used to. Overall, the output is surprisingly lower.
2. Maintain coordination among your reps
A salesperson’s life may be lonely sometimes since it is natural to have a little bit of a lone-wolf mentality when conducting remote sales. However, apart from team goals, they have personal quotas to fulfill. So it makes sense that profitability increases when employees get the motivation to work as a team.
Moreover, 81% of salespeople believe team selling helps them win businesses. (source). So, who doesn’t want a healthy sales team?
Therefore, make every effort to establish communication that works best among team members to prevent their morale let down.
3. Organize periodic one-on-one meetings
Make an effort to develop strong bonds with your sales reps. Periodically holding one-on-one conversations to discuss their problems can boost rapport and trust. Salespeople need to feel that their voices count, and you, as a sales manager, trainer, or leader, are responsible for letting them speak. Listening to their concerns enables you to offer them support and solutions.
4. Celebrate every minor and major win
The longer you work in sales, the more you understand that not every month will be a success. In light of this, you must be prepared and willing to rejoice when one of your team members has a successful month.
Not only does appreciation release dopamine in the short term, but it also has the long-term effect of boosting confidence. So when you come forward to celebrate your sales staff’s smaller milestones, you enable them to accomplish larger goals.
5. Give your reps short breaks to de-stress
Even if sales is mostly a numbers game, going to work may not be helpful if your productivity is slipping because of stress. As a sales manager, you should keep this in mind.
What can you do to sustain your team members’ concentration while prospecting? According to studies, taking a break can increase productivity. We perform at our best when we are well-rested and mentally stable.
So, once your reps start to get worn out, let them take little breaks. A 10-minute tea or coffee break, for instance, works well.
6. Provide your team with all the required tools
Even if countless tools are available that promise to increase your team’s productivity, you should focus on a select few and consider which ones your team needs most. Unfortunately, misfit technology can be a hassle.
Modern tools, including sales prospecting tools, sales engagement tools, appointment setting tools, etc., are must-haves, simple to use, and must be provided by sales managers along with the necessary instructions.
Related: Sales Engagement Questions: What are They, and Why do Marketers Need Them?
What Can You Do As A Salesperson To Avoid Mental And Physical Breakdowns?
1. Plan for each workday and stick to it
Make a plan to avoid feeling overburdened at work. Making a timetable and following it will not only increase your productivity but also aid in overcoming any unfavorable emotions that may otherwise distract you.
Accept your limitations and develop your workday planning accordingly. For instance, try to avoid cramming that extra meeting in between the three calls you already have scheduled. Sticking to your agenda might save you from harsh burnout.
2. Be an active participant in team-building activities
Sales representatives must maintain contact and coordination with their coworkers and the sales manager. It is crucial to do so since most individuals now work remotely. Online social gatherings outside the workplace can uplift the team and improve performance.
For example, playing games and engaging in team-building exercises help the group improve their problem-solving and communication skills. You can also participate in team competitions that foster a positive competitive climate at work and elsewhere.
3. Perform periodic evaluations of your work
Being an overachiever can gradually affect your professional life to the point where you experience excessive pressure to complete things that no one else is counting on you to complete. Eventually, burnout arrives at your doorstep to ruin your usual workflow!
Let go of the additional strain if going above and beyond at work keeps you stressed at night. Look at your workload and take off that extra weight right away. Evaluate your work once a week or a month to be more focused while prospecting and doing other tasks. Self-assessment allows us to identify the root cause of our unhappiness.
4. Seek help from your trusted ones
Sales burnout is a widespread issue among salespeople. So it is not rocket science to understand that perhaps one of your peers, or maybe your manager, has experienced something similar.
So, talk to them. Find a trustworthy colleague and share your situation with them. You might get some wise counsel that will enable you to get through this challenging period without becoming exhausted. You may also talk with your sales manager since they have enough experience to suggest wise words about avoiding intense sales burnout.
Although a sales job can seem solitary you work with a team, don’t be reluctant to assist someone in need, both as a sales manager and a peer. It’s nothing unusual to experience ups and downs.
The most crucial thing to keep in mind while you’re experiencing sales burnout is that you can always recover. Leaders should be available to listen to their reps and provide assistance as necessary.
