Being a salesperson is a stressful job. And let’s face it, many people aren’t cut out for it.
However, if you are in a sales career, you may be considering ways to reduce the stress associated with your job, as stress can negatively impact results and can prevent you from achieving success. Here are the Top 5 Sales Stressors and How to Reduce Them to help you relax and smash KPIs all in one.
1. STRESSOR: QUOTA
It’s not easy to choose the perfect sales quota that will make both management and sales reps happy. Sales targets can come to define your success or failure as a sales professional, but what can you really do to reduce the stress of these all important numbers?
STRATEGY
Remember a sales quota doesn’t exist in isolation. The size of your target market, the mix of customers, prospects, the industry, and the product you are selling, all have an impact on your success. That said, realistic quotas need to be set to each individual. And most importantly, each salesperson must have a say in their sales target when it is being set with – not by – your sales manager.
2. STRESSOR: LACK OF CONTROL
There are so many things outside our control as sales professionals, it can sometimes seem overwhelming. That often includes factors like the sales territory you’re assigned to, or how much access you get to internal resources, or perhaps the flow of new leads.
STRATEGY
When it comes to relinquishing the reins, it’s easier said than done. When it comes to thriving in sales, you need to be more flexible and adapt. You must welcome change and embrace the unknown. As much as we may want to control all aspects of our lives, there are plenty of things that are completely out of our control. This also applies to your sales pipeline. Recognizing what you can and can’t control helps combat stress and provides a sense of purpose.
If something is in your control, you can work at maintaining, fixing, or improving that aspect of the sales process. If it’s out of your control, work hard to move past it. Knowing what’s in your control also improves your decisiveness. That is, you can make decisions quickly and effectively because you’re better able to prioritise the things you can actually do something about.
3. STRESSOR: JOB INSECURITY
The days of the “job for life” are pretty much over. Not many people currently aged under 50 will go through their working lives with only one employer, or even just two or three. Continuous, secure employment with one organisation is increasingly difficult to find, particularly if you’re new to the job market. There are many factors that threaten job security. They include globalization, outsourcing, downsizing, recession, new technology, and most recently, a pandemic.
STRATEGY
First and foremost, you need to invest your own brand. Having a personal brand allows your prospects to build a stronger connection with you. It gives them something to connect with and also trust. Creating a personal brand is incredible way of creating positive impact on the people you meet, and a lasting one. It also gives you the opportunity of reaching your customers’ needs on a deeper, more meaningful level.
4. STRESSOR: BALANCING THE SHORT AND LONG TERM
Sales is all about, well, sales! But when the majority of your ‘worth’ at work is calculated based on last quarter’s revenue-to-quota performance, it can feel like you’re on a treadmill to constantly perform. Every quarter is important, and every quarter the quota increases. But here’s the clencher – you still have the same amount of time in a day to do the job. Balancing the short term goal with the long term goal is very hard. But done right, it is the difference between an average salesperson, and a sales superstar.
STRATEGY
To continue being successful, month after month, as a strong salesperson you need to be consistently developing new leads for the next period. That is, while still closing sales opportunities that are happening right now. It’s a fine balancing act between short term and long term goals. That said, having a plan in place for how you will develop new opportunities and manage existing deals is critical. And it starts with having a strong pipeline management process in place.
5. STRESSOR: COMPLIANCE, ADMIN, INTERNAL POLITICS
When you first move into a sales position, you think that that the selling part is where most of the stress is. How quickly we learn otherwise! Hardened sales pros know that the real stress is the internal selling. The backend data entry. The politics and toing and froing behind the scenes.
STRATEGY
Build strong internal relationships and over-communicate with key stakeholders. Additionally, forecast as accurately as you possibly can. And where possible, stay well away from office politics. That is, in favour of time connecting with your customers.
Book your sales team on their Team Building Workshop. Gather the team and we will take care of the rest.
Call us at KONA on 1300 611 288 for a conversation, or email info@kona.com.au anytime.
What does ideal sale look like for you and your company?
Make a list of the solutions that your product or service addresses and use them as a checklist when you’re qualifying with procurement
Your job then becomes one of asking questions to see which ones are important to procurement and why
When the time comes to have the closing discussion your focus narrows only to those issues that are important to your procurement professional. Your process therefore becomes more targeted and effective. Everything important is included and all irrelevant issues are omitted
This will help you understand how they operate. The procurement process can be split into 8 steps.
80% of your success will depend on your preparation.
Define your negotiation strategy.
Good preparation is vital to a procurement negotiation, and results in a good deal.
Research and preparation on your part not only sets you up well for the negotiation. It’s also a sign of respect for your supplier. You don’t want to waste their time. Or yours.
Ask open questions, listen actively, and work proactively to create win-win solutions.
Here is a strong tip: View your procurement professional as a business partner.
Why? Your success mirrors theirs, and you need them to be successful so that you can have a stable supply chain.
Yes, negotiate hard, but prepare well, so the negotiation leads to a mutually beneficial arrangement.
When you make a sale to your customer for the first time, get it right!
First impressions are crucial if you want them to buy from you again. And by getting it right, we don’t just mean the product or service.
With every first-time customer, make sure every detail, even the minute ones, are handled as professionally as possible.
This may seem straightforward and obvious, but surprisingly, for many organsisations it is not.
Many businesses put all their focus and investments into pre-sale. And consequently, they do not spend any time or money on ensuring the customer is happy after they purchase from them.
It is crucial to treat each communication – be it pre or post-sale – as urgent. Aim to respond on the same day the inquiry came in.
If you have staff handling after-sales for you, give them clear deadlines for responses. Brief them on all your products and services, so they can give the customer accurate information about your value offerings.
Once again, this might be a given, but we have had so many organisations explain to us how it’s too hard to keep track of all their customers. And that their salespeople don’t know how to use their CRM system or navigate the software they have invested in.
As a first step, teach your team to create a contact book for all their customers. It should include:
Every existing customer has untold potential
In a time of globalised business and instant digital connection, every existing customer has untold potential on offer.
Deliver a standard customer experience
This means delivering a standout customer experience is essential. One of the most powerful ways of doing this is by creating a personalised sales process and approach.
Show the customer you care, this is the key factor. Personalisation is all about demonstrating you’ve taken the time to understand who the customer is as an individual and the challenges they face. And the benefits are bountiful, including:
The more visible you are in your industry, the more people will trust you. And consequently, the more likely you are to increase repeat business.
We know that to convert potential buyers to loyal customers with increased repeat business, we must build relationships and stay in touch. And although we know we should follow-up many salespeople simply do not.
