Sales jobs are often high pressure. You’re constantly trying to meet quotas and deadlines, and sometimes it can feel like the whole world is riding on your shoulders. But if you’re up for the challenge, sales career can be very rewarding. Not only do you have the potential to earn a great income, but you also get to help people find solutions to their problems. If you’re thinking about pursuing a career in sales, here’s what you need to know in order to excel in high pressure sales jobs.
High Pressure Sales Jobs
High pressure sales jobs are positions in which the employee is expected to make a high volume of sales in a short period of time. These jobs often come with high quotas and intense pressure to meet them.
Employees in these sales positions may be required to work long hours and weekends in order to make their sales goals.
According to a study by Fox Business, sales is one of the most stressful jobs.
Surprised? I was too. When I saw the list of the most stress-inducing jobs, I found the usual suspects – police officers, firefighters, soldiers, and air traffic controllers – and some surprising additions, such as teachers.
But, the one sales term that really confused me was “salesperson”.
I never would have thought that being in sales would be one of the most stressful occupations out there, but it turns out I was mistaken. Personally, I always liked being a salesperson.
Sales isn’t as stressful as people make it out to be. In fact, I love it! I’ve worked with thousands of salespeople all over the world, and I can say with certainty that it’s not nearly as stressful as people think.
Sales Stress and Anxiety: The Contributing Factors
Let’s talk about what stresses us out about selling, and how we can reduce that stress.
The sales profession is notoriously high-stress.
Being in sales is very stressful. You’re always trying to please customers, your manager, your colleagues, and yourself. It’s tough to keep everything balanced, but it’s your job.
It’s a unique job with unique challenges.
However, sales professionals are often left unrecognized for the emotional toll that their job can take on their lives.
If you’re finding your stress level to be too high, don’t panic – there are steps you can take to manage your stress levels. By taking the time to relax and unwind, you can better focus your energy on your work, and succeed as a sales professional.
In this post, we take a look at the reasons why salespeople are some of the most stressed people, and what you can do as a salesperson to reduce that stress.
Having to be constantly available
Being available 24/7 for your customers can be extremely stressful, and it’s even worse when salespeople are expected to answer every phone call, text, and email. It’s basically like ‘being at work’ 24/7.
Not only do you have to work for your colleagues and bosses, but you also need to look like you are working for your clients, too.
Constantly being on call doesn’t allow you time to recharge from a stressful day at work.
And the constant stress that this causes can negatively impact your ability to perform at your best, as 38% of sales reps reported.
If being available to customers 24/7 is affecting your ability to perform your duties, it’s not helping the customer.
Sales Stress and Anxiety
Many people, including sales people, feel pressured to give the impression that they are more successful than they really are.
This divide between how salespeople actually feel and the impression they want to give to others can lead to stress. This is because they feel they have to maintain this false image, even when they’re really not.
The pressure that salespeople are under can prevent them from being honest about their sales performance. This can prevent them from reaching out for support from sales managers or coworkers.
Being open and honest about feeling stressed at work can open a dialogue about managing work related anxiety.
Maintain a perceived image of being successful in sales
When you’re in sales, your worth is judged on how much business you close. This can lead to feeling like you have to perform all the time.
While all quarters are important to a company, each only last for three months. You have the same amount of time in a day to do your job.
To stay successful, each month, you need to constantly be generating new leads to fill your next pipeline, while also trying to close any deals that you already have.
It’s important to have a plan in place for developing new opportunities and managing existing clients.
Using tools like a Sales Workload Template can help organize your day and prioritize your tasks, making it easier to manage your daily work.
Sales results are only one metric of success and shouldn’t be the sole focus. Remember that sales numbers are just a number and not always indicative of how well you’re doing your job.
Balancing your goals
Being in sales means being constantly on your toes. You’re always trying to close deals, make quotas, and impress your boss.
To stay successful, you have to keep generating new leads to feed your sales pipeline, while also managing to close deals that have already presented themselves.
Managing your sales funnel is a challenging task, so having a plan on how you will develop new deals and opportunities as well as how you will nurture existing ones is crucial to keeping a healthy funnel.
How to Handle the Pressure in Sales
The pressure of sales can be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on how it’s managed
The life of a salesperson is a tough one. According to a survey by an online employment website, salespeople have the second most difficult jobs, with 73% of respondents ranking it as “very” or “extremely” difficult.
The pressure is on for salespeople to meet their quotas, close deals, and keep their approval ratings as high as possible.
The wrong kind of anxiety can be crippling, while the right kind of tension can be motivating.
As their investments in meditation and mindfulness suggest, it’s rarely productive to obsess over every little detail.
Instead of putting all the pressure on salespeople to succeed, organizations should focus on creating an environment that is conducive to motivation and success. By removing obstacles and providing support, salespeople will be more likely to reach their goals.
Turn stress into sales success
The stress of commission, incentive trips, and intra-company competitions can drive a salesperson to action.
When a manager sets aggressive goals or creates competition, it triggers a stress response that can actually help produce results. This motivation can help a salesperson achieve his or her full potential.
Many salespeople find that the pressure to sell can be a motivator. It can help them to do their best and reach their full potential.
The key to successful sales team management is to set challenging but achievable goals for your team.
By tracking KPIs, you can determine which factors are the most important to your business and make better decisions. Furthermore, by monitoring these stats over time, you’ll have a better understanding of what influences success and be able to coach reps more effectively.
The more managers can track, the more info they’ll have about how their average sales representatives are performing and which factors are having the biggest influence on their success.
For salespeople, dealing with the stress of the job can be positive if you channel that energy into productivity and accept the challenge.
A top performing rep will channel their stress and negative energy into positive motivation by setting personal goals, taking part in contests, and being accountable for their actions. Another way to keep yourself motivated is by constantly comparing yourself to a top performer.
If lower-performing sales representatives aren’t meeting their sales goals, they may become stressed and frustrated. This frustration can manifest itself in negative energy, which can affect their performance.
Set realistic goals for your team, but encourage them to go above and beyond those expectations and reach for the stars.
For underperforming reps, make sure to incentivize them to reach their goals and to celebrate their achievements.
Focusing on the present can help salespeople stay positive and upbeat, instead of dwelling on previous failures or worrying about meeting their quarterly quotas.
How do you deal with stress?
Sales organizations should prioritize employee happiness in order to retain good employees and improve revenue. Overstressed employees have a negative impact on morale and productivity.
The study showed that companies with higher turnover rates had a 12% lower success rate at reaching their sales goals.
Sales leaders have an ethical responsibility to manage stress in the workplace. Stress can have a negative impact on employee productivity and morale, so it’s important to find ways to reduce stress in the sales environment.
When trying to reduce stress, having fewer tasks on your plate or having more resources available to you can be a huge help. Mentors, educational materials, and software can all help reduce the amount of work that you have to do.
Automation tools can be a huge help for sales reps, by saving them time and making their work more engaging.
By supporting employees’ healthy habits, encouraging a work/life balance, and offering them free gym access, the productivity levels of their employees were improved.
If employees are too overwhelmed with work, they should have a process in place for voicing their concerns. That way, the business can address the problem and the employee can get back to work.
The salesperson themselves is responsible for knowing when they’ve reached their limit and when to call it a day.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a high-paying career that comes with its fair share of challenges, a job in sales may be right for you. To excel in high pressure sales jobs you need to be hard working and dedicated. Also remember to stay focused and always keep your eye on the prize.
Need Help Automating Your Sales Prospecting Process?
LeadFuze gives you all the data you need to find ideal leads, including full contact information.
Go through a variety of filters to zero in on the leads you want to reach. This is crazy specific, but you could find all the people that match the following:
- A company in the Financial Services or Banking industry
- Who have more than 10 employees
- That spend money on Adwords
- Who use Hubspot
- Who currently have job openings for marketing help
- With the role of HR Manager
- That has only been in this role for less than 1 year
Want to help contribute to future articles? Have data-backed and tactical advice to share? I’d love to hear from you!
We have over 60,000 monthly readers that would love to see it! Contact us and let's discuss your ideas!
