5 Ways To Stop Sales Burnout Before It Begins

Salespeople are some of the most determined, resilient and hardworking people on the planet.

We work hard, we focus hard.

We pour all we have into our success, day and night.

We don’t even stop thinking about what it’s going to take to plow forward and get more sales.

It’s push, push, push all the way, all the time.

But sometimes, we pour more than we have.

I recently watched the movie Ford v Ferrari and there was a constant question asked throughout the storyline.

How far can you push a race car without blowing out the engine?

You, my fearless sales friends, are a race car.

Everything has its breaking point, even your brain.

You simply can’t press for too long and too hard without a break.

But we rarely admit that fact to ourselves, let alone adjust our behavior accordingly.

Something in our heads says, “I know it’s hard, but I have to plow on”.

It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.

And press on we do until the inevitable happens…BURNOUT.

Here are five strategies for preventing burnout in sales.

1. See it coming in advance.

Oftentimes we wait too long until there’s some sort of a crisis.

If you’re feeling totally stressed, take some downtime now.

You have to step aside now.

2. Quiet the brain.

That’s the opposite of what you’ve been doing by the way.

The brain is not designed to go on and on and on without a break.

You want to treat your brain like an athlete treats a muscle.

Athletes don’t work the same muscle group every day. They allow time to rest.

The same concept applies to your brain.

Take a walk. Find a little solitude. Let your mind be at peace.

Even those small little breaks will make a huge difference.

3. Practice gratitude.

Now something changes when you practice gratitude, the brain releases the hormone serotonin.

That’s a feel-good hormone.

It literally makes us feel better and it’s very good for your overall perspective.

There’s a specific link between gratitude and happiness. Take advantage of it.

4. Diversify your interests.

Get into something outside of work. And again, this works like exercising a different muscle.

When I’m playing hockey, I am not thinking about work because I am fully engaged in the game.

I am fully disengaged in my work.

What can you do to fully disengaged? What does that look like for you?

When you diversify your interests, you give yourself these breaks from what it is that you’re doing at work all day long.

5. Grow your brain.

When we learn new things, we actually increase our brains capacity.

It doesn’t even have to be work-related. In fact, it shouldn’t be work-related.

Read or watch an instructional YouTube video. Start a discussion group. Learn something new.

When you’re burned out, you do no one any good.

You don’t do yourself any good. You don’t do your family any good. You don’t do your company any good. You need a refreshed brain, so shut it down.

Step aside, take care of your brain. It’s your most important resource.

When you do that right, everything else will fall into place.

Until next time, learn more to earn more.