How can you build resilience to handle sales stress?

In sales, the most common cause of anxiety and stress is rejections. The second is meeting and talking to strangers. Seasoned sales people understand these but what makes a difference to their mindset is the realisation not to take this too seriously as it is not personal, as well as taking every rejection as an opportunity to improve their next approach in the next iteration.

The most powerful realisation one can have is the acknowledgement that we control our own narrative. Essentially, the stories we tell ourselves about upcoming pitches, competitor actions, or why the numbers are where they are, are the very things that load our stress (eg. why is no one responding to my prospecting; customers just don't seem to like me; I'm just not good enough). By identifying the narratives and the emotions associated with these, we are able to address the core of our stresses and begin to rewrite that narrative in a way that allows a greater freedom in our sales practice. Simply start by questioning your thinking and looking for proof that the narrative is factually true. If not, then you have an opportunity to change it.

Every day, salespeople must persevere through an abundance of negative triggers, experiences and thoughts. This is why it’s important for them to build resilience in sales. Understanding how salespeople perceive their environment can offer insight into why it is easy to become discouraged in sales and why their mental health can spiral when they become attached negative experiences. Attention and awareness are sharing the same energy source. When you focus attention on one thing to gather more detail, awareness of the surrounding environment decreases and becomes less clear. For example, while reading this post – detail of the text is clear and easy to understand, but surrounding plants, people and sounds will be blurry.

I am an actual AE in the field selling every day so I dont have a sales coaching answer for you. The truth is its tough and it will get to you. You will want to give up, many times. Not many of your friends will be able to relate unless also in the role. I dont have a silver bullet for you. My only advice I can share is recognize what you are doing is hard, you are completing a challenging thing. Doing hard work comes with rejection, adjust your expectation that this should be easy its not.

To build resilience : Foster a Growth Mindset: Encourage viewing challenges as opportunities. Implement Stress Management: Introduce mindfulness and relaxation techniques. Create a Supportive Culture: Promote openness and mutual support. Provide Continuous Training: Enhance skills and confidence through regular training. Set Realistic Goals: Balance ambition with achievable targets. Promote Physical Health: Encourage exercise and a balanced diet. Ensure Work-Life Balance: Advocate for time off and personal activities. Maintain Open Communication: Regular feedback helps address stress early. Empower Your Team: Autonomy fosters confidence and problem-solving skills. Recognize Resilience: Acknowledge and reward coping with stress effectively.

Excercise is arguably the best way to manage stress. Make the space to stay active, particularly when things get hectic..your mind will thank you for it!

I have to agree with a lot said here, I suffer with GAD and have been through proper burnout. The main tools I Still use on a daily basis to combat stressors are to ensure i get some form of exercise daily, eat well, i.e. mostly fresh unprocessed foods, 10 minutes of mindfulness, and noting three positive things that happened to me during the day.

When stress knocks my door, this is what I do: 1. Breathe. Deeply. It tells your brain to chill out. 2. Meditate. Even 5 minutes can reset your mind. 3. Affirm. Positive self-talk isn't fluff. It's fuel. 4. Visualize. Picture that win. Feel it.

Many times stress is brought about by not being prepared for or confident about what lies ahead. I suggest these 5 things when experiencing sales stress: 1. Audit what is necessary / unnecessary in your day 2. Clean and update your pipeline 3. Organize and prioritize your opportunities 4. Time block - and stick to it! 5. Know what is next for your customer on that call and guide them there You are making your day predictable, your hours predictable, and your calls predictable. This keeps you focused and keeps context-switching at bay.

Managing how we respond to stress is a big step towards resilience. Just do the breathing techniques and pray (dzikr as moslem) were especially helpful in calming my instant stress reactions. Implementing these techniques on a regular basis has completely changed the way I respond to stressful situations at work.

I found these effect to me: 1. Emotional Intelligence: Read the room, manage your emotions, and navigate through the no's with grace. 2. Problem-Solving: Every objection is a puzzle waiting for a solution. Find it. 3. Creativity: When one door closes, paint a new one and open it. 4. Adaptability: The sales world shifts like the tides. Learn to ride the waves.

I found these effect to me: 1. Emotional Intelligence: Read the room, manage your emotions, and navigate through the no's with grace. 2. Problem-Solving: Every objection is a puzzle waiting for a solution. Find it. 3. Creativity: When one door closes, paint a new one and open it. 4. Adaptability: The sales world shifts like the tides. Learn to ride the waves.

No one climbs a mountain alone. The path to resilience is steep. The weight of challenges can be crushing. Support networks are the mentors, colleagues, friends, and family who provide the ropes and anchors as you scale personal and professional heights. To forge this alliance: - Reach out with authenticity. - Share not just the gloss but the grit. - Seek wisdom, offer gratitude. - Reciprocity is key.

These people don't even have to be in the same line of work or field of expertise. I recommend have three core people you can confide in professionally: A mentor, who can provide wisdom from experience. An equal, who may have different perspectives from the same level. A mentee, who you can teach what you have learned. If you have all three, you can comfortably receive perspective from three levels in addition to your own insights and experience. This is critical for developing a deep understanding of any market.

There's nothing more empowering than having a solid support network. I simply created a WhatsApp group with a few other sales colleagues, and we started chit chat, share our wins and losses story. Knowing that there are other people going through the same thing and are willing to support each other makes a big difference.

Create a space to shake it off! Sometimes things just don't go your way or maybe you've had a stressful day. Create a space after each sales meeting or just at the end of the day to intentionally just shake it off. Find something that works for you, for some of my clients they put on music and just dance it out. But the idea is you move in some way to shake off any of the negative or heavy energy you've picked up through the day, which can lead to stress.

Sales has changed radically, but the core is still about relationships and how you manage that. Continue to educate and train yourself in these areas and your product knowledge so you can bring value to your customers and Principals.

As a sales leader it's important to foster an environment where stress and struggling is OK to address. The team should know they are trusted and supported. So when they need to take a minute, or ask for more support, or take a step back, they'll be rewarded for doing so and allowed to jump back in and learn and grow. The worst feeling as a top performing sales person is when you're afraid to give yourself that time to regroup because you're being hounded for KPIs and numbers.

Remember that if you experience rejection, it's not a rejection of you personally. Many factors come into play when people are making purchasing decisions and that "no" you heard is probably tied to other things like budget, lack of resources to implement your product, timing or even someone having a bad day. Keep your chin up and move on to the next. Every no is one no closer to a yes.

In my experiences in sales, there can be a lot of ego and pride around, "just make the sale". Please keep in mind, it's best to align your sales efforts with a product or service that you resonant with, take pride in seeing others benefit from what you offer and cultivate good relations to help others on their way. If you're just slinging things out there for the paycheck, then there's a high chance you're missing out on what this life has to offer and what you have to offer back.