The evolution on sales has greatly evolved from that of blatant door-to-door rounds to building up customer personas with the help of tools such as CRM Software and Lead Generation Management. With transformation in the methods, came in a revolution in the functions of an everyday sales professional, with additional roles adding up in the repertoire. He/she now has to stretch limits for ends to meet, resulting in a snappy, high-strung individual who has high chances of burning out before even uncovering the peak of capabilities he/she comes with. In such situations, it’s the manager who has to keep professionals upbeat, in the stormy tides.
So, here are a few burnouts and tips on how you- as a stellar manager, can combat them:
- Fatigue: For every sales professional, fatigue is an old friend acquired through the high demands of the current market. The hallmarks of burnout fatigue are waking up with no energy after a good night’s sleep, drinking large amounts of caffeine to get you through the day, or having trouble staying awake at work. Here, managers should help professionals power through the day by providing adequate breaks and points of socializing, to rejuvenate the mind.
- Negativity: Negativity is something that is often unavoidable when one is undertaking a result-oriented-job. It takes a while for a lead to convert or campaign to work, leading a sense of decreased self-esteem, an accompaniment for negativity. Professionals are found focusing on the down side of situations, judging others and feeling cynical, and here positive reinforcements are necessary. Flashback into the times when performance was well (and taking hints from past good practices) would help greatly in the cause.
- Dissatisfaction: Dissatisfaction always creeps up on the wake of negativity and both have the strength to wreck havoc on one’s professional as well as personal space. Lack of appreciation or late culmination of results leads to a nagging sense of dissatisfaction. This makes work very difficult hence managers should gently guide dissatisfied professionals out of their hell-cycle. More vocal appreciations are always a welcoming change, in this case.
- Taking work home: A 9 to 5 tenure is generally less as one has to complete a plethora of tasks in that short span, which creates pressure. Hence, it is common for professionals to take work home, allowing it to seep into the personal sanctity. As a manager, you have to realize that it is essential for a fully functioning individual to lead separate roles both, in professional and personal spheres, as oil and water can never mingle. You should thus curb such practices and build efficiency of your team by teaching them to be hands on.
- Loss of motivation: Professionals often begin jobs in a honeymoon phase, seeing everything through rose-tinted glasses and motivation comes naturally. Yet with time, the steam to provide excellent performance peters out as they struggle to find the motivation to get the job done. They may complete tasks, and even complete them well, but the motivation that used to drive work is gone. Inspiring and exciting zeal through rewards and rousing conversations is how you should bring the spring back to their efficiency.
Work maybe trying but as an efficient manager, it is a prime responsibility to keep the momentum high and the machine rolling. Remember- if the going gets tough, the tough should get going.
