Simple Steps You Can Take Now to Keep Your Sales Reps From Burning Out

Everyone knows the feeling of being overworked, and we all know that certain people handle it differently. Some manage to keep it together at work while others have a harder time not letting their frustrations show. The problem is that no matter how a person copes, it can lead to an aggressive atmosphere or undertone that becomes harder and harder to handle.

It’s also important to remember that managers and leaders face many of the same pressures that their sales reps do, and because they’re already busy putting out fires they have little to no time to find lasting resolutions. While understandable and normal, it can wind up becoming toxic. As a sales leader, it's up to you to make it easier for reps to cope.

Complaining can be good

When sales reps talk to each other about how difficult conditions are, it helps them bond and to cope with the situation. This is especially true if they're aware that the company was put in a bind and did everything it could to avoid the bad situation. Instead of outlawing or discouraging negative comments, recognize that there is a certain kind of complaining that can ultimately fix problems.

Reps do what they do all day every day, and if anyone has insights into how to improve a situation, it should be them. Complaints can spur constructive criticisms that lead to suggestions and improvements which you should be prepared to act on. Of course, when complaining is just about rehashing the same old gripes again and again, this can lead to a very different outcome.

Extreme feelings and groupthink

Burnout is defined by many as a combination of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. Sometimes only thinking about the injustices of being overworked can lead to reps becoming extremely disillusioned. The internal dialog for salespeople becomes a constant loop about how they're missing out on time with family or pushing themselves to the brink of exhaustion doing work for a company that believes it's perfectly acceptable to demand such a performance.

This type of extreme attitude shift can lead to a serious decrease in morale, and the unfair part is that it really only takes a single employee to start dragging down the entire group. Just one (either vocal or sulking employee) can make or break a team by as much as 40% in terms of total productivity. If the team has to bring it to a supervisor's attention, it's a bad sign that things have spiraled out of control.

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Take it easy

Giving people breaks can paradoxically make them much more efficient, but Americans have yet to really absorb that lesson. A Harvard University study showed that a short nap of a half hour to an hour can boost performance. Countries who take siestas didn't need an experiment to learn that.

Instead of limiting people to one 15-minute break, you may want to consider easing up on what's expected of them. Hopefully your interviewing process has already weeded out those who may be prone to laziness, so this should not be something you fear will set people on a path of inaction. You're looking for ways to give your employees break in the short-term which can improve their odds of sticking with their goals (and with the company) instead of checking out of a job they don't enjoy anymore.

Implement a plan

Short-term exhaustion is much easier to combat than long-term burnout, and immediately addressing how people feel about it can be the best way to avoid losing your top-performers. When a salesperson feels like they can't keep giving the same sales pitch, allow them the chance to develop another (related) script for the same product. Or start practicing more flexibility and honesty when it comes to handling your employees.

Some people are reluctant to step away from work because of the inconvenience it may cause their coworkers, only to tax themselves far too much for the "benefit" of the group. When you have more than a handful of sales reps under your umbrella, you may want to allow each employee dictate one major rule (e.g., I have to be home by 5 p.m. on Tuesdays). This is a good way to throw everyone a favor without having to keep careful track of everyone's feelings.

Curb employee turnover

When employees are burned out, they don't tend to stick around for very long. Even if they choose to leave voluntarily, it still leaves you with an end result of having to replace them. Training, encouragement, and understanding go a long way to decreasing these odds.

Before you dismiss your reps as being lazy or unable to handle real world demands, ask yourself if their incentives are really enough for them to keep going in the face of extra or repetitive work. Let them have more of a say in what they do, and you may find that they come up with ideas and plans you never would have dreamed of.