4 Strategies to Deal with a Stressed-Out Sales Team

It’s no exaggeration to suggest that, for many small and medium sized businesses, the sales team represents the beating heart of the company. From netting new customers to working on relationships with existing ones, there’s a lot for a salesperson to think about. But can that workload add up to a whole lot of stress for the individuals? Unfortunately, it can do. So we’ve come up with 4 essential coping strategies that you can employ as a business owner to keep your team in tip-top shape.

4. Incentivize them (the right way)

Depending on the way you run your business, most sales teams are incentivized through financial reward. In fact, this is how many of these employees make the lion’s share of their income. This may not be the only way to keep motivation high, however. Why not consider some other forms of incentivisation? For example, a bottle of wine for the connoisseurs in your team, or perhaps a night at the theatre for the more cultured. The actual reward doesn’t matter, it’s really about finding new ways to keep them inspired to hit their targets. In fact, one good way to devise incentives is to actually sit down and ask them what they’d like – then you’re on track for a home run!

3. Don’t neglect team building

It’s easy to lose sight of the value of team building and to therefore forget to ever engage in team building exercises. But really, a unified sales team is an effective sales team, so making an effort to organise these events will actually pay off in the long run. It doesn’t matter what you do as a team; it could be anything from going paintballing to painting a house! The goal is simply to do something that’s fun, extracurricular, and unifying in its objectives.

2. Ensure holidays are actually being taken

We’ve all been there: so absorbed and focused on our work that the possibility of taking holiday doesn’t even enter our minds. This can be doubly the case for sales people who are heavily focused on results. But there are many reasons why you as a business owner should encourage (if not demand) that these holidays be taken. First, it’s a legal obligation. And second, from a mental wellbeing standpoint, we all need time off now and again. Keep an eye on your holiday calendar to ensure your sales team isn’t spreading themselves too thin.

1. Give them the right tools

With emails piling up, sales quota deadlines approaching and a million phone calls a day, it’s no surprise that sales people are stressed. But some of these problems can be managed and alleviated with the right tools. From a CRM point of view, there’s no reason for these team members to be personally juggling all of their client relationships. With a reliable and comprehensive CRM platform like AutoVu in place, all of these stressors suddenly become more manageable. That reduces workload which in turn reduces stress – it really is a win-win!