Stress Less, Sell More

APRIL

APRIL, Day 61: Messy Humans

If you know a sales leader who is treating their salespeople like a number or a cog in a machine, then you might want to share this with them. A recent survey found Canadians would switch to a lower-paying job for better mental health perks¹:

“Human resources firm Morneau Shepell found 60% of Canadian employees would leave their employer if they were offered less money but better support for personal well-being. This trend was even seen among the 51% who reported high financial stress.”

Gone are the days when organizations could pay a salesperson well and expect them to perform regardless of how they're being treated. Sales leaders love efficiency, data, metrics, and predictable revenue because it's objective, emotionless, and clean. If each rep on their team does enough of X, then they can safely predict they'll get Y. When the machine underperforms, they can easily replace the “broken parts.”

But sales leaders have gone too far. They are not programming a machine. They are trying to motivate and develop people so they can be successful. This requires creating a mess, discussing emotions, encouraging learning through failure, and supporting mental health. It means being okay with not being perfect, because humans are far from being perfect. Only then can leaders really start to learn how to support their team and their mental health.

APRIL, Day 62: Exercise for $25,000?

Yes, you've probably heard it a thousand times and you know exercise ...