Stress Less, Sell More

AUGUST

AUGUST, Day 131: Uncoupling from Fear

Failure in sales can strike fear into salespeople; however, leaders can play an important role in helping reps uncouple fear from failure.

One way you can achieve this as a leader is each month start by selecting one or two members on your sales team to throw the sales playbook out and run an experiment. Tell them to get creative and to try something totally different from the current sales process they are executing on. This can be writing a new script or email sequence, prospecting a different vertical, running a different demo, or trying something old-school such as direct-mailing gifts to prospects. The more creative, the better. Then, have them present the key learning and results of the experiment to the team at the end of the month.

But there is an important key to making this work: pay the salespeople their full base salary and commission, regardless of whether or not the experiment is successful. The point of the experiment is not to hit target. The point is to learn through failure. To innovate, move the entire team forward and create an environment where failure is embraced, provided something is learned from it. As a leader, when you reward intelligent failures consistently, you create a supportive environment with more autonomy and trust, which leads to better mental health.

AUGUST, Day 132: Courageous Vulnerability

To the hardened salesperson and sales leader who believes sales is no place for vulnerability and ...