Dodging Burnout And Monotony of Sales

Sales is a tough gig; No argument. Because of this, it naturally attracts Type A personalities: The people who must win where overachievement is the norm. These top performers will take any edge they can to beat their competition. They will attend every conference, purchase every video series, script, and try every lead source. They have to follow a routine; it’s the only way they can quantify an ROI on their activity. However, it can sometimes create a stale career environment and the ability to dodge the burnout and monotony of sales can become a very difficult task.

During the process of trying to be the best and the most equipped, it can have the opposite effect, taking the go-getter and service-minded person and transforming him or her into just another brick in the wall; a shout in a sea of noise.

To remedy the diminishing returns, salespeople continue to dig with the shovel that got them stuck in the first place. They attend more webinars, post ads on social media, read more books from the same authors, hire coaches, etc. The cycle continues. The world of self-improvement is a 40 billion dollar industry that spits out “The Hottest New Thing” more often than nutritionists go ape over the latest superfood. Remember kale?

For people that thrive on routine and live by their calendar, this may seem great! All systems go! However, this constant “Go go go” mentality and concert of scripts leaves something to be desired:

Excitement.

Dodging the potential burnout and staleness created by the slammed schedule routine and verbatim script recital might be a factor that refreshes one’s enthusiasm for the rollercoaster ride of sales. It can potentially be the song that creates and nurtures relationships versus just opening and closing transactions with nothing in between.

Scripts + Top 40 Radio

We tune out sales scripts the same way we tune out the radio. — A Vintage radio from 1949

It’s your first day at your new sales job, what does your superior hand you? Some literature about your products and a couple stapled pages of scripts.

“Here you go. Now get out there. You will fall on your face a couple of times but you’ll pick it up.”

Scripts are usually old lines of sales tactics that have closed transactions in the past. An algorithmic manual. If this, then that. But this can hardly be considered training material in today’s relationship economy.

Salespeople and consumers alike know what these scripts sound like, which is why we hang up after the first couple of words when picking a call from a number we don’t know.

“Hi, can I speak with the owner of the hou-” click.

“Hi, let me ask you this, who is your cable provid-” click.

This is similar to scrubbing through radio stations trying to find something pleasing only to find that we pass through various stations because our ear doesn’t catch anything new or refreshing. Most salespeople follow the same script the way every Top 40 song has been following the same formula since your ears can remember.

“Everything sounds the same.” (Let’s admit it. We’ve said it)

Captivate your audience by being fresh and being you.

Scripts + Speaking The Language of the Consumer

Forget the professional lingo when talking to your clients and customers. The relationship begins when you speak to them in their language.

Routine is everything. Routine also means that a task becomes easier over time as we flip the auto-pilot on.

When on auto-pilot, it is easy to forget what we aim to do. The scripts we’ve practiced are bent on hurdling over objections and getting to a “Yes” as soon as possible.

We forget that there is someone on the other side of the interaction and their needs must be met with care. Let’s try to avoid the auto-pilot as much as possible. Mindlessly speaking with prospects and clients is a bad look for us and a bad feeling for them.

We as professionals tend to complicate most conversations and activities more than is necessary. We have to speak their language. Speak to our customers like our nicest aunts and uncles, to whom we never allow a slip, pay the utmost respect but most importantly allow our personality to shine.

Speaking to clients and customers like family makes them family.

Sales + Dating

Sales, like dating, is all about building relationships. — Male and female legs on a date at the seaside

Let’s think about scripts as if we were on a date. How many times have we been asked “What do you do for fun?” and how you reluctantly answer the question because we despise it.

We eventually get tired of the same conversations on dates and hit our best friends with the classic, “Everyone’s the same.”

“Be Yourself!” We chant this song whenever any of our friends express any nervousness or anxiety prior to a date. “Be your authentic self. If they can’t appreciate you for who you truly are, then they aren’t your person.”

Why is this not sung by those in sales?! This is how we find our ideal clients and customers. The ones that don’t give a damn about us being Top Producers, we are their go-to person because we are their type of person.

Finding our tribe of ideal clients is an excellent way to clear our head of noise and focus on the ones that will make the most difference. We won’t need to start a conversation over every time we meet up with them because they are on the same page. You don’t start every date with the same questions, do you?

Don’t be a template. Dodge the burnout in sales by letting go of the reins of rigid decorum and the Aaron Sorkin perfect dialog, it will only be a disservice to us and our clients.

Dodge. Duck. Dip. Dive. Dodge.

Sales is competitive and embracing everything that makes us unique is the remedy to keep our days fresh & exciting, ensuring a long and healthy sales career. We can help keep burnout and the monotony of sales at bay by use scripts as a starting point, not as the only path. Let’s take what works for us and ditch what doesn’t, and it’s ok to change this up. Let’s not allow one way of thinking overstay its welcome, our clients will thank us for it.