How To Quickly Recover From Sales Burnout?

Have you ever been trapped in a cycle of exhaustion, cynicism, and diminished performance in your sales job?

This silent productivity killer impacts individual well-being and can derail entire sales teams and organizations. Understanding and addressing sales burnout has never been more crucial as pressure mounts to constantly exceed targets in an ever-evolving marketplace.

In this post we will dive into the causes, symptoms, and strategies for overcoming this pervasive challenge, offering a roadmap for sales professionals and leaders to reignite their passion and restore peak performance.

But before we start, let’s define sales burnout.

What is sales burnout?

Imagine you have a favorite toy that you love to play with every day. You play with it so much that after a while, it’s not as fun anymore. You start to feel tired and don’t want to play with it. That’s kind of like burnout for grown-ups who work in sales.
When people work in sales, their job is to tell others about things they can buy. At first, it’s exciting and they enjoy it. But if they do it too much without taking breaks or having fun in other ways, they might start to feel:

Really tired
Not happy about their job
Like they don’t want to talk to people anymore

This feeling is called burnout. It happens when people work too hard for too long without enough rest or fun. To feel better, they need to take breaks, do other fun things, and remember why they liked their job in the first place.

How to quickly recover from sales burnout

1. Take a REAL break

Taking a break should be the first thing you do when you have burnout. We’re not talking about a 2 or 3-day break, we’re talking about at least a 2-week break.

Take 2 weeks off to travel somewhere where you don’t think about work. Enjoy nature, the sun, and the time spent with your family, and realize that there’s much more to life than work.

Sit down with yourself and think about your job. How much is it taking from your life? Third? half? all your life?

This is where you’ll realize that closing one more deal doesn’t make you happy. Spend some time to think about what makes you happy and make a plan to do more of it.

That’s when you will realize that simple things is what makes us happy. Spending time with your family and friends, going to the gym, traveling to new places, playing video games. These types of things are more fun than stressing yourself to close that deal.

2. Identify the causes of burnout

Burnout doesn’t come from nothing. There’s always a reason. The first step to recover from burnout is to identify why you got that sales burnout in the first place.

Is it because you didn’t reach your goal? Or is it because you lost a contract? Or maybe it’s because your manager is setting particular deadlines that feel overwhelming.

Once you’ve identified the causes of burnout, it’s recommended to discuss with your manager or colleagues how to avoid these stressors in the future.

Talking to someone, preferably your manager, is critical to solve this problem. The goal is not just to recover from sales burnout today, the goal is to avoid this problem in the future.

3. Establish clear work-life separation

One of the most important steps to take in your career is to remember that you’re a human before all. You’re not just a salesperson selling products to people.

And therefore, you need rest, you need work-life balance, and you need to enjoy life outside the company.

Working additional hours for more compensation is not always a good thing to do. Spending 1 hour with friends and family will make you happier than getting a bonus.

Also, avoid checking emails or taking calls outside your working hours even if they’re calls from clients or your manager because you need to set clear expectations when you’re available and when you’re not.

This may sound difficult for salespeople in large companies or for those who manage large deals but this is what you need to do if you want to recover or avoid burnout in sales.

4. Talk with your colleagues and manager

Any job that doesn’t encourage its employees to talk to someone in the team is not worth your time. Talking to someone is so critical in the process of recovering from burnout because it helps you avoid it in the future.

A manager can help you avoid burnout in the future by setting better deadlines or more realistic goals from now on. He can also give you a break to recover or a paid vacation in some cases.

Colleagues can also help you if you have a problem closing deals or reaching to your goals.

But the most important thing is to always remember that teams should work together in good and bad times. That’s how good teams are built.

If you feel like your company doesn’t encourage dialog or doesn’t care about its employees’ health, consider looking for a new job.

5. Work smarter, not harder

Working smarter is always better than working harder because 80% of results will come from 20% of effort. One of the ways to work smarter is to use tools that help you get better results while working less.

Dymolab, for instance, can help you avoid sales calls with unqualified leads by sending them interactive demos of your product before jumping on a demo or sales call with them. They can play with your product on their own pace without scheduling a call with them. If they watch the demo and get to the end, they will click on a CTA button to schedule a call with you, but if they didn’t finish the demo that means they’re not qualified leads.

An interactive demo will let you warm up qualified leads before the call and avoid time wasters.

That way you can spend more time on tasks that bring results.

6. Consider changing your job

Sometimes the hard choice is the only choice.

If you feel like your current work environment is toxic and is the main cause of burnout, it’s time to look for a new job.

Recognizing this reality can be challenging, especially when you’ve invested time and energy into your current position. However, staying in a toxic environment can have long-lasting negative effects on your mental health, physical well-being, and overall career trajectory.

Signs that it might be time to move on include:

1. Persistent negativity: If you dread going to work every day and can’t remember the last time you felt positive about your job.
2. Lack of support: Your concerns are consistently dismissed, and you don’t receive the resources or backing needed to succeed.
3. Unethical practices: The company or your colleagues engage in behaviors that conflict with your personal values.
4. Chronic stress: Work-related stress is affecting your personal life and health.
5. No room for growth: You’ve hit a ceiling, and the company doesn’t offer opportunities for advancement or skill development.
6. Burnout symptoms persist: Despite your best efforts to manage stress and set boundaries, you still feel exhausted and disengaged.

Leaping to a new job can be daunting, but it’s important to remember that your well-being should be a top priority. Start by quietly exploring other opportunities, updating your resume, and networking in your industry. Consider what you’ve learned from your current position – both what you want and don’t want in a work environment – and use this knowledge to guide your job search.

Remember, leaving a toxic work environment isn’t giving up; it’s choosing to prioritize your professional growth and personal health. It’s an act of self-respect and often the first step towards rediscovering your passion for sales and your career overall.

Conclusion

As the sales landscape continues to evolve, those who master the art of sustainable high performance will be best positioned to lead the industry forward.

By addressing burnout head-on, sales professionals can rediscover their passion, unlock their full potential, and achieve lasting success in their careers.

In conclusion, there are 6 steps to recover from sales burnout:

1. Take a REAL break
2. Identify the causes of burnout
3. Establish clear work-life separation
4. Talk with your colleagues and manager
5. Work smarter, not harder
6. Consider changing your job

I hope this post can help you recover from your sales burnout. If it does, make sure to share it with a colleague who suffers from the same problem.