Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Burn Out: Escaping Living Hell (part 1)

"Burnout."

With a few notable exceptions, you don't get it selling something you love...or doing something you love... "Slumps" are less common when the salesperson is selling a product or service he perceives as the best.

In management (at the office or in the home) it's the same story. Burnous is more than "real," it's a fact of life that is one of the most important RELIABLE signals your body will give your brain!

Let's see how this all works in real life and why banishing burnout before sales training could make a salesperson (manager or house-husband) healthy, wealthy...and pretty smart too.

3 Reasons Burnout Happens

Burnout happens for one of three reasons. The person doesn't like their product or service, or knows the product is deficient. The second is that the salesperson has personal self-sabotage issues that are not about the product or service. The third is that the person doesn't feel connected to the company or it's customers.

The problem lies in one of these 3 areas:

  1. Deficiencies in the product (the company)
  2. Self-Sabotage issues of the salesperson
  3. Connection to company and or it's customer(s)
Imagine a person sells a junk product or something they currently believe is a junk product...something they aren't certain the recipient will really want or need. They have to force one sale and don't want to force another. They sell enough to get by...to pay the bills and quit. Their conscience, whether noticing consciously or not, stops when the bills are paid.

This person will "leave business on the table." Business on the table means they sold someone the low quality coat but didn't ask if they wanted pants, a tie and a shirt. They felt so guilty about one transaction they couldn't partake in another transaction with the same person.

Someone sells one piece of junk and they get paid their "draw" or salary. They need the salary to pay the bills and stay afloat in life.

To sell another piece of junk to the same person would definitely earn the person more money, but then they would feel twice as guilty for taking advantage of the other person. The person has a conscience... A crucial ingredient in a truly great sales person and a person...period.

So, they do the minimum damage and get paid just enough to keep going. Most of the guilt they push aside. It's there but it is sufferable.

How do I know? to be continued... check back soon!