Do Salespeople need a Couch or a Coach?

Do Salespeople need a Couch or a Coach?

Sometimes, we need a little of both. Most salespeople are driven individuals. To be a salesperson, sometimes you must wonder if the individual is a little off your rocker. It can be a stressful business of radical swings in emotions based on the moment, the time, or the year. You are only as good as your last sale, and memories of your bosses and executive team are short-lived. It is a life of what have you done for me lately. The usual next question is, what have you planned for your successive triumph?

We play a game of chess daily to plan our personal lives and how best to intermingle our business needs into our day. This is all while simultaneously separating the stresses of your personal life from those of your sales life. One can significantly affect the other if you let them. As in any career, leave your work stress at work, or it will “kill” your personal life.

Sales is a business where you are a loner, running your little mini-business in many ways. The company you work for essentially outsources a portion of its sales territory to you individually. And as salespeople, we pursue our sales territories like our own business. The benefit of a successful year to a salesperson is that it can significantly improve your family’s economic status.

It is said that it takes a salesperson to understand the rigors of sales and emotions. In my many years in this business, discussing any stresses of a sales life with someone who had never sold was difficult. The priorities you see are yearly and are called by the names of commissions or quota attainment. I once worked a sales position where you could make a nice six-figure income and still get fired. Commissions and quota attainment extensively comprise the major components of your annual income or compensation. The salesperson aims to attain quota in all its “gates and tiers” to maximize your commission potential.

As much as a core salary is a significant part of your compensation, the commission check payment drives salespeople. You see, in most situations, your income from commissions, at quota, should equal or exceed your salary.

During the year, the personality and emotional mood of the salesperson can change based on how well they are performing to the necessary levels or percentages to attain quota. Your smiling face can quickly turn into a mood of panic. Sometimes, in terror, you make errors trying so hard to change the course of the winds.

Of course, with each sales opportunity you are chasing, hopefully, you have put a certain amount of planning and strategy into your daily process. Each deal, of course, can be radically different, depending on the circumstances around each. It is always beneficial to “step outside of the box” to look at all the ways to win, but sometimes the real consideration is to bring an “outsider” into your thought processes. The reason for the outsider is to get a different perspective on your sales opportunity that may enlighten you about things you have not previously seen.

Sales is a life of swings. A coach can help you determine what is happening in your sales territory. A sales coach is outside your actual situation but has the experience to help you analyze how to win. Their job is to be a second set of eyes. Even though this is the case, a great sales coach can help you succeed when you cannot see the forest for the trees, but at the same time, keep you off a psychiatrist’s couch.

As a good friend of mine has always said, the result is all that counts, and if a sales coach puts you in a better situation to win, then it is a no-brainer.