Then came lockdowns and the plans to have me meet the team in-person were cancelled. I ramped up in a role known for being a grind throughout the SaaS community and had the chance to do it remotely. All of this during the height of the pandemic and global shutdown while we were selling software meant for brick and mortar stores!

Somehow, some way, after fifteen months I am still an SDR at my current company and have found it quite difficult to leave despite all the adversity. As someone who has left previous jobs more readily I wonder what’s kept me around. I also wonder why my role is one where attrition has become the name of the game. Today, you get to hear from an SDR who has stayed at his company for a while and compared to places where he would have quit by now.

The SDR Role is Important and it is No Joke.

We all know Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) as the front line for a business to generate interest from prospects to the point that they actually want to evaluate your offering. From there, the prospect usually talks to an Account Executive (AE) whose goal is to further qualify and then turn them into your clients. If the SDR does not generate that initial interest, the AE has to deal with a smaller pipeline for your business with the likelihood of less sales overall.

According to Sales Hive, 12% of companies experience an SDR attrition rate of 55% or higher, annually.

According to a study by BrainShark, the average tenure of an SDR is 1.5 years. I’m coming up on that average, myself. According to studies commonly shared featuring statistics by The Bridge Group, the attrition rate for SDRs is around 39%. The numbers do not lie, SDR attrition is a problem for most companies.

In an economy where the market is currently in the favor of the employees, your SDRs are in a better position now than usual to leave for another opportunity.

If You Lose One, They are Not as Easy to Replace.

According to a TOPO study mentioned by Salesloft, SDR ramp time to full quota is 3 months. Another study quoted by Gartner by the same firm mentions that 83.4% of SDRs fail to consistently hit quota each month. Let’s assume we live in an ideal world. You just fired an SDR or maybe one just left, so you hired a new one. Now that new SDR comes in and after month three, they hit quota. That is still three months of missing a fully-ramped SDR that could have been producing pipeline for your AEs.

Numbers aside, seeing a veteran SDR leave is also demoralizing for the rest of the team. New hires see this and wonder what they just got themselves into. Sure, sometimes it can be explained away with poor performance but when it is a somewhat decent SDR that quits, you are at risk of a Domino Effect that will have you losing even more SDRs soon.

I’ll Let You in on a Little Secret, Most of Them Didn’t Just Wake Up One Day and Decide to Quit.

I’ve been that SDR who has quit on a job well before I even put in that two-weeks notice.There is an art to it. First, it starts off with more “dentist appointments” and “personal time-off” than normal. Afterwards, it goes to being disengaged where we show up to “Happy Hours” less and voluntarily take ourselves out of team meetings. Slowly, it all evolves into that one magical morning when your SDR pulls you into a meeting and puts in their two-weeks notice.

Now if you are a halfway decent company, you do an “exit interview” but you know how much people want to hold back. Maybe if you are lucky and thick-skinned enough, your SDR will let you know exactly what you did wrong and how to fix it. Most of the time though, they will give you the politically correct and “nice” feedback in order to not “burn a bridge”. You’ll never learn the reason that they left.

Here are Some Common Reasons.

Sometimes, SDRs quit because an offer that paid better came around or because their chance to move into another more promising role (hint: It’s AE) came knocking. Occasionally, SDRs might realize that they are not cut out for sales and part ways with the profession altogether. The fixes to these problems seem obvious enough but they can be tough for an organization to really handle.

After all, you may want to promote that promising SDR to an AE but there are just not any AE roles open right now with the way things are. You may want to pay your SDR more but not be in a position to do that. Perhaps you want your SDRs to be enabled to better generate meetings but with the way things are, it is tough to make that happen. How do you keep them on your team? How do you keep them happy?

What if I Told You… That an Age Old Saying in the Workforce is Just as True in the SDR World?

People don’t quit their job, they quit their boss.

According to Career Addict, 79% of people would seek new employment because of bad leadership. In my opinion, sales is one of those professions plagued with not just bad but often toxic leadership.

In the past, I was a part of toxic sales teams where leadership ruled with fear, intimidation, humiliation of reps, and “tough love”. For a while, it seemed like a decent script for a Martin Scorsese film, until it didn’t. You had your more senior reps leave for better opportunities and shortly thereafter, others followed suit. Not long after that, the team slowly fell apart to where even the leaders either moved on or got fired.

So if people leave their job because they have a terrible boss, then it is fair to say that people will stay at a job if they have a great boss even if things are less than ideal.

Such is my story.

I onboarded remotely during the pandemic which was no easy task. Now, add to that being in an outbound role where you had to convince people to take a meeting to buy new software when the entire economy was on lockdown, particularly for the brick and mortar locations we service. I’ll add even more fuel to this fire, try being in a situation where you don’t even know if you will be promoted to AE even after you have been in this grind for over a year. Not ideal, right?

In the past, seeing this situation, I would actively be in the job market and interviewing. Given how the job market bounced back as 2021 progressed, I had every reason in the world to interview at other places, especially since I had recruiters coming at me with AE roles. Despite all this, I found it very tough to leave. Things were different this time. Most SDRs in my situation would have jumped ship but after fifteen months, I am still here and feel like I have found a long-term home (knock on wood!).

Because No Matter the Circumstances, Good Leaders Make it Very Tough to Leave.

In the past, I have endured poor, and especially toxic leadership, at work which made life outside of work miserable, too. After all, you spend eight hours a day at your job, it is tough to not take some of that energy home. I saw how stressful it was to my own well-being having leaders that ran a culture of fear, intimidation, and outright cruelty. Unfortunately, this is all-too-common in the world of SaaS sales. And even worse it doesn’t get fixed as most outgoing SDRs are too scared to give honest feedback in their “exit interview”.

The thought constantly came to my head: “What if I do leave for more money and a higher title but have to endure through that same toxic leadership which forced me and others to quit past roles?”

I had the most valuable thing any SDR could wish for, two good leaders in a row that just made it tough to leave. While in my past role I would be scolded for making a mistake, in this one I had a leader who understood that I am human and gave me guidance on how to do things better. In a past role, I had leadership that would micromanage and try to get me to change how I do everything, but in this role my boss gave me free-reign to do my own thing which led to good results. I witnessed in past roles where leadership would toss over countless inbounds to a specific rep and parade them as the best. Leadership shouldn’t run on nepotism. In a past role, I had managers who were too busy trying to show off. They were too busy trying to make their personal favorite reps look good instead of helping them succeed. In past roles, I had managers but in my current one I have leaders.

You would be surprised to find how much people will value sanity, peace of mind, and a positive atmosphere over a title or slightly higher pay. For me, showing up to work everyday knowing that even if I made a mistake, I would be properly coached through it, made it easy to stay.

Being human, I have made some mistakes and slipped up. In past roles I knew this would come with some serious consequences that would make it tough for me to have the same morale to do my job. I called, emailed, and talked in fear which even my prospects picked up on. By having good leadership, I can be fearless and bring my best to every call and interactions with prospects which has led to better performance. It’s not easy to stay in the SDR role past fifteen months when headhunters are calling you up for AE roles, but good leaders make it a lot easier.

If Your SDRs are Mysteriously Quitting, You May Have a Leadership Problem.

If you have a high churn in your SDR team, especially from those who are more tenured, it is time to start looking at their leadership. As tough as it may be to do, if you feel that it is not due to pay and career progression alone, it might be time you used your intuition a bit more to see how their leader is actually like. You might have to talk to some of your more senior SDRs who seem a lot less engaged in a creative way about how they really feel about leadership.

A good SDR leader can be the biggest difference between keeping those handful of reps on your team and stopping the entire SDR org from falling apart. In the future, I look to talk about traits that I have noticed in toxic and good SDR leaders.

The post Cut your SDR Churn Rate with good leadership appeared first on RevGenius.

Not everyone with a position in marketing studied it in school.

Likewise, they’ll likely all agree that there’s no one career track you need to follow to get started in digital marketing.

The digital marketing career journey is an exciting, diverse, and ever-changing expedition that will undoubtedly be a part of the future of work. And, the internet isn’t going away anytime soon. As a result, companies are relying more heavily on digital channels than ever before.

That makes digital marketing the perfect career choice for individuals who want to balance creativity and business acumen.

Depending on your interests, you can take a more analytical route –  probing into experiments that lead to better results – or flex your artistic abilities with innovative ideas that push boundaries.

There’s a place for the computer wiz and the writer, the charismatic leader and introverted intellectual. You can work in an agency setting or a large company, strike out on your own as a freelancer, or start your own business and build a team.

The point is: there’s a place for everyone in marketing.

I’m still early in my career, but when I look back on my journey, I couldn’t have planned it or foresaw what opportunities would open up that would lead me to where I am now.

When in university, I wanted to get a job that would look good on a resume. What better way than to start a student painting business? The experience was grueling but showed me I enjoyed sales and seeing things grow.

Throughout the rest of my university experience and after, I pursued marketing roles and freelance gigs that would introduce me to as many different areas of marketing as I could get my hands on.

My career path is unique to me.

But I’ve had the opportunity to meet dozens of marketers who also shared their windy path to a career in marketing with me.

This article will explore the diverse career paths that will bring you to a position in marketing.

I spoke to almost a dozen other marketers that I look up to for advice and guidance to get their answers to the following questions:

1. How did you land a career path in marketing?
2. Why do you like a career in marketing?
3. What advice do you have for marketers just getting started?
4. If they had to chart out the ideal marketing career path, what would it look like to you?

Here’s what they had to say.

What A Career Path In Marketing Looks Like (Experiences from Actual Marketers)

I spoke to several marketers to learn about what led them to a career in marketing. I wanted to understand how many different paths can lead to this field.

In the following section, we’ll hear the stories of several marketers who came from different places yet still made their way to a career in digital marketing.

Let’s dive in!

How Being a Creative Entrepreneur is Also a Crash Course in Marketing

I connected with Lani Assaf, Marketing lead at Elpha, a Y Combinator company that built a community of over 50,000 based around supporting women with careers in tech.

When I asked her about her career path, she shared that it started when she discovered her passion for photography.

“In high school, I decided to become a photographer. As I taught myself photography using every Youtube video and resource on the internet, I also had to build a business alongside my passion. This meant creating a website, launching social media campaigns, and building influencer relationships.”

Her experience starting her own photography business took off, and she pursued opportunities to work with clients globally.

“At the end of college, four years later, I had worked with clients across the country – influencers, clothing brands, and creative agencies. I had traveled the world, creating international photography projects in cities like Montreal and Budapest.

Most importantly, I learned how to harness the power of digital marketing to grow a little idea into a business success.”

When building a business, you wear all the hats – sales and marketing being your two biggest early on. This process is a crash course in marketing that can rival even the best marketing MBA.

Coming from a similar background as Lani, Sydney Arin Go, a Growth Marketer that specializes in Content Marketing at Animalz, a content marketing agency, states:

“I actually didn’t know I wanted to go into marketing until I started. I was a teacher, a journalist, and an events photographer before I ever became a marketer. And then I did a marketing internship for Johnnie Walker and had to create a whole marketing campaign that spanned the 3 months that I was there which included producing videos to go in supermarkets, organizing events, organizing photoshoots for our models, and running social media for our #LoveScotch and #KeepWalking campaigns. It was a lot of fun, and I fell in love”

There’s a theme that you might notice throughout this article.

Individuals looking for creative outlets in their careers find themselves in marketing a lot of the time.

For example, Sydney’s background as a teacher certainly came into play as she taught me much of what I needed to know to also begin a career in content marketing.

For that, I’m very grateful (shout out to Sydney!)

But creative entrepreneurship isn’t the only path that ends in a marketing career. In fact, digital marketing jobs can be easier to obtain than jobs in other industries because the skill set is relatively new and most new marketers learn a lot on the job.

Marketing Jobs Have a Lower Barrier to Entry than Some Others

Jennilyn Weber is the Marketing Manager at Bright Funds, a platform that makes workplace giving, volunteerism, and grants management easy for companies and employees.

When describing how she got started with marketing, it came down to whether or not to pursue a career as a professor.

“I had just graduated from UCLA, and I initially planned on attending grad school. My long-term goal was to become a professor. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I couldn’t justify the financial cost. So, I started applying to entry-level jobs no matter the industry. Oddly enough, I landed a job that I found off Craigslist. It was for an Office Assistant position at a digital marketing agency. I quickly moved up the ranks, and I’ve been in the marketing industry ever since!”

Although she doesn’t recommend using Craigslist to get a job now, Jennilyn advocates for growing where you’re planted.

“I was just an Office Assistant, and I eventually ended up running the entire SEO department. Working for an agency is a great way to learn quickly, work with multiple clients across industries, and see if you may want to specialize in specific marketing channels… I wouldn’t be here without my previous agency experience.”

Based on the last few stories, it would seem that most marketers accidentally fall into their careers. But that is not always the case.

From PR Professional to Content Marketing Expert

Nicole Kahansky is a Content Marketing Manager at Hypercontext, a platform to make team meetings and goal setting simple for managers.

She was outgrowing her position in a PR agency and wanted to transition into marketing to pursue more professional growth.

“I started my career in PR and worked in the space for about four years. When I was looking to make a change, marketing appealed to me because I wanted to have a more measurable impact on the business while also using the skills I’d developed in Public Relations. I did a course called Growclass, which is focused on growth marketing, and that ultimately played a huge role in helping me land my current role as content marketing manager at Hypercontext.”

While many marketers seem to fall into a position in marketing, in Nicole’s case, she knew what she wanted and charted a path to get there.

Now that we’ve heard about how these marketing professionals found themselves in their current roles, let’s shift focus to what they enjoy about their day jobs.

Why Do You Like A Career In Marketing?

Autonomy and Responsibility

Jeff GoodSmith is a Content Marketing Strategist at Clique Studios, a digital design and experience agency. When discussing his role, he emphasizes how much responsibility and autonomy agencies give their teams.

“I love the creativity and strategy required for marketing. There’s a lot of responsibility when you’re basically tasked with your company or client’s success and worthwhile investment.

I remember my schooling emphasized developing something to benefit your customer instead of trying to tell the customer what they want. I think marketing, done right, is like that.

It can be really empowering to the people you serve. You’re able to expose people to new and amazing things, and it’s a great feeling to be a part of that.”

Being at an agency provides experience in a variety of industries and areas of marketing.

They do, however, require a lot of fast past work and competing priorities. If you’re considering pursuing the agency world, keep this in mind.

The Ever-Changing Landscape

Lindsay Adams, a Social Media Strategist at Formstack, a workplace productivity platform eliminating paper forms to breaking digital silos, has much to say about the agility required in social media marketing.

“I’m currently in an in-house role for a B2B SaaS company which admittedly comes with its creative challenges, but I enjoy it for the same reasons I chose to continue working as a marketer – the ability to be creative in my work, push boundaries (especially on social media), and the constant challenge of keeping up with the ever-changing field of marketing. It’s a pretty exciting field of work and can be extremely fulfilling if you find the right role for you.”

Working in marketing requires you to be tuned into the industry.

What are your competitors doing? What limits are the best brands pushing? What’s trending? You’re constantly looking for new ideas to solve challenging business problems.

The Psychological Components

Araminta Robertson, Marketing Consultant at Mint Studios likes marketing because it teaches her about people.

“I like marketing because a lot of it really boils down to psychology. It’s about understanding what makes people tick, and that’s always fascinated me. I also love the fact that the best marketers are often those who think outside the box. You don’t have to have spent 30 years in marketing to be a great marketer, and that appeals to me.”

You can spend your whole career in marketing and learn new things every day. But you also don’t need several degrees (if one at all) to get started. The fundamentals can be learned through a plethora of videos online. From there, you can apply what you’ve learned to your own personal brand or with freelance clients.

Ability to Continuously Ideate and Optimize

Continuing Lindsay’s thoughts on creative challenges within marketing, Jacalyn Beales, a Content Marketing Manager at Lever, a recruiting software company, believes that marketers thrive in an environment that is constantly ideating and improving.  

“I think marketers thrive in a certain type of environment, where you can ideate, try, and test new approaches to building and marketing brands. There’s a particular kind of rush that comes with that work—but more than that, you get to flex so many different ‘muscles,’ both creative and logical, that no two days are ever the same.

Marketing as a career can be addictive because of how rewarding it can be. The best kind of marketing is the kind that helps businesses genuinely help people, and that’s why I love working in marketing. It’s that rush that pulls you in, and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Unless ice cream tasting is a job—I could see myself doing that!”

We can’t all have a job as an ice cream taster, but marketing is a close second.

What Path Would You Suggest For Someone Starting In Marketing?

It’s clear there’s no one established track you need to follow to become a marketer.

In fact, the only careers with clear paths today are your lawyer and surgeon-type jobs. So I wanted to know what advice they’d have for someone interested in a career in marketing but not knowing where to start.

Be Really Curious

Lani Assaf from Elpha encourages marketers to be curious about people. That’s the basis of marketing, isn’t it? Understanding those we are selling to.

“Be really curious, especially about people. Read books about behavioral science and persuasion (I always recommend Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion). Marketing is all about building trust and leveraging influence, so learning to be a really great, clear communicator will help you a lot.”

Focus On Learning

Jennilyn Weber from Bright Funds speaks to the importance of learning as much as possible.

“Learn as much as you can if you’re first starting out. Marketing courses are useful, but you need to be able to execute the strategies you’ve learned. If you’re not in a position to experiment, I highly recommend using your own website. It’s also nice to have on your resume.”

Likewise, Jacalyn Beales at Lever recommends exploring diverse experiences.

“You’ll find that 99% of the people you come to work with and for, have diverse backgrounds that are checkered with a range of different experiences—from industry to role to expertise. What matters most is that you never stop learning, which includes learning from those around you. Pick something you’re passionate about, and go all-in on it. Then, learn about and find new ways to tie it to what other people do around you. Throughout my career, three tenets have helped me progress through what I love to do, and where I want to be: don’t hesitate, always test, and don’t be afraid to ask ‘why.'”

Network Whenever Possible

Jeff GoodSmith from Clique Studios realizes now that the simple advice of connecting with others is critical for those early in their career.

“It’s such basic advice (that I didn’t follow for about eight years, and when I finally did, I was able to get an opportunity) but – networking. Reach out to people who are doing the kind of work you might want to try, and reach out to them and ask to have a virtual cup of coffee. You can find a lot about their journey, or you might even find out about available positions, but it shows that you’re curious and hungry, which is essential to being successful in the field.”

Like Jeff, Hiba Amin, Senior Marketing Manager at HyperContext, echos the importance of talking to other marketers.

“Reach out and talk to a slew of marketers. This was the best thing I could have done in my career and continue to do to this day. I would message people on LinkedIn who I aspired to be, or who seemed to have a lot of credibility, and I would get on a 30-minute call with them to learn about their career paths, lessons learned, why they like the particular type of marketing they’re in and use it to help refine my own career path. Not to mention, you’ll build up an incredible network of smart and talented people who will be there for you in the future again. And, if you work hard enough, you’ll be able to return the favor in no time.”

What Will Your Career In Marketing Look Like?

There’s no one career path in marketing you need to follow. There are a myriad of different roles within this business function, and more are coming as AI and other cutting-edge technologies enter the world of marketing.

Additionally, it’s a growing industry.

Statista reports, “Until 2020, when the coronavirus put a halt on many industries, the spending on advertising worldwide has been increasing steadily. It is expected to go back on steady growth track starting in 2021, and surpass 630 billion U.S. dollars in 2024.”

If you’re looking to start a career in marketing, now’s a great time to start.

And if you need some advice, look no further than the great community of marketers within RevGenius and at all the great marketers who are in this article who are open to sharing their own experience with the hope of helping you achieve your marketing career goals.

The post How to Become a Digital Marketer: Common Marketing Career Paths appeared first on RevGenius.

What is sales fatigue?

Sales fatigue is an acute mental health condition that affects an individual’s motivation, engagement and performance. That means up to 15% less profitable, 18% less productive, and 37% more likely to be absentee according to Gallup reports.

Specifically, sales fatigue is part of a sales-specific burnout scale that ranges from “primed for peak performance” to “I am putting in notice of resignation”. By managing our levels of stress and recovery, we can maintain a healthy balance to keep hitting quota without sacrificing our mental health.

A career in sales is a marathon, not a sprint. That means longevity needs to be a focus just as much as sprinting at your next month’s goals, or you risk full on burnout.

This can be difficult since we tend to be judged weekly, monthly and/or quarterly which incentivizes pushing ourselves in any given sprint (something we often wear as a badge of honor, justifiably so – we earned it!).

In order to keep ourselves happy, healthy, and on our game – let’s first look out for symptoms of sales fatigue, the levels of fatigue we go through, and finish with strategies to mitigate or avoid sales fatigue altogether.

Symptoms of sales fatigue?

The reality is that many of us have gone through various cycles of fatigue in our jobs. This is normal. If any of the following apply to you now – don’t worry! We are going to make sure to give you what you need to manage your fatigue.

That being said, oftentimes the early symptoms are easiest to manage if we act quickly. The first thing to look out for is feeling tired all the time – especially if the amount of sleep you are getting is regular. That, and a sense of always being behind or looming tasks to be done without the motivation to start moving is classic signs of job fatigue.

Additionally, if the work you are doing feels below par for you, or you are taking excessive amounts of time to do the work – you are likely to be experiencing signs of fatigue.

In sales, this might mean being way behind on logging activity in salesforce, falling behind on follow up emails, or failing to hit activity metrics; especially if you have had periods where these goals were easy to be on top of.

Levels of sales fatigue?

Fatigue either slows the output, or increases the stress associated with achieving your baseline output compared to working when primed for peak performance. It is not uncommon for this to happen as a reaction to failing to meet sales or activity goals, and often silently festers inside reps until manifesting as full blown burnout, a mental health episode, or resignation.

The first level of sales fatigue is languishing fatigue, where a salesperson becomes disconnected from their work and feels empty in their role. This may come from something as small as slipping performance (no matter how subtle), concern over career path, or environmental factors happening outside of the workplace in general.

The next level concerns acute fatigue, where performance starts to trend downward and reps become further dissociated from their jobs. At this level, employees are at risk to be poached by other organizations, despite possibly not having said anything to their teammates, management, or even HR. Most organizations cannot afford to churn too many performers due to neglecting fatigued employees. Losing these performers would be a big hit to their business’s revenues.

Lastly comes full blown burnout. Here, you can kiss your reps’ effort goodbye, because they are done. At this point, you may risk having toxic employees on your hands, which can cost an organization upwards of $12,000 per person and spread like wildfire. These people may show open dissent, be cyber liabilities, and require intentional support to get back on track.

Strategies for mitigating sales fatigue

Now for the good stuff… how to manage all of that fatigue. The truth is, what works for any given person is based on a wide range of factors and unique to that individual alone. Think of this all as balancing stress and recovery like an athlete. There is no one size fits all solution. Here are a few options to try:

High-Low method

This is one that I personally use to manage my days. Essentially, it focuses on producing a large stress stimulus (a spike), followed by medium stress days that should feel low in stress by comparison.

A model for this might be:

Monday – High Stress

Tuesday – Medium Stress

Wednesday – Low Stress

Thursday – High Stress

Friday – Medium Stress

You could also do the same for a working month or quarter, where you have high stress periods and lower stress ones. What really matters is that you use this to push yourself on high stress days, and really take the time to recover on low stress ones.

Pomodoro Method

This technique relies on setting timer intervals to complete smaller chunks of work in manageable sprints.

The standard way is doing 25 minutes of undistracted work followed by a 5-minute mini break.

This works when you break work into smaller chunks like making 30 cold calls, or sending a few personalized emails. Make sure not to stretch the breaks or let technology creep into the equation and distract you…

Realign Your Goals

Okay, this one is admittedly a little meta, but bear with me. If you are experiencing fatigue, try realigning to your personal mission or “why”. Any time that I feel like I am coming up against a wall, I remind myself why I’m working so hard.

In my case, that is to prove everyone right who’s believed in me most and provide a comfortable life for my family. With that in mind, it makes grinding through a few more calls, hosting a couple more demos, or whatever else much easier to handle.

It could also be your “why” for a given role, focused on promotions or other future opportunities.

Accountability Partners/Groups

Sometimes all it takes is a friendly face checking in on you, or holding you accountable to your own goals. Teaming up with someone, whether or not they’re in your organization, is a way to stay connected to friends while achieving greatness together.

These are best implemented prior to sales fatigue setting in, so that by the time any issues arise you are already familiar with each other and have built up trust.

Ask For Help

This is probably the most underrated one on the list. As someone who sells to sales leaders, I can say with confidence that your managers want to help you.

I know that at times you may feel at odds with management, or members of your team, or whatever else – but the truth is that if you approach any of the above and ask for help – they will be happy to do what they can.

When doing so, try to make sure not to be placing blame or making accusations; and engage assuming positive intent.

Time Off

This is our fire alarm traditionally, but I think we should see it more as a yearly check-up.

When you start to feel fatigue or burnout setting in, taking a few extra days off to unplug from work is one of the most effective ways of recovering.

The key is making sure to actually unplug, and allowing yourself to relax. We’ve all (myself included) taken vacations where we thought about work the whole time and just ended up more stressed.

If you aren’t good at using PTO currently, start by throwing a few 3-day weekends on your calendar. It doesn’t matter whether you use them for a big trip or just to sleep in; these extra breaks will help normalize time off.

I personally am a believer in taking at least a full week off once per year, with smaller breaks along the way.

Conclusion

We started by taking a look at what sales fatigue is, how it relates to burnout, and why mitigating it is crucial to achieving performance goals.

Then we identified some warning symptoms and levels that sales fatigue sets in at. Again – this is all part of a complex system of ever-changing factors, all unique to each individual. As fatigue festers, it worsens.

Arguably, the most important thing here is identifying and addressing issues as they arise and not once they’ve started hurting performance.

On an ongoing basis, having a way of managing these factors and using the right sales fatigue mitigation strategy at the right time will help create distance between you and your competitors.

Take Time Off!

The post How to Push Through Sales Fatigue appeared first on RevGenius.

If you’ve been in sales long enough, you’ve undoubtedly had a buyer tell you your price was too high. When this happens, the customer is not necessarily objecting to what you are charging for your product or service, but rather, they are failing to understand the value of it. In other words, the buyer is viewing the price as a cost or expense vs. an investment of tangible value. Let’s break this down further.

Differentiating Price and Cost

Price is the same for all customers— it’s the value determined by you, the provider of the goods or services for your particular offering. Price is influenced by a number of factors, including the cost of goods, competition in the market, and likely part of an organization’s positioning strategy, especially if your product or service is a higher quality than the alternatives.

Cost, on the other hand, varies by buyer and their use case situation. Cost represents an outflow of cash for the buyer, and it’s your job as a salesperson to demonstrate the value to be returned.

To illustrate, let’s say you’re out on vacation and break your sunglasses.

You go to a local store for a replacement pair, but the price for new glasses is $500. You feel it is too high, so you ask the clerk to see sunglasses that aren’t as expensive.

The clerk responds with a question, “May I ask, is it the price or the cost that’s of concern?” You give him a puzzled look so he probes further, “On average, how often do you lose or break your sunglasses?” You tell him at least once, maybe twice a year, but you generally pay about $350 for your shades. “Good to know,” says the clerk. “And where do you live?” You tell him Denver, and he proceeds to tell you they have 5 locations on the front range and 209 across the US. He then goes on to explain the significance. “We understand our customers better than any other retailer— we know sunglasses get lost and broken— life happens. That’s why we fully replace your lost or irreparably-damaged sunglasses once per purchase, as long as it’s redeemed within 3 years. All you need to do is walk into any location, they’ll look you up in our database, they’ll let you pick out another pair in the store, and you can walk out. Zero cost to you.”

And just like that, the $500 price turned into a $1,000 value.

The alternatives— continuing to buy $350 glasses twice per year— carried a $750 price tag, $250 higher than the shades you thought were too expensive. And going without is no good either, considering the glare and eye strain involved. You make the purchase, realizing spending $500 today to receive $1,000 in value was a much smarter decision than buying cheaper shades now and another pair down the road.

The moral of the story: the price today was small in comparison to the cost of the alternatives.

When to Discuss Price in Your Sales Conversation

Raising the price discussion is always a bit tricky. Bring it up too soon, and you can scare off a prospect. Leaving the price discussion to the very end of a call can leave you high and dry, if your prospect simply cannot afford your product.

According to research by Gong, the highest-performing sales reps discuss price 40-49 minutes into a sales conversation, whereas average performers tend to reference price throughout the call. Of course, look for the prospect’s buying signals and tailor your conversation to match.

“If you know a prospect is cost conscious or the competitors are considerably less expensive, then it’s important to discuss price early on,” commented Alex Buckles, Sales Executive and CEO of Forecastable. “Sales reps who can identify pricing objections early in the sales cycle are better positioned to proactively address product value sooner rather than later, improving their likelihood of closing the deal.”

The pricing discussion is also a tactical discussion, and one that should be rehearsed in advance.

Preparing for the Price Discussion

Price is part of all sales conversations, and how you approach it matters. Many sales reps fear talking about price as the pushback is uncomfortable and feel pressured to offer a discount. But be careful. While discounting has a place and value, discounting can also lower the perception of your product or service, not to mention drop your margins.

“Practice the price discussion over and over in your head, so it feels natural and you can talk about it with confidence,” advises Buckles. “And remember, ‘real’ deals aren’t fragile; both the buyer and seller should be willing to talk openly and transparently about the difference of price and cost.

Discussing price also gives you purchasing insight, enabling you to verify budget availability, and opening the discussion about the approval process plus other influencers involved in the buying decision.

Discussing Cost and Demonstrating ROI

Equally essential to a sales rep’s success, is the ability to shift the conversation to discussing the prospect’s options— if they don’t buy your product or service, what will they do instead? Then, dig into the price of the alternatives to arrive at the true cost of their decision.

According to Qwilr’s Buyer Experience Study, buyers want sellers to partner with them to assist in making the best purchasing decision possible. Additionally, 28% of buyers look for clear, achievable ROI. ROI, of course, is a value discussion, and is the comparison of a buyer’s potential return in relation to the price paid.

Questions to ask to help uncover the value:

1. If you could overcome the challenges you’ve identified, how would that impact your company’s financial situation?
2. If you were to move forward with this purchase, what would it mean for you?
3. How would implementing these changes affect your competitiveness in the market?
4. What won’t happen if you choose not to move forward with this?
5. How will you evaluate the success of this initiative?
6. If you don’t solve [insert the challenge here], what kind of difficulties will you face going forward?

Once you have this information, ROI can be calculated manually, (although is a bit of a chore) or an ROI calculator tool can be used to save time and add flair to your sales proposals. Be sure though, that you’re illustrating an outcome that’s meaningful to your prospect, whether that be time savings, additional revenue, or cost reductions. Any time you can demonstrate ROI and it’s provable, you build buyer confidence and accelerate the purchasing decision.

Closing the Deal

To be successful in sales, you need to demonstrate to your buyers how working with you is going to improve their situation, both personally and professionally. The most successful sales reps are strategic and intentional in their pricing discussions, actively listening for buyer pricing cues. Proactively discussing the value of your product or service can help ease the concerns of price-sensitive buyers and build a stronger case for choosing you over your competitor. Delaying or avoiding the cost conversation, or even jumping too soon to discounting, is a sure way to lose a deal. Because price, without the context of value, is expensive no matter who you’re asking.

The post Overcoming Objections: Difference between Price vs. Cost appeared first on RevGenius.

So, you got a new job. You’re about a month in. So far, so good. You like the role’s day-to-day. You consider your pay to be fair and you have some pretty decent benefits.

By month two, you’re dealing with misogyny, homophobia, racism, and/or bigotry. It’s driving you mad. You may even be getting frustrated with yourself and asking, “How did I not see this before signing on the dotted line?”

All Too Relatable

Many queer people relate to the above in some form or another. There have been times where this has even led to individuals losing their jobs because they’re gay or transgender; despite the 2020 Supreme Court ruling.

There is a lot of reconstruction of society yet to be had to end this systemic issue of LGBTQIA+ targeted hate and discrimination in the workplace.

However, there are some steps you can take as a professional in sales, marketing, or other roles, to help vet out potential employers and minimize the chances of these obstacles ever existing for you in the workplace.

Read This Disclaimer Before We Continue, Okay?

I’m not a hiring expert. Additionally, I do not claim to be an expert on all-things LGBTQIA+ related. I also acknowledge that my own life experiences, identity (in various contexts in and out of being part of the LGBTQIA+ community), and upbringing mold my perspective as does everyone else’s. The purpose of this article is to suggest strategies that I have benefited from given my personal and work life experiences as well as my opinion(s) on how to navigate the above challenges. Do what you wish with this information: but keep it productive and constructive. Let’s get into it:

Consider The Company’s Firmographics

Listen, not all of us want to work for a large enterprise like Google, Amazon, or Facebook. Equally, there are many people that would dread the thought of working in a small business with less than 50 employees or a hyper-growth, early stage startup with a small team and limited funding.

There are massive differences in the day-to-day experiences at these types of companies that make significant impacts on your career paths. With that said, it should be clear that the definition of how an organization thinks about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their company’s culture and processes is going to vary. There is more than one “right way” for companies to go about doing this. Before you start applying: Ask yourself which “right way(s)” is most important to you and your comfort level joining a new environment.

I work at a Series A software technology startup named Reprise that happens to have less than 75 employees at the time of writing this article. If I asked Jeffrey Hall, a recruiter at Reprise, questions about DEI and culture at Reprise and expected the same answer I would expect from Google: I’m setting us both up for failure.

Is Reprise going to have an incredibly large DEI budget compared to companies like Google, JP Morgan Chase, Facebook, Amazon, etc? Not anytime soon. Maybe one day. But, not now, for sure.

If I were applying at a larger company (like Google): best believe I would expect to hear a potentially more “scripted” or “process-oriented” response with references to internal resources groups and similar initiatives in contrast to the response I would expect to hear from Reprise.

Quick Comparison: Small vs Big

At a small company, as a gay man, all it takes is one homophobic coworker or leader to create a massive problem for me. However, if the company is small enough, statistically there’s a good chance I can dodge bigotry all together. With the stakes being so high on either end of this (it could go amazingly well or completely awful) — I have to care a lot about the experiences of current employees as well as the reputation of the company’s leaders. I’ll even make an effort to do more digging online and request additional interview steps with current employees, if any.

At a big company, as a gay man, statistically there’s going to be some bigotry, unfortunately. We’re not yet at a place in society where a company with 1,000+ employees can say with confidence that all of their employees are not homophobic. With that said, however, there should be a reasonable expectation that the majority of leadership (if not all) and of my coworkers would be allies of the LGBTQ+ community. So, one homophobe is potentially less of an impact due to the sheer size of the internal support that a big company can provide. With this in mind, at a big company, I expect to hear a lot about DEI processes, initiatives, and track records of successful initiatives, both internally and externally. Also, if it feels scripted: it’s probably because they get asked the question even more often: so, I’ll let that slide a little.

Interviewing with Smaller Companies Is Tricky

Let’s say you’re interested in working at a smaller company or an early stage tech startup. You’ve gone through the self-discovery motion mentioned in the disclaimer. What does this practice look or sound like in reality?

In my experience, being direct and vague will often provide the best test of the employer’s true authenticity and prioritization on anything DEI related. In every single interview, I would ask the same question, nearly verbatim.

“As an openly gay, polyamorous man with PTSD and a strong care for all things anti-racism, DEI is incredibly important to me in any employer-employee dynamic. Can you speak to me about DEI at your company?”

I have some friends that totally changed that first sentence; which is fine. They prefer to be a bit more discreet about their gender identity at first. Here’s a talk path a friend of mine uses to source similar information.

“I care greatly about all things anti-racism, LGBTQIA+ rights, and overall equality and equity. With that said, DEI is incredibly important to me in any employer-employee dynamic. Can you speak to me about DEI at your company?”

With smaller companies, I expect answers about the mission of the company as well as its history with DEI. I also expect candidness about their limitations with DEI: such as DEI-specific budget or concrete figures about the number of resources they have. (i.e. groups, dollars, initiatives, events, action items, previously, ongoing, and planned) I also hope to hear these things in the form of a story and not a script.

Big Companies: What To Do & Expect

Reader. You’re not me. So there’s a good chance that you want to work at a larger company, for whatever reason.

You’re in luck! Big companies have budgets for DEI Initiatives that enable them to make a lot of this information readily available online. Check and see if they have a person that specializes in DEI via their company website or LinkedIn page. Additionally, I recommend you ask a similar question above while being prepared to hear a more “scripted” answer with plenty of numbers to back it up.

I Repeat: There’s More Than One Way

It goes without saying that there are plenty of caveats left uncovered here: being part of multiple marginalized identity groups, industry, education, abilities, skills, talents, passions, self-awareness, life experiences, goals, and even the obvious need to pay the bills.

I encourage readers to leverage peer-to-peer communities like RevGenius. There are various DEI-related resource groups (such as RevGenius’s #pride channel in Slack) where you can network and pick-the-brains of other LGBTQIA+ members about their experiences assessing employers. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice and leverage the experiences of people who have been in your shoes.
Additionally, I recommend you follow folks like Madison Butler and myself, Evan Patterson, on LinkedIn for more conversations and resources  surrounding being LGTQIA+ in the workplace.

The post Tactics for Revenue Driving Professionals to Vet for DEI Initiatives appeared first on RevGenius.

Intention is a mental state representing a commitment to carrying out an action or actions in the future. How to incorporate it skillfully into our daily lives is something that the Buddha spoke about to his disciples quite often.

When discussing the Buddhist Eightfold Path, Right Intention, sometimes known as Right Thought, traditionally lands as the second aspect. However, in this series, I have listed it third after Right Speech and Right Understanding.

Together, Right Intention and Right Understanding are known in Buddhism as the path that cultivates wisdom, known in Pali as Panna.  

In Buddhism, “wisdom” is thought of differently than how we typically understand it in the United States.

The English word wisdom is generally related to knowledge gained through experience, but for Buddhists, according to Barbara O’Brien, a Zen Buddhism Expert, “wisdom relates to realizing or perceiving the true nature of reality; seeing things as they are, not as they appear. This wisdom is not bound by conceptual knowledge. It must be intimately experienced to be understood.”

To make this easy, think of intention as what we believe, which leads to how we act and what we say.  

If all of these are aligned, then we feel fulfilled, joyful, and satisfied.  If not, then we may feel shameful, insecure, and depressed.

In The Dhammapada, a Buddhist Book of Proverbs, the Buddha says:

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts.

If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.”

As revenue professionals, how we act and what we say are as critical to our success as the product or solution we sell.  

As Todd Caponi writes in his book The Transparency Sale, “The second the buyer’s brain senses insincerity, ineptitude, or inconsistency, their brain’s ‘uh-oh’ alarm will sound off subconsciously.”

He goes on to quote the author and neuroscientist Antonio Damasio: “We are not thinking machines that feel, we are feeling machines that think.”

With that in mind, setting the appropriate intention for interacting with our team, potential buyers, and customers as “feeling machines that think” is an integral part of what we do as revenue professionals.  

Being intentional can be a difficult task, especially if you are in a role where you are doing a lot of prospecting like an SDR, BDR, or even a full-cycle AE. Even the most thoughtful of sales reps can slip into a state of zombie-like comatose while cranking out cold call after cold call.

Three Kinds of Right Intention

The Buddha taught that there are three kinds of right intention which counter three types of wrong intention. These build the foundation of how we act and what we say. As we begin to cultivate these, we can operate from a place of kindness and wisdom.  

Release From Attachment

The first is known as the intention of renunciation, which counters the intention of desire.  

To renounce something typically means to give something up or to stop consuming. In Buddhism, renunciation doesn’t mean you have to give away all of your possessions and go live in solitude on a mountain (although some days leave me longing for this option). The source of suffering is not our possessions themselves but our attachment to those possessions, which lead to craving and desire.

One of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned from Buddhism is not to get attached to objects, ideas, people, or outcomes.  

Easier said than done.

In sales, we hear “no” more times than we hear “yes.”

If we’re not adequately equipped to navigate through rejection, then we will find ourselves struggling in our role.  

One reason that rejection hits us so hard when prospecting is that we attach ourselves to the outcome of securing a meeting. When a prospect turns us down, it may discourage us from making more calls, throwing us into a vicious cycle of rejection.

One way that I’ve exercised the concept of “letting go” related to my attachment to outcomes is setting aside five minutes before a block of cold calls to reset and anchor myself to the present with a simple breath meditation.

Express Goodwill

The second kind of right intention relates to goodwill, which counters the intention of ill will.

Otherwise known as metta in Buddhism, Goodwill is defined as a loving-kindness for all beings, without discrimination or selfish attachment.

This manifests in our professional lives by ensuring we are aligned with an organization and solution that doesn’t cause harm or manipulate others in any way.  

When we believe in our team and the value we can drive for our prospects and customers, we can approach conversations with joy, compassion, and kindness.

Even if we show up with goodwill for others, we may still end up having to deal with difficult people.  

I’ve found it helpful to practice Tonglen meditation, sometimes known as “sending and taking” meditation, before having difficult conversations.

Do No Harm

Finally, the third kind of right intention relates to harmlessness, which counters the intention of harmfulness.

Harmlessness is pretty straightforward.  

Don’t harm or intend to harm anyone.  To not harm also requires karuna or compassion. Karuna goes beyond simply not harming. It is an active sympathy and a willingness to bear the pain of others.

In sales, that may mean putting yourself in your buyer’s shoes to understand their deeper pains and challenges so that you can best drive value.  

For example, let’s say a prospect asks for specific payment terms that are not aligned with your company’s contract protocol. One option would be simply telling them no and ending the conversation.  

Another less ethical choice would be to say to them that you can accommodate, which could lead to internal headaches and ultimately time and resources wasted on both sides of the deal.

A third option would be removing your seller hat, empathizing, and seeking to understand the source of their request. You may discover that they have had a terrible experience with other vendors in the past and are afraid of repeating history.  

This could lead to a more productive conversation about implementation or customer success post-sales, which helps develop more trust and strengthen the potential partnership.

Often, by simply thinking about the situation from the other person’s perspective and being compassionate to their experience, we can earn credibility because of our willingness to understand better.

Before picking up the phone to cold call a prospect, sitting down with a buyer to negotiate pricing and terms, or joining an internal meeting to discuss changes in the process, allow yourself some time and space to set the right intention.  

Next, in this eight-part series: Right Action.

The post The Buddhist Eightfold Path of Mindful Sales Part 3: Right Intent appeared first on RevGenius.

Fast forward to the end of 2020, when I joined my first RevGenius RevLeague round table. This exuberant group of sales professionals was discussing how LinkedIn is an integral part of their sales strategy. I was hesitant to use the idea but promised myself that I’d start sharing my industry knowledge with my LinkedIn network.

Within the first week, my global sales leader pinged our entire sales organization complimenting a video I’d posted. That’s when I understood the power of my brand.

Lead with Positivity

I’ve always been the type of person to recognize areas ripe for improvement. At the office, that means I’m continually uncovering opportunities for other teams to better support my business unit.

Until about a year ago, I sent short, pointed messages to these other business units sharing my knowledge and insights. If that sounds arrogant, it was. And my efforts came across that way.

Don’t be the old me. No one wants to receive a message on how they can do their job better. Instead, lead with a positive statement. Then, collaborate to find a solution to the problem you’ve identified.

As an example, let’s say you’re in sales and work closely with your in-house marketing team. They sent out a recent newsletter to a list of contacts you haven’t seen before. You quickly realize the potential sales power of this new list.

Don’t: Accuse the contact of withholding information. Or, simply ask for the list.

Do: Share what a great idea it was to use the list for the upcoming newsletter. Give the team credit for the work that they’ve done. Then, share how vital that list could be to your team. Let them know how you plan to build off the marketing team’s strategy to get to the greater goal of driving revenue. Then ask how you can work together to gain access to the list.

Be Authentic

Always be yourself. This is the hardest step, but also the most important. You have the skills and knowledge that got you to where you are today. You also have a unique personality. That’s your superpower, and it’d be silly not to use it.

As an example, say you’re in a meeting with a new group of coworkers. The topic is business critical, but the environment is casual. You want to make a positive impression on your new colleagues.  You want them to remember your contributions to the discussion.

Don’t: Talk simply to hear your own voice. Many people think they need to speak in a meeting to show they’re worthy of sitting at the table. If anything, silence is more powerful than adding unnecessary information.

Do: Bring your personality to the table. Perhaps you moonlight as a yoga instructor. Offer to start the meeting with a much needed 5-minute stretch. Then, use the rest of the tips in this article to bring relevant, helpful content to the remainder of the meeting.

Sharing is Caring

This tip might be unique to my professional brand, but I believe in it, so it’s making my list.

Allow me to remind you that you’ve gotten to where you are for a reason. Part of that reason is the knowledge that you have accumulated. Now, remember there are others out there seeking assistance on issues you already solved.

That’s why it’s important to share anything and everything you can with your network. Perhaps it’s a quick tip posted to LinkedIn. Or an internal message on Slack or Teams with a reminder on where to find a document it took you 45 minutes to locate. It doesn’t have to be life-changing content; it just has to help one person with something you’ve struggled with before.

For example, let’s say you realize that the personal brand you’ve built for yourself could help others with their own professional goals. You wonder if others might be interested in hearing what has worked for you.

Don’t: Do nothing. Don’t tell yourself that no one will be interested in your ideas.

Do: Write an article that focuses on the value of a personal brand.

Be Gracious with Your Time

Last but not least, is the importance of being gracious with your time. As you start to share with others, to be authentic, and to lead with positivity, you’ll find that people will come to you with questions and to share new ideas. The first time this happens, you know you’re on the right track with building your brand. This is the dividend paid on the work you’ve put in.

For that reason, you want to be as giving with your time as possible. If marketing now asks you for ideas on how sales and marketing can collaborate, show up and put the work in to be worthy of the respect they have shown you. If your HR leader asks you to lead a weekly yoga session for the whole company, respond “Abso-chaturanga-lutely.”

While it is essential to share your time and your expertise, remember not to overextend yourself. Focus on areas that interest you, primarily the areas you want to focus on in your professional career. That way, as you’re asked to join projects or share knowledge on a topic, you’re also working towards resume building content for your next dream job.

The post 4 Tips for Building a Personal Brand appeared first on RevGenius.

You need a team.

It was when the seventh netball shirt walked in that I realized I was in trouble. I was about two hours into my fourth day as a “Sandwich Artist” (I’m not making this up), and the two more senior artists had called in sick. Despite being all of 13, I decided I could run the store by myself. There were lists for everything – how to proof and bake the bread, cut the salad ingredients, and of course, how to upsell. How hard could it be? Netballers, parents, and coaching staff kept pouring in the door. I wound up making 16 sandwiches and taking over half an hour while a line of hungry customers formed outside.

I began to ponder how I would solve the problem if I had help. Having another person taking orders and making the sandwiches would halve the work, but what if we split the jobs as well? What if we had one person slicing rolls and managing meats while the other added salad toppings and wrapped sandwiches? Aged 13, I was already starting to think about the division of labor according to competency. These days, I use this skill every day to figure out what a project needs to be successful and who has the skills and experience required to take on which part.

Consistency is essential, but so is creativity.

When the army of netballers left, I looked at my bread bin. There were maybe seven rolls left, and I was an hour from the lunch rush. Gah!

In case you’ve never baked bread before – which I had not before landing this job – it’s a bit of a process. You need to make the dough, let it “proof” or rise for at least an hour, then bake it, and let it cool. Being a fast-food joint, the store sped up the process by having frozen bread dough and an electric proofer, but it’s still about 2.5 hours from frozen lightsaber to glutenous torpedo. Ergo, I’d have to start cutting corners.

I fired up the proofer and filled it with lightsabers, knowing it would take 90 minutes to do its work. Then I got creative. I took ten lightsabers, splashed them with water, and microwaved them for a minute each inside their silicone baking trays. They came out wet and weirdly shaped but also slightly fluffy, so into the oven they went. Then I put a bunch of lightsabers in the oven frozen and hoped for the best. (Look – an early A/B test! What a nerd. )

The results were certainly less than spectacular. The rolls were smaller and less floofy than the proofed ones, but they were a stop-gap measure that meant I could keep the store open through lunch until the first of the adequately proofed buns were ready. I gave deep discounts and apologized for the quality, but no one asked for a refund. This taught me that some tasks need a pair of tweezers and a deft hand, but some tasks require a sledgehammer. The trick is to know when to use each.

Communication is paramount.

Late in the afternoon, my brother called me at the store. He had been a Sandwich Artist for several months and was calling to check in on his little sister (and perhaps on his reputation after twisting some arms to get me the job in the first place). I told him about my day, proud of my heroic feats of salad-throwing and sandwich-saving. “Why didn’t you call the sister store for help? Or more bread?” he asked. I was dumbfounded. What sister store?

It turned out there was another outlet less than ten blocks away that was fully staffed, fully baked, and could have delivered a swag or two of bread and an extra pair of hands if I’d only asked. Managers and senior team members knew to ask, but I did not. No one had told me because I wasn’t ever supposed to be alone. There was no plan for two seniors calling in sick on the same day, and the safety net failed me because I didn’t know it existed.

The following Monday, I checked the roster for my next shift to find that I wasn’t on it. I wasn’t on the next week’s roster either. In classic retail style, I had been let go without a single word. Just like that, my Sandwich Artistry career was over with one spectacular day.

Which taught me my final lesson: As a food service clerk, I should stick to marketing.

The post What One Disastrous Week in Food Service Taught Me About Marketing appeared first on RevGenius.

You’re walking down a long country road on a cold winter night with nothing to light your path but the moon, tucked behind a few scattered clouds.  As the road begins to get more narrow, you notice a long, slender shape coiled on the path ahead.  

You freeze in panic.

Naturally, you’re cautious and fearful, immediately thinking that it’s a snake ready to attack.  As you inch closer, you realize that it’s merely a rope that someone left behind.  With this realization, your fear immediately transforms into relief and even humor. Saying to yourself, “How silly of me to get scared over a rope.”

This traditional Buddhist analogy illustrates the power that our perceptions have over our thoughts and actions and how essential it is to understand reality clearly.

At its core, Right Understanding helps us better frame our perceptions and the habitual reactions that arise from those perceptions of ourselves and the world around us.

In our digital world, where content and opinions are consumed at a dizzying rate, it’s essential now more than ever to cultivate a space between the thoughts and emotions that surface and how we respond.

To better appreciate the concept of Right Understanding (also known as Right View), we must also discuss the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism:

1. The Truth of Suffering (Dukkha)

Don’t let the word “suffering” scare you. As is the case with many Eastern ideas and philosophies, much is lost in the translation from the Pali/Sanskrit word “dukkha” to the English word “suffering.”

When describing the idea of suffering related to Buddhism, Harvard University’s Glenn Wallis asks us to envision a spectrum.  On one end of the spectrum is suffering as we typically define it in Western culture, pain, distress, hardship, etc.  On the other end, Wallis suggested adding qualities such as annoyance, slight irritation, and tension. Then, suffering can be understood on one end of the spectrum as a subtle, perhaps barely discernible quality of being, and, on the other, as severe mental or physical anguish.

When we frame suffering in this way, we can see that all of us suffer in some form at some point in our lives.

2. The Truth of the Cause of Suffering (Samudaya)

Another important concept to remember when thinking about suffering and how it relates to Buddhism is impermanence. The Buddha taught that the source of suffering is our attachment to things of this world and the inherent craving and desire for those things under the mistaken view that everything lasts forever.  These things could be material objects like a favorite pair of shoes, a phone, or a piece of furniture.  It could be people we love, like our spouses, children, or friends. It could even be emotions like happiness, sadness, or anger.

Our attachment to these things inherently causes us suffering because, in the immortal words of Echo and the Bunnymen, nothing lasts forever. Our favorite pair of shoes become worn and tattered.  Our children grow up into adults.  Our emotions change by the situation.

Impermanence asserts that all phenomena and things in existence are transient, evanescent, and inconstant.  The human bodies we inhabit,  houses we live in, buildings we work in, and vehicles we drive will decay into rubble in due time.  The same is true for mental formations, thoughts, and emotions.

It may seem that the anguish you feel after a rude prospect hangs up on you will last forever, but it won’t.  Sales is a rollercoaster of emotions, as is the human experience. The highs of helping a customer succeed, hitting personal goals, or coaching new hires are palpable and part of what drives the most successful professionals.  

The lows are just as impactful, if not more, at times.

I’ve tossed and turned many nights consumed by all of the ways I could have navigated a conversation with a prospect or customer differently, and I’m not alone in feeling that sense of regret.  Studies have shown that a staggering 90% of people say they have a major regret, 12.8% of which involves their career.

I wouldn’t say that losing a deal to a competitor or missing the mark with a customer’s needs is a major regret, but the point is that we all suffer at the hands of impermanence and our misguided understanding that things last.

3. The Truth of the End of Suffering (Nirhodha)

The third Noble Truth of Buddhism is where Right Understanding begins to take shape. It states that it is possible to end our suffering by removing attachments and the subsequent craving associated with them to transform our suffering into joy and liberation, otherwise known as enlightenment or nirvana.  

As we begin to understand impermanence and how it relates to our perceptions, we can reframe them to align with the reality of truth.  Our perceptions carry with them all of the errors of subjectivity. Ask ten people what image they see in a cloud, and you’ll likely get ten different answers based on a variety of influences like memories, emotions, and individual experiences.

Once we can identify the source of our perceptions through Right Understanding, we have the power to transform them into insights that lead us to realization, otherwise known as clear vision: the way things truly are.

Zen Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh describes this concept eloquently when he writes, “If we love our mother deeply, but feel tense every time we think of our father, it is natural that when we interact with a woman who reminds us of our mother, we will appreciate her. And when we see a man who evokes the memory of our father, we will feel uncomfortable.”  

Erroneous perceptions rooted in previous experiences can also shape our conversations with prospects and customers. We may begin to feel uncomfortable speaking to a prospect for the first time for seemingly no reason at all.  Subconsciously, they may remind us of a prospect or customer that we’ve had a previous bad experience with, which could subconsciously lead us to act from a state of defensiveness.

4. The Truth of the Path That Frees Us From Suffering (Magga)

In Buddhism, the Eightfold Path is the set of practices that will eventually lead us away from attachment and suffering and towards freedom and joy when followed and cultivated daily.  These practices lead to refraining from doing the things that cause us to suffer, both consciously and subconsciously.

If the Eightfold Path is the road that leads to our enlightenment, Right Understanding is the vehicle we use to travel down the road.  It’s the common thread that connects all of the practices and the insight that fills a person with understanding, love, and peace.

How You Can Start Cultivating Right Understanding Immediately

One of my favorite questions to ask myself on a daily basis is “Am I sure?”

For example, let’s say you’re an SDR on the phone with a prospect and they’re being extremely rude, they may even hang up on you.  Your initial reaction may be one of anger, frustration, or even sadness.  You begin to create an identity around the prospect fueled by this emotion.  In reality, the prospect probably isn’t any of the identities you create in your head.  

There are countless things that could be going on in their lives that led to their reaction, most of which probably have nothing to do with you as a person.  

Simply taking a moment to breathe and ask ourselves, “Am I sure?” can be an extremely powerful tool in helping us cultivate space between our initial thoughts and our reaction, either internally or externally.

Many people have found journaling as an effective way to better understand perceptions and the role they play in our habitual reactions to thoughts and emotions. Not only does writing down your thoughts help to manage anxiety and reduce stress but it can also help to prioritize problems, fears, and concerns as well as track any symptoms day-to-day so that you can recognize triggers and learn ways to better control them.

Carve out 10 minutes at the end of every workday to write down your thoughts.  What accomplishments are you most proud of in the day? What was your biggest roadblock? What made you upset?  How did you cope?

Meditation is another way that we can widen the gap between our initial thoughts and habitual reactions.  But like any exercise, it is one that must be practiced regularly in order to receive the full benefit.  

If you’re new to meditation, try setting aside five minutes at the start of your workday to simply count your breath.  Count one for every in-breath and two for every out-breath.  When your mind begins to wander, refocus your attention on the breath.  Add an additional minute every week and work your way up to fifteen minutes.

As we practice cultivating mindfulness, the space between the thoughts and emotions that arise and our reaction widens.  That space offers us a chance to ensure our perceptions are guided by clarity which in turn helps us choose the most skillful way to react.

Next, in this eight-part series: Right Intent.

The post The Buddhist Eightfold Path of Mindful Sales Part 2: Right Understanding appeared first on RevGenius.

So what’s the play?

What things should we focus on?

With well over 10 million people unemployed in the US, what types of things differentiate candidates in a competitive job market?

As I’ve dug through career coach content and sat through countless webinars, I found that some of the most essential things current job seekers are advised to do sit nicely in the wheelhouse of sales pros. It only seems right to use our experience for good and help others navigate things like personal branding, cold outreach, and solution selling as part of their search. Hell, maybe this curated list could even help a sales pro or two in their hunt for something new in 2021.

Right-Fit Reflection

The best sales teams are obsessed with right-fit customers. They work with clarity to qualify prospects fast and let the others go. Situations like looking for work are opportunities for individuals to find similar clarity. Some thoughtful reflection can help provide a foundation for what comes next. In this case, understanding the right-fit in one’s search for a new job.

Some questions to ask are:

• Do you want to stay on the same career path? If so, with what type of company? If not, where are your interests?
• What types of things have you enjoyed the most about the work you’ve done? What things did you avoid doing? What opportunities are there to do more of what you enjoy?
• What are your strengths? How do they affect your career options? Is it time to use those strengths for something new?
• Is it time to go all-in on your side hustle? Or start a consulting business?

Once someone understands where they want to go, they need to make sure they’re positioned to be successful. When confronted with the current job market, several people I know opted to go back to school or get certifications applicable to what they want to do next. Right-fit reflection is about understanding what is important and determining a path forward.

NOTE: A great book to help figure this stuff out is Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.

Personal Branding

We all know that potential employers (or customers) will look us up on LinkedIn. Some might even do a quick Google search. And most career-focused individuals aren’t indifferent about what others might find. But many of us in sales know enough about psychology and the power of first impressions to take it a step further and build a personal brand. For beginners, the concept is probably less about skilled branding and more about delivering a cohesive message about their professional strengths. Here are a few quick suggestions:

1. Be Intentional About Content – Anything that is public or semi-private should be reviewed. There shouldn’t be all-caps rants or trashy retweets just waiting to be unearthed. If our name is on it, somebody will see it and draw conclusions. This seems obvious, but as a hiring manager, I’ve seen some pretty ridiculous stuff.
2. Be Consistent Across Platforms – Profile pictures and custom URLs should be thoughtfully chosen and identical across all platforms (LinkedIn, Glassdoor, etc.). Any links should point to the correct/current profiles on other sites. Things like this are proof of a person’s attention to detail and show they understand the importance of first impressions.
3. The LinkedIn Profile – There is a ton of great content about optimizing LinkedIn profiles, so I’ll be brief. People should start with areas like their ‘headline’ and ‘about’ section, ensuring they accurately reflect strengths as they relate to the role they’re looking to land. If changing careers, this real-estate shouldn’t be filled with things that don’t apply to where they’re headed! Also, can we all please write in the first person?
4. Show Proof – Job seekers need to find ways to showcase their work. Encourage others to start a blog, put together an online portfolio, or write articles about their area of expertise on LinkedIn. If writing isn’t their thing, they might consider creating slide decks or putting together video content. They could engage with podcast creators and look to be featured as a guest. When we are good at what we do, we should aim to let the work speak for itself.

NOTE: For next-level personal branding ideas, consider digging into the content of Justin Welsh.

Networking

I’ve heard many-a-salespeople say, “Your network is your net worth.” But when people find themselves working alongside others they enjoy being around, it’s easy to lose touch with former classmates, coworkers, or customers. The data is clear on this, though; nearly all of the best job opportunities come as a direct result of a person’s network. And now, with a clear direction and a cohesive online presence, it’s time to start replanting seeds to help that network grow.

It’s important to understand that the goal is a genuine connection, not manipulation. Encourage people to build on current relationships first, then work backward to rebuild those dormant connections. Things like LinkedIn endorsements, recommendations, and thoughtful content creation can go a long way. But since some people spend very little time on platforms like LinkedIn, it might be necessary to seek them out through multiple channels when trying to reconnect. Another meaningful way to help others in their search is to make warm introductions, leveraging your network when it makes sense.

Building new relationships is also well worth the effort. The pandemic has sparked the growth of virtual events and online communities (like RevGenius) in a major way. Encourage others to join in, participate, and build new connections with people who share career interests. Over time and with intentional effort, an engaged network will present more right-fit opportunities than any job board.

Targeting & Execution

For anyone with outbound sales experience, this part might seem natural. To others, it likely turns the un-fun into a torturous exercise. Encourage them to start by searching for and committing to companies they feel could be the ideal place to land. We can help them research leadership teams or find (and engage with) LinkedIn content created by company employees. Is the company publicly traded? If so, listen to earnings calls. Are they a startup that just secured funding for growth? Awesome! Learning about companies, what is important to them, or what their future might look like will prove invaluable during the interview process.

Job seekers should apply for positions that align with their goals, making sure to adjust their resume and cover letter with each position. Applying online means learning about applicant tracking systems (ATS) without getting annoyed, knowing that software prescreens everyone. This also means not applying for countless jobs every week; the spray-and-pray approach doesn’t work. Searching for and following-up with hiring managers several times might seem hard to many people, but sales pros know the power of follow-up. For anyone positioning for unposted roles, help them with cold outreach and sales dev methodologies to engage with potential hiring managers. Some job-seekers might even consider putting together what Austin Belcak refers to as a Value Validation Project.

Interviewing is another place where sales principles thrive. Help others sell themselves and establish an elevator pitch style answer to the inevitable “tell me about yourself” moment that kicks off most interviews. Discuss the power of probing questions and finding ways to read between the lines. Interviewees need to understand what is important to the hiring manager, similar to a discovery call. Encourage them to learn about the team, the role, or current challenges throughout the conversation. Lastly, it’s important to establish credibility and explain how their skill set will fill gaps, solve problems, and deliver against the hiring manager’s needs.

Above all else, interviewees need to be prepared and authentic. As part of the preparation, don’t underestimate the power we have in remote/video interviews. I mean, there is a certain freedom in interviewing without pants on. But seriously, check out these tips.

Perseverance

Rejection is an inevitable part of looking for work. And Nobody knows the feeling of rejection, quite like salespeople. We also know that anything that matters takes effort and patience. I’d argue that having a meaningful connection with what we do for a living matters. Helping people throughout their search will take time. Even after building a foundation, landing the right role could take months. It might be helpful to remind them:

You will get ghosted.

You will get rushed through an awkward phone-screen.

You will feel rejected.

You will have an interview that sucks.

You will have moments of disappointment.

You will feel as though you missed the perfect opportunity.

You will get automated emails telling you they are pursuing other candidates.

You will question if you’re doing this right.

We know that all of this is normal. Perspective is everything; these are learning opportunities. It’s easy for any job seeker to forget that challenges are inevitable and should be leveraged for growth. Some days will be better than others, but helping people on their journey is important stuff.

—————

The climate for finding work has changed. Especially for those who built their career with a single company and found themselves looking for work for the first time in years. The most intriguing opportunities easily get hundreds of qualified applicants, and the old resume-centered approach doesn’t work anymore. Even a good resume outlining a track record of success might never be seen by anyone on the hiring team.

The stakes are high, and companies are seeking out people who have been able to differentiate themselves. As sales professionals, we understand so many aspects of what it takes to succeed in the new job search. And since we know that what used to work is less effective now, I encourage the community to help friends and former coworkers in their 2021 search for meaningful work.

The post 5 Ways Sales Pros Can Help Others Find Work In 2021 appeared first on RevGenius.