Good morning everyone,
We have made it to the weekend yet again. I hope you have all been able to take a little extra time this morning to relax and refresh. I slept in a little bit today past my normal time, so I apologize if I got my blog out to you too late today. I needed a little refreshment.
Today I want to talk about burn out. In sales they say there are periods where all you hear is no and you are not seeing the results of your hard work. It could be a funk, competitor flanking you, a defect that has come up with your product, etc. It can also come from working hard and burning the candle at both ends as my mom used to tell me.
Ten years ago, I was on the road roughly 110 nights a year for sales and was a single father as well as a volunteer fire fighter. I was working a ton of hours to hit my sales goals to generate more revenue. My mother told me to be careful as that I was burning the candle at both ends and was showing on my face evidentially. At this time, I was also starting a new workout called P90X to get back in shape.
Stress was extremely high and energy levels were dropping. When I would have a night off I would relax up until the county pager went off for a house fire and we had to respond to help a family in need in the middle of the night. I was hitting the bottom of the barrel when it came to my energy levels. I had to push myself out of bed to get to work, didn’t want to run fire calls, and when I had time with my son I didn’t view it as quality time.
I pushed through and then had after three years analyzed what I needed to do to get my push back. That is when I heard about burn out and why so many people feel it. Fire fighters and police have highly stressful careers and they often get burned out of the careers. Some even move to alcohol, anti-depressants, etc to cope with the stress. They become numb to the stress and just simply show up.
Studies show that when someone is focused on a why instead of what, they will have more joy and fulfillment in their careers. For firefighters and police officers when they focus on the impact they have and how they are helping people rather than a paycheck they are able to maintain fulfillment in their careers. Similarly, for a sales position if we are focused on the why instead of the environment we will find joy.
One project that I took on was to work in a purchasing division at an organization to learn how they make decisions. I studied their tactics, how they made sourcing decisions, and why they seem to go silent at times. I also took on a role as project management of purchasing for resourcing supply chain in cost savings initiatives so that I could better my influence skills. I had to work with multiple groups from multiple regions to validate the new supply chain and product before launch while saving money for the organization. My first project did not go so well as one could imagine. Obsolescence is a curse work in the purchasing world.
This position was no in my sweet spot like sales. I have had to remind myself of my why am I doing this many times. Especially when I had strong opposition from other functional groups to perform a change. I’m sure my wife became very tired of hearing me complain as well. I got up each day and got back to work to find the road blocks and help move the savings projects forward.
The interesting part of purchasing is their strategy of how they resource. What I learned is that many projects that I have worked on show a savings on the front side, but there are costs associated with the supply change that are not always recognized. What a sales person must show even after the signing of an agreement to supply a product is the value that out-weighs a piece price savings in the future. This is something that most sales people are missing. Once you make the sale it is not over. You need to make sure you are helping your customer see how this product benefits them well beyond the signing of a contract.
This is my why that I kept me focused on when I came home drained from dealing with difficult situations. To keep from burn out the why must be strong. I am also not saying that as a cheesy marketing slogan that your why must make others cry either. Your why must been one that is not focused on just making money, fame, or anything simplistic. It needs to be something that will carry us through the tough times and keep us motivated to get back up when we are knocked down by Goliath. For instance fire fighters and police that focus on their societal impact have more fulfilled lives and can push through the tough times and have a fulfilled career.
Take time to focus on your why and if you run into road blocks ask others what they see as a value you bring to your organization. The why will help you fend off burn out which tends to lead to people starting over in new careers in search of happiness.
Feel free to reach out to discuss further especially if I have not made myself clear on some of the topics in this or other blogs. I am here to help others. That is my why. Maybe you even have a why to help me with my grammar as I am sure there are typos in my blogs sometimes. If so I would greatly appreciate it 😊
Have a good rest of your weekend!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
Sales and Leadership Enterprises