Healthy salespeople, healthy sales

What sort of sales culture do you encourage: one of health and wellbeing or boozy living on-the-edge? Warning! This might sound like your mother.

As I have stated previously, sales is a demanding profession. Top performers know that to sustain a high level of performance, they need to keep fit and well – both physically and psychologically.

They are self disciplined, self managed and take good care of themselves. You only have to look at them and know they are healthy. Their skin is clear, they have a vitality about them that is fresh, their attitude is positive and they are keen to learn.

What sort of sales culture do you encourage? Is it one of health and wellbeing or a boozy, extreme living, on-the-edge culture?

I know you are not your sales people’s keeper, nor their parent, but I believe as business owners and leaders we can do a lot to set the values and culture of our business by what we encourage and value and how we live our lives. We want our businesses to be healthy and successful, and in so doing we need our people to be healthy and successful too.

It is quite interesting when I come in to run sales training sessions for teams of sales people and try to work out who are the successful ones and who are struggling. When I first enter to room I have not usually met the team, and don’t know who is a good performer and who is struggling yet.

Over the years of running sales training programs I have been doing a little observation experiment of mine (not a scientific study as yet) to see if my observations are in line with my working hypothesis that the healthy ones are the successful ones. Each time I have tried this out I am at least 90% on the right track.

The healthy ones eat and drink healthily, are on time, and actively engaged in their learning.

On the other hand the average or poorer performing sales people are often not taking good care of themselves, especially the younger people I see these days. The level of smoking, junk food and caffeine intake (Coke, ‘V’, coffee, etc) I see being consumed in great amounts by many of these people is concerning.

And in addition, though not surprising, is the lack of physical fitness of these people. You can see they have trouble concentrating and participating in activities. They are quite hyped up (no surprise with the caffeine) and if I get to see them over several days they are out late most nights and pretty wrecked the next day.

I raise this topic out of concern for the many sales people I come across in my work and for 1000s of others who may be like them.

I encourage you to help model good behaviours and ways of living as this will help you and they lead healthier sales careers and lives. It will be good for your business too.

You may like to ask the following questions of you and your sales team:

• When you don’t take good care of yourself, what can be the negative effects on your sales effectiveness and performance? When considering this question, try and recall a time when you have not taken adequate care of your health and wellbeing. Think about how your work was affected.
• What are some of the ways that you find are helpful in looking after yourself?

With that you might like to consider yours and your team’s wellbeing.

What is well being?

According to the Cummins model, there are seven domains to well-being. For each, both perceived and actual (that is, subjective and objective assessments) are considered in assessing well-being.

1. Productivity – related to work life, or other productive activity.
2. Emotional – satisfaction, contentment with ones life according to whether it is consistent with their life plans (includes mental health).
3. Health – objective and subjective measures of the status of physical well being.
4. Intimacy – Connectedness with friends and family.
5. Safety – Actual level of safety – physical & perceived safety.
6. Your overall wellbeing will influence both your drive and resilience in sales.
7. Ways to enhance your well-being.

As you can see there are no new flashy ideas here, just tried and true methods we know are good for us.

Just ask your mother.

I wish you happy, successful and healthy selling.

Sue Barrett is Managing Director of BARRETT Pty Ltd. Sue is an experienced consultant and trained coach and facilitator. Sue and her team are best known for their work in creating High Performing Sales Teams. Key to their success is working with the whole person and integrating emotional intelligence, skill, knowledge, behaviour, process and strategy via effective training and coaching programs. For more information please go to www.barrett.com.au

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