Strengthening Resilience in Digital Sales: A Guide for Individual Contributors

Think of your fiscal year as a digital seller as embarking on a thrilling rafting journey. Your course is marked with calmer waters, but also with unavoidable rapids and twists. How do you ensure that you and your colleagues can tackle these challenges confidently and skilfully navigate any unexpected market fluctuations or customer obstacles that arise?

This can be a tough economic situation, a tough year targets, a missed launch of a new product, etc.

Like a skilled rafter, you might seek advice from seasoned business leaders or depend on the camaraderie of your dedicated team members. You might equip yourself with advanced sales tools or adopt stronger sales strategies. With the right resources and a resilient attitude, you will not only overcome sales challenges, but also develop into a more robust and dynamic force in the market.

What is resilience in digital sales?

In the digital sales landscape, twists and turns are inevitable, ranging from common obstacles to disruptive events like losing a significant client, a sudden market downturn, or drastic changes in buyer behaviour. Each change brings a unique blend of emotions, thoughts, and uncertainties. However, sales teams adapt effectively over time to these circumstances, primarily due to resilience.

As Walt Disney once said

"All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."

This encapsulates the essence of resilience in sales. Resilience is the process of effectively adapting to adversity, threats, or significant sources of stress such as losing deals, encountering customer issues, or facing challenging sales targets. It's not just about "bouncing back" from these experiences, but also about profound growth in skills and knowledge.

What is a Resilient Sales Team?

Resilience doesn't imply that sales reps will not encounter difficulties or distress. In fact, the path to resilience is likely to involve emotional distress. However, resilience isn't a trait possessed by only a select few. It involves behaviours, thoughts, and actions that anyone can learn and develop.

According to Richard Branson,

"Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again."

Resilience, thus, is about learning and growing from our experiences. Here are strategies centred around four core components — connection, wellness, healthy thinking, and finding purpose — that can help build a resilient sales organization.

1. Cultivate Relationships: Foster an environment of trust and empathy with your colleagues in your sales team. Encourage and be part of team-building activities and collaboration. As Michael Jordan puts it, "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." Building strong team connections can improve resilience.
2. Promote Wellness: Encourage and have work-life balance, navigate the resources for mental health and help your colleagues with, and promote physical well-being. A healthy seller is better equipped to handle stress and perform optimally.
3. Encourage Proactive Problem Solving: Help anyone seeking advice find purpose by encouraging them to tackle problems head-on. This fosters a sense of self-worth and purpose, increasing their resilience.

Seeking Help

Just as with personal resilience, seeking help when needed is crucial in building resilience. If you find your colleagues struggling to cope with stress or perform optimally, consider seeking help from business managers or even mental health professionals who specialize in workplace stress. While you may not be able to control all circumstances, you can foster resilience in your team, enabling them to navigate challenges confidently.