The Wolf of Sales Street: Beating Burnout in Sales!

How do you imagine high-performing sales professionals? Men & women who always ooze confidence as they walk in...

Who always have a track record of smashing sales targets?

Their charisma setting off metaphorical fireworks...

Just like Jordan Belfort and his team at Stratton Oakmont, Inc. from the “Wolf of the Wall Street”?

Behind the razzmatazz lies an underbelly not many are aware of.

Beyond the smashing quarterly of sales targets, lies a constant companion: Anxiety.

A sales career is just like life - comes with its own share of highs & lows. Looking back at my own career, I can humbly accept and acknowledge my own demon - Burnout.

A B2B study found that a whopping 67% of workers in business development and sales were close to experiencing burnout because of long working hours, a dense workload, and feeling required to always “be on.”

That’s a huge number!?

And when I researched deeper into this, I found that SDRs have one of the highest burnout rates in sales—the average lifetime is just 15 months. I often reflect on the movie “Wolf of The Wall Street”, where it beautifully shows the impact of mounting pressure & soaring expectations that results in cracks within the team. A once vibrant energy now wanes, replaced by exhaustion and disillusionment (and eventually criminal intent). Belfort’s material incentivization culture falters…spectacularly!!!

Simply said - Sales burnout is when the constant pressure and demands of the job wear you down, leaving you feeling exhausted, unmotivated, and overwhelmed. Almost every sales peer, sales professional that I have either worked with or managed or been managed by, have acknowledged this universal sales truth.

Surprisingly, I found that Sales burnout is often overlooked by most sales blogs. I found this peculiar especially in the post-COVID era, where companies struggle to attract and retain top sales talent.?

For B2B startup founders who are battling the Goliaths for Sales talent, acknowledging, prioritising and possibly addressing sales burnout could be their biggest value proposition for Talent acquisition. Founders could cultivate a more positive and supportive work environment, leading to higher employee morale, increased retention of top sales talent, and ultimately, greater success in achieving business goals.

Why? An interesting stat to nudge you in this direction:

It takes an avg. of 189 days to replace a high-performing sales rep from a productivity standpoint!

What causes sales burnout in B2B start-ups??

Sales burnout doesn’t happen overnight. B2B startup founders who are aware of these common causes could detect issues early and mitigate burnout quicker.

Unsustainable Workload: Startups often grapple with heavy workloads, with employees frequently taking on more responsibilities than they can handle. This influx of tasks can lead to increased stress levels, particularly when employees and founders are logging 50-100 hours per week.

Lack of Management Experience: Many startup founders and sales leaders may lack formal training in management, a gap that can contribute to organisational challenges. Without proper guidance, issues like premature promotions and inadequate leadership can arise, potentially hindering employee morale and productivity.

Inefficient Resource Management: Sales representatives in startup environments may find themselves bogged down by administrative tasks, leaving them with limited time to focus on core activities like selling and nurturing customer relationships. When nearly two-thirds of a salesperson's time is consumed by non-sales activities, burnout becomes a real risk, impacting both individual performance and organisational success.

The Implications of Sales Burnout

When a sales representative experiences burnout, the repercussions extend beyond personal distress, it affects the entire organization profoundly. Sales burnout exacts a toll on both individual well-being and company performance. The consequences are multifaceted: firstly, it directly undermines revenue generation as salespersons falter in their ability to operate at optimal levels, costing companies an estimated $2,469 per representative annually. Moreover, the heightened attrition rates among sales teams, with approximately one-third projected to depart in 2024, pose a significant financial strain. Perhaps most detrimental is the erosion of customer relationships stemming from burnt-out employees' inability to deliver the high-quality service demanded by modern consumers, with 97% emphasising the pivotal role of customer service in brand loyalty.?

Creating the RIGHT Sales Culture

While there is often a fast-paced and competitive environment in sales, there is also a huge misunderstanding about high-performing sales teams: To be successful, a team needs to be "Aggressive and Cut Throat".

But the truth is, the right sales culture is collaborative, cultivates a growth mindset, promotes continuous learning and personal development.?

How can B2B Start-up founders help reps deal with sales burnout??

• Focus on Coaching & Mentoring: 65% of sales reps who often or always hit goals attribute it to support from sales leadership. Despite the advantages of sales coaching, research from Seismic indicates that most managers only devote 5% of their time to coaching the staff. Have regular 1:1 coaching sessions with your reps. Allow salespeople to voice frustrations, ask questions, and receive feedback about current clients and projects. Founders and leaders should use these meetings to listen to employees, identify signs of burnout and brainstorm solutions to their concerns. One of the myths among leaders is that coaching is only for professionals struggling with targets. But the truth is include your top performers too in coaching – they’re most susceptible to burnout.?

• Invest in technology to overcome resource constraints: Only 39% of a sales rep’s time is spent selling or interacting with prospects and customers. Empower your team with the right technologies. Your team wants to spend less time on non-revenue generating tasks and more time selling. Find the right tech to automate tedious tasks so your reps can get back to closing deals. Closing deals also depends on sales enablement resources and tools. To prepare your team to work effectively and efficiently, provide them with productivity tools that are updated and easy to use. Plus, tool training can help relieve some of the everyday stress and confusion felt by your team members.

• Set Specific & Realistic Goals: The leading contributor to burnout is the pressure to fulfil unrealistic sales targets. tension that comes with trying to fulfil impossible targets. 90% of the professionals we surveyed feel it’s important their goals and objectives are clearly communicated to them on a regular basis. By helping the team set very specific goals (call 200 prospects, close 2 deals, take feature X into review by the 30th) you give them the ability to see their own progress, this helps them stay motivated as they near the finish line.

Selling post-covid has changed sales forever - it is more complex and demanding. Sales burnout is a problem in every industry and trade, especially in startups. The departure of a valuable resource due to burnout will be profoundly felt, more now than ever. Losing a skilled team member not only disrupts workflow but also diminishes the collective expertise and momentum crucial for growth. Moreover, the investment of time and resources in nurturing and developing talent makes their loss particularly painful.?

As startups operate under tight constraints and fierce competition, the absence of a key player can significantly impede progress, highlighting the critical need to prioritise the well-being of sales professionals to safeguard against such losses. The only way startups can avoid losing their best sales reps, is for the Founders to step up.

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At Sales Panther, we're dedicated to empowering startups through our proprietary GTM Sandbox, focusing particularly on the vital People element of GTM execution. Our expertise extends to new hire onboarding, ongoing sales coaching and performance management, guiding startups through every stage of their journey and helping them unlock their full potential.?