Post COVID Sales Sabbaticals Are Coming

I recently made a prediction in a post on LinkedIn about “Sales Sabbaticals” that garnered a lot of attention.

Here is what it said:

“I’m certain post COVID sabbaticals are going to be extremely common for those who can afford them.

AKA – Top Salespeople who haven’t started a family and sitting on disposable income in quarantine.

This is going to rock the workforce and sales teams all over the world.

For almost a year now – we have been working under higher levels of stress with the inability to travel. This would normally help release the build up of tension.

Some companies have acknowledged this but most are pushing harder than ever.

Each day – employees are relying heavily on WILLPOWER to force themselves to push through their work tasks with the inability to rest and recover effectively.

This means an OVERCORRECTION is coming.

Willpower works like an elastic band – the more we rely on it, the more tension builds up until it breaks or is released.

Then it snaps back PAST the point where it started.

This is why a dieter who is attempting to make big changes to eating habits using willpower doesn’t cheat a little – they cheat A LOT when willpower finally runs out.

1 week and 2 week vacations aren’t going to cut it when travel opens up.

Companies may feel in command of the talent pool now – but what’s going to happen when the top 1-3% of performers walk out and don’t come back?“

Sales Sabbaticals Are Coming

In the weeks following this post – I received countless messages from salespeople lending support to this prediction.

Many of them said they had already left their jobs because they were struggling with their Mental Health. Several others have told me they’re just waiting for key travel destinations to open back-up before informing their companies.

If you’ve spent any time on social media, then you know how potent travel pictures are at creating FOMO. It’s not crazy to think this trend may spread like wild fire #salessabbatical #iquitmyjob.

The Breaking Point For Companies

As anxiety and depression rates continue to rise as a result of the pandemic – sales teams are rapidly approaching their breaking point. If the messages above are any indication, many sales organizations may find themselves in a precarious position. A situation where they have targets to hit and an unforeseen bulk of sales talent leaving unexpectedly.

Now more than ever, sales leaders need to be working cross functionally with HR to get their teams the support they need. This means providing Mental Health and Resilience training that will equip their salespeople with the pads and helmets they need to keep stress levels in sales manageable.

In addition to proper training, now is the perfect time for sales leaders to start experimenting. As a sales community we need to find new ways to lower overall stress levels in our teams. This is unchartered territory for many organizations so I connected with sales mindset coach Kevin Bailey at Dreamfuel to brainstorm some ways to address these challenges.

In the video below we discuss the following topics:

• Recovery metrics, WHOOP and measuring well-being in sales.
• Aligning sales targets to human performance.
• How can you recover in sales?
• The future impact of Mental Health, mindset and resilience in sales.

Lowering The Impact of Sales Sabbaticals

The Sales Health Alliance is currently delivering 5-Week Mental Health and Resilience programs to sales teams in North America. You can access the program outline by clicking the link below. In a few weeks we’ll also be relaunching our online course so to learn when the online course is live – subscribe to the newsletter below.

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About The Author

Jeff Riseley is currently the Founder of the Sales Health Alliance and Mental Health Advocate. With over a decade of sales experience – Jeff understands the importance of Mental Health in achieving peak sales performance.

Jeff combines his sales and Mental Health expertise to improve sales performance through a mix of sales mentorship and mental health best practices. His strategies have helped sales teams improve their sales process, while helping them become more motivated, resilient and better equipped to tackle stressful events within sales.