Throughout my career, whilst I have worked for various organisations, the majority have insisted on staff having at least one 10-day break (2 weeks) each year.
A policy that earlier on in my sales career I never really understood. However, now I completely get it. There is a raft of reasons why it is good for the company you work for to insist on these annual breaks but as a sales person, it is even more important.
Here at 3E we are in a high growth phase of our business. Whilst we have some real points of differentiation in our market, the reality is our reputation is built on the service we provide to both our partners and clients. And that is what sales within our industry is actually about. It is about the service we provide. We have very few one-off sales. We target partners and clients that we can build a long term relationship with, which will grow over time where both parties experience the value of trust.
I love being a sales person. I wear the badge with pride. When you are having a good sales day/week/month you are full of energy. I encourage any sales person out there to ride the wave when they are up. If you have a great call, get right onto the next one. Momentum can be a powerful thing.
However, there are those days where you have a couple of knock backs and the energy starts to dwindle. To maintain the enthusiasm and to continue to provide the level of service your partners and or client expect from you, you need to have the energy to pick yourself back up and go again.
And that brings me back to the start of the blog. If you are the type of person that maybe has one break a year over the Christmas period, you will start to feel fatigued towards the middle of the year.
Your energy levels will start to dwindle and this has an impact with your clients. They will not be getting the very best you have to offer as your energy levels will simply not be there.
Even if you can remain upbeat with your clients, it may start to have an impact with the people within your business who assist you in providing that exceptional level of service. They will start to notice and feel that you are not quite at your best.
So as we near the middle of the year, I encourage you to plan a break. It does not need to be for the full 10 days, as it may be more appropriate within your business that you do take that extended break at Christmas time.
But lock in a long weekend. Add an additional day to a public long weekend.
It’s important to take a break, no matter your role. There are always excuses why you can’t but the people you work with on a day to day basis, whether internal or external, deserve you at your best. And just to state the obvious, you at your best is also when you are your happiest.
Author – Craig Birchall – It’s about the people