Athletes fear the yips, or the sudden loss of ability in their sport. “The monster,” as it’s dubbed in baseball, doesn’t discriminate between high-level veterans or minor league hobbyists. Though it has physiological roots in anxiety and muscle overuse, its place in sports mythology is enshrined in superstition — an unexplainable slump that can derail careers. To overcome the dreaded yips, many athletes work with sports therapists to develop mental strategies or seek out medical remedies.
Above all, beating the yips starts with recognizing that it’s a treatable condition.
For the client-facing sales department at tech companies, sales slumps are also a natural aspect of a long-tenured career in the role, and recognizing its signs, symptoms and solutions is part of the job. According to sales engagement platform SoPro, two-thirds of B2B businesses experience summer sales slumps every year. Recognizing that it’s normal can make it easier to face repeated challenges of rejection.
“When you’re in a slump, keep going!” said A.J. Kamish, account executive at TaskRay. “Not to say you never self-reflect or adjust your tactics slightly, but you’re not going to get on base without taking another at-bat.”
Keeping a resilient attitude is crucial, but so is noting the decrease in performance metrics as the symptom of a downturn. For Andrew Vojslavek, Teamwork’s director of sales, it started with a month of discovery calls that did not progress. Soon, his motivations disappeared altogether. “For sellers experiencing an activity-related slump, you likely notice your own output on the metrics dashboards is lower than normal,” he said. “You lack the competitive fire to lead the team in key KPIs.”
Seeking help from those that have found success — whether through shadowing a call or asking for advice — can be the mental reset needed for inspiration. When asked how she would approach team members in a slump, Buffy Cherry, Suited Connector’s account manager, said it’s about feedback from both customers and colleagues. “I’d encourage them to take a collaborative approach with other team members to help identify what is working for them and gain tips to overcome objections.”
There is often more than one way of breaking through the sales yips. To see how sales members rebounded after failure, Built In Colorado sat down with employees at three tech companies with personal accounts of slumps — and how they came out stronger for it.
Teamwork is a team and project management solution for companies that work in client services. The company’s all-in-one platform, complete with functions to track, manage and invoice projects, touts a low learning curve and comprehensive tool integrations. As an enterprise software, Teamwork relies on sales to expand into markets and drive product adoption, which makes slumps an important factor of employee wellness to address. “Breaking an activity slump starts with making a conscious decision to improve,” said Andrew Vojslavek, director of sales.
As a sales person, how do you know when you’re in the midst of a sales slump?
Sales slumps are the real deal. From my experiences, there are really two kinds of sales slumps that impact performance.
The first is sales execution. I remember a rough patch of sales conversations a few years ago. It was a month of discovery calls that did not progress to the next step with the economic buyer. After the first two weeks, I noticed my interest in pre-call research & planning dissipated. I lacked confidence and my sales execution was poor. I wasn’t asking implication questions during discovery, which kept the prospect from seeing the real cost of their situation.
The second sales slump is activity related — or the lack thereof. We all have days when we don’t feel right to make calls. This puts me in a negative place and I stopped doing what I needed to be successful. So the 40 calls I needed to make turned into 80 for the next day, then 120. Eventually, all of the calls I didn’t make compounded into a lack of funnel movement, meaning no revenue.
For sellers experiencing an activity-related slump, you likely notice your own output on the metrics dashboards is lower than normal. You lack the competitive fire to lead the team in key KPIs.
How did you ultimately recover from that slump?
In my sales execution slump, I was struggling to help our potential champions see the value of bringing the economic buyer into the sales process. My solution was to change my worldview, and I asked for coaching.
Teamwork’s Coaching Suggestions
- Review your own sales calls and ask others to as well
- Listen to and learn from the top reps’ sales calls
- Focus on the fundamentals
At that time I was reading Shari Levitin’s Heart and Sell. One suggestion was to do what you are most afraid of first thing in your day. So, with a friend, I made cold calling our top 10 accounts a daily game; in short order, we smashed our targets.
A few of the practices we see to break activity slumps regardless if you work remote or in the office include gamification — making an activity you don’t want to do or you’re behind on a game — and accountability buddy, which involves finding a colleague you enjoy working with and focusing on your KPIs.
If a salesperson notices that a colleague is currently experiencing a sales slump, what role — if any — can they play in helping them get back on track?
If you have been in sales for a year, you’ve experienced some sort of sales slump. When you see a colleague who may be in a slump we have a few tips for you.
First, lead with empathy. Grab time with your colleague, and grab a coffee virtually or in person. See how your colleague is doing, offer to do some virtual calling sessions together or run a call. Ask open-ended questions about your colleague’s work and personal life. Perhaps there is something happening that you and the team cannot see. Without proper discovery, how can we help solve a problem? Offer to do a power hour or calling session with them to get into their trench and support them.
Secondly, be open-minded about what help looks like. You could be an accountability buddy for activity, sales coach, sales hype person or even just a friend in real life. Remind them that they were successful in the past, which means they will be successful again. Don’t let “head trash” or negative thinking cloud a colleague’s efforts to regain their confidence.
Finally, just ask them how you can help.
TaskRay is a post-sale solution that focuses on the customer experience once the opportunity is marked Closed Won. The company wants to make the transition from sales to customer success frictionless, with implementations and processes built on a Salesforce-native platform. While employees work to ensure success for clients after closing a sale, the team recognizes that its success comes from being able to overcome sales slumps of its own. “At TaskRay, we have flexible remote schedules, flex PTO and every other Friday off, so we make it a habit of disconnecting periodically to recharge,” said Account Executive A.J. Kamish.
As a sales person, how do you know when you’re in the midst of a sales slump?
The upside of being in a sales slump is that it’s usually pretty obvious. The downside is that you’re, well, in a slump. It’s usually marked by too much free time on the calendar, an obvious indication of an inactive or thin pipeline. But that’s not always the case. If you have an acceptable pipeline, but not enough going on to keep you busy, then that’s a sign the slump is on the horizon or worse, already above your head. If you’re busy with productive meetings and preparations, then so far so good, but it’s probably wise to look closer.
The most reliable indicator is your numbers. Depending on a whole suite of factors about the products you sell, like the typical sales cycle length and reliance on unpredictable large deals vs consistent smaller deals, at a certain point of not hitting your quota — that’s a red flag. When I see this red flag I start to look around at my teammates. Are they missing numbers too? Is this slump a personal one or is it something bigger than me? If it’s personal — I’m in a slump. If it’s affecting my whole team, then maybe we’re in a slump. There are still actions to take, but they will depend a lot on what the situation really is.
How did you ultimately recover from that slump?
You’ve had success before and you’ll have success again. Sometimes it’s helpful to take a day or two to clear your mind and do something physically and mentally rewarding for yourself away from work. Then you come back with a renewed vigor and bring that energy into your calls, meetings and even email.
Slumps happen to all of us, but having a forum like this allows us to overcome them as a team instead of feeling like we are on an island.”
If a salesperson notices that a colleague is currently experiencing a sales slump, what role — if any — can they play in helping them get back on track?
On our team, we meet regularly to discuss challenging deals and unique scenarios. It’s a great opportunity to talk through our deal, get feedback and bounce fresh ideas off each other. This meeting is really valuable to me all the time, but particularly when I’m in a slump because the team coaches one another on the challenges we are experiencing and how other members of the team have dealt with similar challenges. Slumps happen to all of us, but having a forum like this allows us to overcome them as a team instead of feeling like we are on an island.
Suited Connector is a data-solutions and marketing technology platform that helps businesses grow and retain their customer base across various services. For brands, the company offers an accessible way to gain market share. For consumers, there’s the ease of access to both information and service providers. For Suited Connector’s employees, working with clients offers its own challenges — including sales slumps. Buffy Cherry, manager of account management, has ways to encourage team members experiencing such lows. “I would encourage them to set regular goals focused on helping them achieve success.”
As a sales person, how do you know when you’re in the midst of a sales slump?
I know when I am in a sales slump when I feel discouraged and lose motivation after I’ve invested time and effort into proposals only to have them get rejected. This happens now and again, but this is a fast-paced industry and slumps are short-lived. For example, we’ve recently been working on launching a new vertical with our call center, but it’s been challenging identifying companies that can provide a quick approval. And sometimes after weeks of nurturing and follow ups, the answer returned is no. This can be very discouraging.
How did you ultimately recover from that slump?
I remind myself that we are selling value to our customers and that our goal is to grow their business as we grow ours. When I remind myself that they are saying no because they do not have enough information, it empowers me to keep moving forward.
This is a fast-paced industry and slumps are short-lived.”
If a salesperson notices that a colleague is currently experiencing a sales slump, what role — if any — can they play in helping them get back on track?
Listen and try to understand the challenges they’re having. I would also suggest they ask for feedback from their customers that resulted in both wins and losses, so they can understand what drove those outcomes and how they can apply it to future opportunities.
