Sales Down- Stress up?
So which came first? Did your stress cause a drop in your sales or did the drop in your sales cause your stress? Kind of a chicken and egg thing isn’t it? If your sales numbers are down I can guarantee that you are going to feel the effects of stress. Likewise if you are dealing with a lot of stress in your life it most likely will affect you sales.
Now I know a lot of you will tell me that you work better under stress. And that may be true up to a point. Have you ever heard of the Yerkes Dobson Law? Two physiologists in the early 1900’s proved the theory that stress is beneficial up to a point. It pushes you further to make that extra call, try one more time or talk to one more person.
The Yerkes Dobson Law is described as a bell shaped curve. Going up one side stress seems to push you and give you that edge. At the top of the curve is where salespeople report really being in the game. The sales seem to come easier and better than ever before. You are really on a roll. It’s as if you can’t fail. And then something happens and your sales begin to slow down maybe even stop all together.
Chances are you will come up with plenty of excuses. The economy seems to be a favorite. The weather, holidays, nobody is buying, budgets are tight and many others will be used but the truth is that you have slid down the backside of the curve.
This is where stress begins to work against you. Instead of pushing you forward it seems to pull you back. Now if you are a stress resilient person you pay attention to the signals that you are beginning to slide. You know how your body is reacting and you back off when the stress is too much. You go for a jog, walk the dog, take off a few hours and play with your kids, anything that will relieve the stress and get you back in the game.
What you need to realize is that stress comes from many sources. Any changes in your life are going to create stress as your body is trying to find that point of balance. You know the top of the curve. It’s where we want to stay isn’t it?
Learning a few stress management techniques and practicing them regularly can help you stay on top. So take a course, read a book, listen to an MP3 or surf the web to find ways to reduce your stress. There are hundreds of techniques from breathing to meditation to guided imagery that you can explore. The first key is to discover where your stress originates, the source of your stress.
A few techniques that I find helpful:
Jumpstart your day with Intention- Where do you want to go? What do you want to achieve and most importantly how to you want to feel? If you know what you want to experience it will be easier to notice when you get off track. Becoming aware that you are not at the top of the curve will help you take measures to ensure you get back.
Focus on what’s working- So many times we beat ourselves up over what isn’t going right. We complain that nobody is buying what we have to offer because…yada..yada…yada , I could go on forever with the excuses we create. Try staying focused on what is going right. .Mr. Jones called me back. I successfully made X number of calls today. The weather is good. Anything that will point your mind in the direction you want it to go.
Smile- It will actually change the chemicals in your brain to help you become happier. Don’t feel like smiling? Do it anyway. People who smile a lot are naturally more attractive to others.
So whether the stress caused the slump in your sales or the other way around it is important for your business that you keep your stress in check and develop stress resiliency. | 
