I have been in Sales for over 30 years and I absolutely love sales. But the one thing that is a given is that you need to be able to handle the stress of the Ups and Downs of sales. Change is constant in the sales world which means you will have ups and downs throughout the year.

In sales the ups and downs are day to day, month to month, and year to year. Most companies deal with change of some sort every year and that will affect the sales team in many ways. Let’s take a look at some of the Ups and Downs of sales.

Day To Day

Sales can be very challenging. Both on a daily basis and also over the course of the year. And this can be a major factor in determining whether you succeed or fail in sales. Let’s start with the daily ups and downs. Sales is kind of like golf. One day you can’t lose. You nail every presentation and a majority of clients you see are either interested in what you are selling or they move forward and buy. You come back to the office and are feeling great. You tell your boss about your exciting day and go home feeling like a million bucks.

Then comes the next day. And you can’t sink a putt or hit a good shot to save your life. You lose a big account and none of your presentations went well. What happened? Ahhh….the life of a Salesperson. It can literally happen just like I laid it out. But that is sales and you have to be ready for it. You have to be strong willed and not let the bad affect you. If you do, it can have an impact on the rest of your week and not just that one day.

The hardest part is when you start off the day bad and then you need to somehow find it in you to not let that affect you when you meet with clients the rest of day. Let’s say you come in Monday morning only to find out that one of your big accounts wants to cancel. But you won’t be able to reach them until later on in the afternoon. Now you have to go the rest of the day not knowing if you can save it but you have some important clients to meet that day. How do you stay focused until you can visit with your client? It is one of the hardest things that you will have to do. But that is what separates the not so good or just good sales people from the successful ones.

Year To Year

The ups and downs happen year to year as well. There are many factors that will have an impact on your sales and your goals from year to year. You have to be prepared for all of those challenges and be willing to adjust to continue your success.

Here is an example. Let’s say you normally have 3 sales reps in your territory and you usually each sell about $1 million in sales each year. But, for whatever reason one year you lose one of your reps and now there are only 2 of you. Which means you will probably sell more than you normally would. You end up having a great year. But your company eventually hires another rep and now you are back to 3 reps. But that next year things have slowed in your industry and not only are you making less money because of them hiring a 3rd person, but you are also selling less in general that year. That can make a huge impact your income and unfortunately you may not have any control on that.

It may just be the market at that time. I have seen many sales people get so frustrated that they will leave that job thinking that the grass is greener somewhere else. But, of course you know what happened. It was not greener and then his old job rebounded and his position was making record commissions. Be prepared for the long term ups and downs as well as the day to day. If you can find a way to deal with those pressures you will be just fine.

Company Ups and Downs

Another thing you have to be prepared for has nothing to do with how you are doing your job. Companies go through changes every year and not all of them have a positive affect. Many companies change things or go in a different direction without even thinking about the part of the company that makes them profitable. The Sales team. The sales team is arguably the most important part of the company and yet we are usually the last part of the company that they ask for any feedback.

Let me give you a great example. I work for a cable company and my job was to work with Real Estate companies and agents as well as property manager who rented properties. We provided a special offer and all of my agents gave their renters and new home owners that special offer and it worked great for everyone. We used that system for a long time and it was awesome! Everyone was making great money.

Then one year my company hired a new vice president of sales and he had this great idea. So of course we changed our entire sales model and guess what happened. It crashed and burned. Shocking right? But of course after 2 years it was too late to go back to our old system because most of my contacts had moved on. And eventually they ditched that new plan and our entire region had to either leave or move to another department. Over 100 managers gone overnight because of idiots changing something that had worked so well for over 10 years.

My point is this. You need to always be prepared for changes in your company. They are inevitable and how you deal with them will determine your success.

Changes In Your Life

Sales can be very challenging on many different levels. Especially outside sales. I have written a great article on Outside Sales and you can find it here. It takes hard work and commitment and sometimes your schedule is all over the place. When I got divorced I had 2 young daughters and I was determined to spend as much time as I possibly could. I refused to be a part-time Dad. But I was in Outside Sales and my schedule was crazy.

The next 3 years were some of the most stressful years of my life. I was either working or with my girls and wore myself down both physically and mentally. But I made a commitment to my daughters and because of that I have a great relationship with them today.

Changes in your life can really affect your sales career. And more times than not in a negative way. The way you handle the stress of the change and how you are able to handle the Ups and Downs of sales will determine the amount of success you have in sales. I have seen many people struggle with this type of stress and not make it in sales. But I have also seen people change for the better and really get focused on what they need to do to be successful.

People have big changes in their life almost every year. The key is being able to handle those changes while being able to keep a positive attitude in your job. In Sales, it takes a positive attitude to be successful and sometimes life can make that hard. You need to find a way to keep your positive attitude to help you with your success.