Companies are implementing this unusual strategy in an effort to allow employees to achieve a better work/life balance and to focus on their mental health.
Society has been flooded with fluffy, playful and virtuous terms and phrases that ultimately fail to ever be objectively defined.
Take 'mental health' for example. Is having a healthy state of mind important? Absolutely. Nobody would argue with that.
But, what is 'mental health'? How does one know that they've achieved it or are even making progress towards it? Are there any real, objective steps that a company can actually take to ensure its employees are improving their mental health?
Does rewarding employees for taking time off of work, work? Does compensating people regardless of their productivity actually help them make measurable 'mental health' improvements?
As far as I can tell, the answer to each question above is a simple 'no'.
If you want to make measurable, incremental progress towards achieving things like 'happiness' and 'mental health', you have to make progress. Progress requires you do things that are uncomfortable and overcome challenges.
Things like anxiety, depression and self-loathing are found during times of inactivity. When you are prioritizing comfort and avoiding the challenges in your life, you fail to create momentum and make progress.
Offering employees UPTO is well intentioned, but I believe it's harmful. It allows (and even rewards) people to not make progress or produce a result.
It's not surprising that the article also shared that the vast majority of employees who have access to UPTO end up working more than employees who don't.
Work = Progress
Progress = Happiness
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Let's face it, nobody is going to be interested in talking to a salesperson who doesn't sound excited or enthusiastic about what they are selling. Advertisers and marketers understand the importance of capturing their viewer's attention in the first 2 seconds - and so should you!
Companies like 5-Hour Energy have made millions of dollars in sales exploiting that '2:30pm feeling' to customers who can relate to experiencing the low energy levels of being at work in the afternoon.
If you're in sales, that '2:30pm feeling' can hit at any time of the day - and when it does - it hards hard.
However, if you want to increase sales, you're going to need to increase your energy. Even when you don't feel like it.
Great salespeople are like great actors. It doesn't really matter how you feel, what's going on or what your day looks like. When it's time to perform, it's time to perform. And as always, the show must go on.
Here's 5 things you do throughout your day to increase your energy and increase your sales.
Tip #1: Stand up. I'd recommend splurging on one of those fancy standing desks (we use Autonomous brand at our office). You'll take up more space, feel bigger, have better blood flow and improved posture.
Tip #2: Act Like You Just Earned $1,000,000. How would you act if you just won the lottery? You'd probably be pretty excited. Act like that and people will be interested in talking with you.
Tip #3: Don't Eat Large Meals At Work. Skip that cheeseburger and fries for lunch. There's literally no reason to slam multiple pieces of pizza during the day. You know how you feel when you've had more than you need to eat.
Tip #4: Stay Hydrated. Nearly 76% of all Americans are chronically dehydrated. Not consuming enough water will leave you feeling lazy and lethargic. Maybe that's why nearly 3/4's of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
Tip #5: Get Enough Sleep. You're in sales. Everyday is game day. Make sure you treat your body to enough sleep so you can feel rested and ready to tackle the day.
Becoming an exceptional salesperson is going to require you to have energy, enthusiasm and the right approach. If you're curious about more ways to crush sales in today's economy, join Stupar Sales Academy and receive instant access to over 12 hours of relevant and modern sales lessons.
]]>Are you tired of busting your ass during the day only to come home and do dishes, take out the trash and fold laundry?
Is there more to life than constantly having to choose between working and... working?
Each moment of your life should boil down to two things: earning money and enjoying yourself.
There's really no need to overcomplicate it like I did for most of my life.
A few years ago, I wrote down a list of things I didn't like doing. Things like cooking, doing laundry, cleaning my house...etc. I realized that not only did I not enjoy doing those mindless activities, spending time doing these things was costing me two of my most valuable assets: time and money.
I spent most of my life pretending that I didn't have enough money to hire a maid or a house cleaner or order freshly prepared meals online to eat throughout the week. I was wrong. Really wrong.
Let's do some quick and easy math.
If you earn $82,000 per year, you're really earning $9.36 every hour throughout the year. And that's before taxes.
Let's pretend that you spend 2 hours every week doing your laundry. That means that you're going to spend roughly 106 hours over the next year cleaning your clothes and folding them.
106 hours of laundry x $9.36/hr = $973.44 of your time doing laundry!
You already know that you can hire a cleaner to do it for you, but haven't hired them yet because you don't want to pay them $15/hr, a rate that exceeds what you make per hour.
However, if you do hire the cleaner to do your laundry, you'll end up paying $1,560/yr and free up 106 hours of your life.
This is 106 hours of being able to choose between doing two things: earn more money or spend more time enjoying your life.
If you're in sales, you should never do anything that keeps you from earning more money or keeps you from enjoying your life.
The truth is that you can easily earn more than what you pay your cleaner to do your laundry if you worked an extra 106 hours this year. Depending on your commission rate and average sales cycle, this could be one of the most ROI positive decisions you make!
So, take a look at all the things that you don't enjoy doing, figure out a way to replace yourself from doing those things and figure out if you'd rather use that time to enjoy your life or earn more money. It's really as simple as that.
Learn more productivity hacks and gain instant, lifetime access to Stupar Sales Academy, an all-in-one virtual training course loaded with over 12 hours of comprehensive and effective sales lessons.
]]>If you just started or are about to start your career in sales, congratulations! You're about to embark on an incredible journey of helping other people solve their problems and get paid for it.
Like most salespeople, you're going to want to earn as much money as you can and maximize every opportunity you have to experience success.
Getting the most out of your sales career means getting the most out of how you start your sales career. Here's my top 10 tips for new salespeople.
Tip #1: Stay away from the low producers. Trust me, nothing in this world will inhibit your chances of becoming successful than hanging around unsuccessful people. Low producers have poor attitudes, make excuses, blame everything on someone else and never take responsibility for their below-average results. As you know, misery loves company - and you should never spend your time with miserable people.
Tip #2: Hang around the top producers. Although this might intimidate you, it's going to be some of the best advice you can take. High achievers, top producers and successful people have developed their skills, have great attitudes, take responsibility and also want to see you win. You've heard that 'success leaves clues', so watch these high producers and learn from them what you can.
Tip #3: Listen to your manager and learn about your product. Obviously, there will a lot to learn about the product or service that you sell. You're going to want to know the ins and outs about your product and how it compares to others like it on the market. Being able to answer customer questions and show off your competitive advantages is going to be important if you plan on earning money as a sales professional.
Tip #4: Don't listen to your manager about how to sell your product. With a few exceptions, most sales managers are just glorified salespeople who performed well for a few months and were promoted to share how they did it. Your manager is likely out of touch with the sales process and unable to effectively teach you the processes within the sales process that makes the difference. Pick up some amazing lessons from Stupar Sales Academy and implement them.
Tip #5: Don't pay attention to your quota. Your monthly or annual sales quota is literally a made up number that has nothing to do with your potential. Instead of chasing after the same results everyone on your team is chasing, why not stretch yourself to see what you can really produce. Doing this might allow you outproduce your entire team like I did at my last sales job (and earn more than everyone else, too).
Tip #6: Know what you're shooting for. You may want to focus less on your income and focus more on being the top producer. You may not care where you end up on the sales board and care more about the amount of money you take home each month. Either way, you're going to want to identify what you want, be specific about it and go after it.
Tip #7: Outproduce everyone. Since you're in sales, it's likely that you're a competitor. Never compare yourself to people that generate average results. Aim for the top and ask yourself what skills you need to develop in order to lock in that top spot. When you outproduce everyone else, you'll put yourself in the best position to earn the most money as well.
Tip #8: Get specific on areas of improvement. No matter what type of results you're getting, you can always do better. Identify areas where you can improve. It could be the number of calls you make, how many appointments you can schedule, how many presentations you do or improving your closing ratio.
Tip #9: Get off of salary as fast as you can. If you're receiving guaranteed compensation from the company you sell for, you're capping the amount of money that you can earn. Ask your company for a commission-only opportunity or find another company that can offer you that type of role. Working a commission-only compensation plan is the only way for you to truly earn as much money as you would like.
Tip #10: Live below your means. Nothing is worse than having to sell because you have to sell. The point of generating an income in sales is to create a lifestyle that you can enjoy - not just continue living the lifestyle you're used to. This is going to require you to save money, make smart investments and decisions financially. Selling actually gets easier when you want to sell and gets harder when you have to sell.
If you're interested in maxing out your sales career, taking your skills to the next level and joining a community of high achievers, check out Stupar Sales Academy.
]]>One of the biggest mistakes that management staff often make when hiring new salespeople is holding new reps accountable to their own expectations. Managers tell their new hires how many calls to make, what their quota is and share a litany of other KPI's and metrics that need to hit in order to fulfill their responsibilities within the organization.
This is a foolish approach because it disconnects the new hire from their intrinsic motivation to pursue their goals. Remember, new salespeople don't join your team initially to pursue the goals of the company, they join your team to pursue their own goals.
When I hire a new sales rep, I spend a bit of time learning what they want to accomplish so that I can reverse engineer their goals and show them what KPI's and metrics they should hit.
This approach has a few benefits:
When asking my new hire how much money he wanted to make in his first year at Stupar Enterprises, he told me he wanted to earn $250,000.
Although this is a lofty goal, it is very realistic and I introduced him to my Income Action Plan to show him what he would need to do in order to achieve this goal.
Watch the full conversation below.
If you're a manager, sales leader or executive, I strongly encourage that you take some time to learn what your people want to accomplish and help them reverse engineer their goals into daily, bite-sized activities.
Yes, 253 calls might seem like a lot, but then again, so is $250,000/yr as a new salesperson. Instead of holding him accountable to my expectations, I have the luxury of holding him accountable to his expectations - which were significantly higher than my expectations.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help implement more effective sales training and skill development practices in your business.
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