I was listening to the car radio the other day and up popped a song from the Sixties – ‘Make it easy on yourself’ by the Walker Brothers. This could be a great motto for today’s workforce. We all need to make life easier for ourselves and our teams, so we can do what we do best whilst eliminating as much stress as possible.

“38% of salespeople say stress has affected their ability to work.” (7 Effective Ways to Deal With Unrelenting Sales Stress, G2)

So what’s the secret of a healthier yet productive working life for you and your teams?

An emphasis on wellness

The heart of the matter is to bring the concept of wellness into every aspect of working life. This won’t only help to reduce stress and anxiety but could also boost performance levels. Sales teams need to be energised but without being so pressurised that they’re stressed out. A calm and measured approach to working is more likely to produce better results and fewer mistakes than a stressful lifestyle when everyone is permanently on edge.

Individuals often struggle to introduce wellness into their daily work patterns. However, this shouldn’t be the case – ultimately, wellness needs to become part of the corporate culture. It can have a positive impact in many areas, including improving engagement, retention and productivity, and reducing employee absences.

The different elements of wellness

There are several aspects to wellness at work. The most obvious is physical wellness – maintaining a healthy body through exercise, healthy eating, sleep etc., and seeking care when needed. Spiritual wellness involves knowing which resources to use to cope with everyday issues. Occupational wellness is about enjoying your work and feeling your contribution is appreciated. This leads to greater personal satisfaction and enrichment and helps employees to feel more engaged with their work.

Emotional wellness is about understanding your feelings and coping with stress. It includes self-care, relaxation, stress reduction and the ability to learn and grow from experiences. Finally, environmental wellness involves having a lifestyle that respects your surroundings.

Okay, that’s all very well, but how can you achieve this within a busy sales environment?

Integrating wellness into your lifestyle and culture

There are various tools and resources that can help to create a more wellness-orientated working environment.

Personal awareness. Both you and your teams can benefit from discussing specific activities and situations that generate stress. Only then can you start to explore ways of reducing that stress – which might include, for example, addressing issues with your employer or attending training courses.

Personal responsibility. All employees need to take responsibility for their own wellness. This might include getting sufficient sleep; not mulling over work issues in your leisure time; having hobbies outside work; taking regular breaks at work or from work; and asking for feedback from failed sales without taking rejection personally.

Digital technology. Technology should ultimately make life easier for you. Typical tools include the latest AI solutions; chatbots to support your sales efforts; wearables that collect data that could identify potential stress points; cognitive-behavioural therapy apps; and various analytical resources.

Work boundaries. The 2022 State of Mental Health in Sales report states that one key to a healthy working environment is having clear boundaries. Employees who feel they have strong boundaries are almost five times more likely to rate their mental health as good. And this leads to better results, with 62% rating their performance as excellent or very good when they have clear work boundaries.

Better people lead to better sales

A greater corporate emphasis on wellness will lead to healthier, more engaged employees. And greater engagement leads to increased job satisfaction, higher productivity and higher retention levels.

At SalesEASE, our goal is to make things easier for sales and marketing personnel, by eliminating the hassle and removing the barriers that stop you from doing what you need to do. Our platform gives you access to content, assets and context – so you can get what you want more rapidly. We’ll help you to reduce complexity and break down silos, which in turn will help employee wellbeing and productivity.

So why not get in touch with us today – and you could soon discover that you’re leading a healthier and more productive working life.