FACT: Having a regular six hours of sleep per night (two hours less than the average eight hours) over 14 days results in the same deterioration in cognitive performance as not sleeping at all for two nights in a row.
Hungry salespeople are often wondering how to boost their sales productivity, and ambitious sales leaders are continually implementing new methods and strategies to shorten the sales cycle.
With new sales and marketing technologies emerging by the day, companies and their sales reps are having to constantly find new ways to keep up.
But before spending an arm and a leg on every automation software and productivity tool going, we recommend taking care of the basics first.
The first foundation that needs some housekeeping is wellbeing.
When you look at talented salespeople, you’ll notice they have qualities like the following:
- Upbeat
- Passionate
- Creative
- Empathetic
- Accountable
- Well-prepared
- Tech-savvy
- Highly engaged
- Goal-oriented
- Relationship-driven
- Hungry to succeed
- Competitive
- Multitasking
- Curious
- Good listener
But there is one factor underpinning all of them: sleep.
Without good quality sleep, none of these traits can truly flourish, leaving a salesperson run down and underperforming.
The truth about sales productivity and sleep
According to research, having a regular six hours of sleep per night (two hours less than the average eight hours) over 14 days results in the same deterioration in cognitive performance as not sleeping at all for two nights in a row.
Worryingly, 70% of adults confess to be underslept, which means 70% of salespeople may not be unlocking their true potential at work due to lack of sleep.
How to boost your sleep quality:
The key to getting a good night’s sleep is taking care of your sleep hygiene.
Here are some rules to live by (well, sleep by), that should help improve your sleep quality:
- Go to bed at roughly the same time every night, and wake up at the same time every morning.
- No napping after 3pm and don’t nap for longer than 20 minutes.
- Stay away from caffeine after midday.
- Avoid nicotine completely.
- Exercise regularly, but not last thing before bed.
- Don’t eat a heavy meal close to bedtime. (light snacking is ok.)
- Make sure your bedroom is comfortable, dark and quiet.
- Turn screens off one hour before bedtime. Read, or listen to music instead.
- If you’re lying awake for ages in bed, stop trying to sleep. Go do something else until you feel sleepy.
Try sticking to these rules from now on, and aim to get 8 hours of sleep each night. Hopefully you will notice yourself falling asleep easier, and staying asleep for longer.
Better quality sleep will ensure your brain is fully energized for the day ahead, allowing you to achieve your goals faster. Stick to our advice and it won’t be long before you see your sales productivity skyrocket.
If you’re a sales leader, send these rules to your entire team and encourage them to get more sleep, not less. For example, never ask team members to get to the office before 9am to make that early meeting, this is not good company culture.
Standardize your sales cycle
Now that your reps are feeling energized and performing at their best, the next foundation you need to take care of is to do with the structure that your sales team follows, in other words, your sales cycle.
The first piece of advice we offer to businesses is to implement a standardized sales cycle, for five reasons:
1. It makes your budget more accurate
2. Disqualifying prospects becomes easier
3. Internal communication becomes more meaningful
4. You can show what really makes your sales machine hum
5. You’ll spend more time on the right things
You can learn more about these in detail here.
Boosting sales productivity isn’t as hard as you might think. Once you’ve covered the basics, making sure your reps are feeling their best, and ensuring they have a clear structure to follow, your revenue will soar.
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If you’d like to learn more about implementing a standardized sales process, and the digital product we’ve built for sales teams like yours, schedule a no obligation call with one of our experts.
