It’s no secret we believe that people who are fulfilled across their life show up stronger and stay longer with their companies.  And that requires pausing and thinking intentionally about how we spend our time.

In talking with a number of sales and revenue leaders, we kept hearing similar feedback to our audacious life-first approach to work:  I don’t see how this is going to help my sales team – I need them selling, not pausing.  

It’s true that in sales, like most client-facing roles, your schedule is not always fully your own in that you have to be willing to accommodate client calls, sometimes on the fly, in order to hit your number and do your job effectively.  There’s no arguing that.

But because they are client-facing, pausing makes the MOST sense for sales reps.  

• As a sales leader, do you really want your reps running on auto-pilot, accepting every meeting, ask and demand that comes at them?  
• Is every task they set out to do really meaningful and adding value to the sales cycle or are they just doing it out of habit with little to no impact on their outcomes?
• As your people hurry to get one more thing done on the sales front, they’re letting their life pile up and neglecting their self-care.  Do you want your buyers to be greeted by someone who is utterly exhausted, burnt out and unfulfilled with their life?  
• Is this how your brand is best represented?

Of course not.  Which is exactly why you should WANT your sales reps to take a pause, think about their whole life – work, life and self – and put intentional thought into how and where they are spending their time.  

Because if your people are on top of their lives, it won’t weigh on them in their sales calls.

Because if your people think about what they’re saying yes to, instead of just responding on autopilot, you’ll get more engagement with your buyers.

Because if your people feel healthier, they’ll show up brighter and stronger to your prospects.

Because if your people see things that are wasting their time, you’d want them to have the room to identify those things and either eliminate them or come to you for help.

And the repetition that can come from the sales cycle is all the more reason you should want your sellers to have a life outside of work.  Some people aren’t living for your company’s mission (shocking I know, but it’s true) or for a deeper purpose that feeds their soul.  Some people are simply working so they can live their lives outside the office and live well.  There’s nothing wrong with that, and giving those people a chance to pause and find fulfillment in their greater life might be the one thing that keeps them at their job, performing at their best.