Sales pressure can be overwhelming. And staying cool, and productive, is challenging. While it’s impossible to completely avoid pressure, you can manage your response. 

It’s also important to understand that responses like anxiety are completely normal. As LaRae Quy explains for SmartBrief, stress triggers our body to react, affecting hormones and brain response. 

“These hormones can prepare us for action, but they can also make it difficult for our bodies to calm down.”

But she points out that research shows the people who perform under pressure also experience these reactions. But they are able to manage their emotions and avoid outbursts and other negative effects. While it may not come easy at first, the effort will be worth it. 

How to keep calm under sales pressure

Quy first recommends avoiding traditional advice of embracing toughness. This emphasis on battle-​ready demeanor and attitude is misguided. Putting on an air of a hardened “tough guy” doesn’t guarantee you too will blow through roadblocks. 

“We’re duped into thinking that if we talk and act tough enough, we can bluster our way through anything.”

Instead, she encourages a different kind of toughness: mental toughness. She defines it as follows:

“It is managing your thoughts, words and behavior in ways that will set you up for success.”

Instead of trying to bulldoze your way through struggles, take a different approach. Embracing an open-​minded, flexible mindset will make it easier to perform under pressure. It will give you the ability to be more understanding of your own emotions–and others. 

Give yourself grace when you’re feeling pressured instead of telling yourself to “toughen up.” You’ll find that you can more easily get a handle on the stress instead of simply ignoring it. 

“Understanding and managing your emotions is critical to remaining calm and cool under pressure,” Quy adds. 

Have a prioritization strategy

When it feels like the sales pressure is mounting, it’s even easier to get lost in the to-​do lists. Feeling overwhelmed is common, and it can be hard to juggle everything. This is where the mental toughness you cultivated can help.

You’ll first be able to calm yourself which is required to think clearly. Then, you must prioritize. 

“Prioritizing tasks is crucial for effective stress management,” writes Whitney Owen. 

“Prioritization allows us to focus our time and energy on our most important and urgent tasks first…”

It’s tempting, when overwhelmed, to try to tackle everything at once. All this does is add to the chaos. Once you’ve identified that you’re feeling pressured and calmed your thoughts, it’s time to focus. 

Take time to identify what needs done and start prioritizing. There are many approaches to prioritization; identify which one best fits your current situation. Stick to the plan, tackling the tasks that you’ve deemed the most important.

Not sure which approach to use? Both Quy and Owen recommend the Eisenhower Matrix. This strategy involves assigning tasks to one of four categories: 

• Most urgent and most important tasks
• Most urgent and least important tasks
• The least urgent and most important tasks
• Least urgent and least important tasks

Focusing on urgency and importance. Then you can ensure that even under sales pressure, you clearly tackle the most vital efforts first. 

Look beyond work

These tips focus on how sellers perform at work to succeed under sales pressure. But another key element is looking beyond your daily work behaviors. As SalesFuel shares, behaviors outside the workday also impact the ability to handle pressure. 

“Sales habits of fellow salespeople that help manage stress and nurture a healthy mindset. Sellers may not realize that healthy habits outside of work can have a major impact on their sales success."

“The more you can nurture yourself in other ways, the healthier, and inevitably, successful you will be.”

Take a look at these tips, too, to ensure you have a well-​rounded approach to managing sales pressure. Being thoughtful about behaviors in and outside of work ensures you expertly perform no matter the pressure.

Photo by Luis Villasmil