Starting a sales job is tough. Learning to sell the product and make lots of money is tough. What they don’t tell you is how to stay in a sales role, especially when the excitement from being a beginner is all gone.

I suppose this happens with any job, but in sales you need to stay as excited as you were when you first started the job, or your success in the role is going to start falling gradually, like mine has. You may not notice it at first, but a bad tone of voice and lack of excitement could be costing you some serious $$$. That is what I have learned after being in this position for 1 year and 7 months.

Research says that the longest people stay in a sales role is an average of 2 years. Only two! Salespeople have personality types that require mental stimulation. If we get bored with what we are selling.. then we aren’t selling. Sometimes I find myself doing things half ass and letting things slip because I am simply too tired or have a lack of motivation to do a task.

Being in sales and staying in sales is like being in a relationship. You’re going to have your ups and downs, no matter what month or quarter it is. You also have to keep working at it. Its so easy to pick up on bad habits and get lazier the longer you’ve been employed. Just like being in a relationship, the lustful excitement eventually fades and it takes a lot of work to maintain it. Some days I love it, and some days I can’t stand it! But just because I had a bad day, doesn’t mean I am going to give up on the whole “relationship.”

When it comes down to the wire, the most important thing about my job is…. me. I need to keep taking care of myself so that I have enough sleep and nourishment to accomplish my day-to-day activities. When I got too mentally involved with this job, I started to forget to eat and get enough sleep, and I ran my health into the ground. This caused me to look at my job in a different light. I personally need to make sure I do my job but still set barriers for myself about how hard I am working each day.

I’ve learned a lot about myself while in this position, and I am going to keep learning. In conclusion, I need to make sure I am maintaining my relationship with work by continuing to have the desire to grow, while also taking care of myself. After all, only happy people make sales.