Hey leaders! Welcome to episode 47!
Are you riding the roller coaster of emotions with the calendar week-to-week and month-to-month when it comes to your numbers?
Today we’re talking about the rollercoaster of emotions that comes with the highs and lows of Direct Sales Compensation. It doesn’t matter what level you’re at in this business there are still highs and lows.
The high paychecks and the low paychecks come with the territory. It’s the nature of the business. Things are likely on a much grander scale for you now than they were when you started out. Yet still, there are fluctuations.
One point of distinction or disclaimer…
Some of you lucky ducks are paid weekly, some twice a month, and almost all of you have some compensation that happens on a monthly basis. I’m referring to the roller coaster of your pay cycle in general, regardless of how long or short, it is. For simplicity, I’m going to refer to things in a monthly cycle. You’ll get the idea.
Everyone has experienced those months that just don’t ever take off. The beginning of the month is crickets. And, no biggie, there’s a lot of month left. And the second week is frightening. It spills over into the third week of the month and there’s a full-on panic. How can we salvage the month?
Scrambling is happening and then there’s sometimes a point where we feel the wind just get sucked out of the sales completely. It’s the feeling of being stranded and alone. And we downshift into this mode of “let’s just get this over with so we can start fresh again next month”.
Even if you’re pushing and working and hanging onto the sliver of a chance that something will happen before close day, or on close day, there’s still this part of us that is just looking for a do-over.
Do you then catch yourself with a big sigh of relief on the first of the month? Especially if the previous month bombed? Do you let out that big sigh of relief on the first and look forward to a new beginning full of hope and possibility? All of this can be quite magnified if the previous month was a big letdown of low production. Right?
And what about the opposite? What about those months that are so unbelievably amazing? Your team rocked it. Never before had the stars aligned in such a way to experience your biggest month yet, until the next biggest month tops that one. The high is contagious. And I know, you think, even just for a brief, unrealistic moment, ugh, if only every month could be like this!
And then the first of the month comes and you let out this big sigh like I wish I didn’t have to start over. That big goose egg, the biggest zero of all zeroes staring you in the face. And yet, there is still all of the hope and possibility of the new beginning you’re embarking on.
Riding the highs of the big, almost unbelievable paychecks while navigating creatively through the painful, low, scary, frightening periods is quite a roller coaster of emotions. Can you relate?!
Isn’t it funny how much weight the first of the month can feel, either way? You’re not alone! Not by a long shot. It’s totally common. It does not have to be your normal.
What a refreshing feeling when we learn to not look at the calendar. Yes, we have to glance at it and we do have to check numbers on the back end. We have to stay on top of where the milestones are, the cut-offs, incentives, and benchmarks not only for ourselves but for some of our team members as well. That’s just smart business.
But we don’t have to get sucked into riding the roller coaster of emotions that comes with the ups and downs of productivity.
There are two key strategies you’ll want to check in with. It’s time to look at your activity and how you go about mentoring.
One: The main focus should be on behaviors and activity vs results.
Two: Mentoring should include getting your team members self-sufficient in looking at their own numbers.
When you focus on behaviors and income-producing activity as well as servant leadership and just plain old taking care of people it doesn’t matter what day of the month it is. You’re in a proactive mindset and leading by serving others.
The exact opposite of a reactive response when things are going south.
And when you have this well-rounded approach the results come. Your focus remains on serving, on behaviors, on activity, and on the things you can influence. It’s when we get panicky and reactive that things feel icky and our focus gets fixed on all of the wrong things and we start hovering over the numbers.
The second strategy is your mentoring. It’s important to have your team members become self-sufficient in checking in with their own personal and team numbers. When you train them how to do this, you’ll need to screen share. You’ll need to do it more than once. You’ll need to do it as many times as needed until your team members can walk you through it.
The difference is that you can do this in your sleep. You know the back end of your site inside and out. You’re always in it. When it’s new to a team member they forget how to navigate where to find what. You’ll want to show them in real-time so they have an opportunity for questions.
Yes, you can record your screen and share a video. You will do this in addition. But I encourage you to spend time with your team on this. It’s important to train them on avoiding the emotional roller coaster of the numbers. It’s important to let them know what they should be looking for, when to look for it and how often.
It’s also important for them to learn from you the first strategy. To focus on their behaviors and activity and less on the results. When the activity is there the results will happen. When you’re training your team on where to find their numbers and when to watch them, this is the ideal and perfect time to also teach them not to live and die by their numbers.
It’s a tool. Like the gas gauge on the car, you have to know where it’s at and how to read it. It’s important, but setting your team culture is more important. Use the time when you’re training on how to find the numbers to also put into context where they fit in.
I hope with these two strategies that you’ll free yourself from the roller coaster of emotions that can come with the first of every month. This is a huge opportunity to set the tone for your team culture. What a refreshing feeling when there’s an even, sustainable rhythm to your business not only for you but also for your team.
This episode is logged in my podcast category “Big Leaps To Future Financial Freedom”. I have several episodes in this category around Wise Wealth. You can find them all at crazybigdreams.biz/podcast. I hope you’ll take a listen to each if you haven’t already.
You can find the full transcript of this episode at crazybigdreams.biz/47.
I’ll see you over on Instagram @yourcrazybigdreams to field your questions.
The best is yet to come. Always.
