Performing Under Pressure
We all perform under pressure some of the time, whether in sports, sales, recreational activities, or our home lives.
Use the following table to rate how much stress or pressure you feel in the following situation
How Are You performing ?
Rate the amount of stress you are feeling from each of the following sources. Space has been left for you to add other sources, if needed. Then assess how you are doing in handling that particular source of stress – are you handling it adequately or do you need to make some improvements in how you are performing under this pressure ?
Salespeople are under constant pressure to perform; they have prospects to contact, sales quotas to meet, customers to service, reports to file, and families to support. So how can a salesperson succeed despite all the pressure ?
Performing well under pressure is a combined function of understanding your mental and physical
capabilities. An individual’s response to pressure can be positive and uplifiting or negative and debilitating.
Too Little, Too Much, Just Right
Stress come in three quantities : too little, too much, and just right.
Too little
Stress engenders boredom, lethargy, dissatisfaction, frustration, and fatigue. It can be an effort to get out of bed in the morning, let alone go to work and sell.
Stress can lead to overload and bring about a weakened immune system and illness. Symptoms of overload include irrationality, exhaustion, and lowered self esteem. Overload can even contribute to the onset of heart attacks and pneumonia. Too Much stress without relief can literally be deadly.
Just Right
The third type of stress is positive. It is the optimal amount of pressure that you need to perform well in a given situation. Think back to a time when you were in an optimal zone. It may have been during a sales call, while making a presentation, or on a day when you played a sport particularly well. You were thinking clearly without over analyzing. You were creative and spontaneous. Everything was flowing without apparent effort. You made continual progress toward your goal and perhaps exceeded it. You were relaxed, yet alert. Your concentration was focused and your attention was tuned to whatever you were doing.
You were in the zone, and this state was aided by positive stress.
Source of Stress | Amount of Stress | Ability to Handle Stress | |||
Low | Moderate | High | Adequate | Needs Work | |
On the Job | |||||
At Home | |||||
From the Boss | |||||
From Customers | |||||
From Sales goals or quotas | |||||
Recreational Activities | |||||
From Family | |||||
