I hate business travel and the complications that come with it: inevitable flight delays & cancellations, noisy hotel rooms promising sleepless nights, bad food at high prices and anything that has to do with flying.
Even when I’m out of town for just one night I miss my wife, my pets, my bed, my house and even my neighborhood.
For me, business travel is the stuff of nightmares.
So last month, when I was contacted by a startup CEO who wanted help doubling the size of his salesforce, my nightmares began again. After we discussed his specific goals and how I could help, he said,
“Let’s do this! I’ll call you in a few weeks and we’ll schedule a date for you to fly up here and spend time with with us onsite!”
Over the few days, I thought about how much I detest traveling. I tossed and turned for a few nights recalling some of my worst travel experiences. I was preparing to book my fight (and complaining bitterly to my wife) when suddenly it occurred to me:
Wait – I’m the boss! If I can’t make a decision not to travel for business now, when will I ever be able to? I’m not going to do it anymore. If he absolutely must have someone onsite, I’ll just pass.
I called the CEO, explained the situation and his response was, “Ok…I respect you for taking that position. Let’s figure out a way you can help us remotely.”
And like that, I implemented the “No travel policy” for Inside Sales Dude.
As sales leaders, we give 150% to hit the number, drive the business and support our teams.
But when it comes to taking care of personal matters, spending time with our loved ones, or even recognizing we’re running on autopilot doing things we dislike or aren’t good at, we’re often so business focused, that we forget to pause and enjoy some of the benefits of being in charge.
Like I almost did before remembering I’m the boss.
If you’re the boss, try to remember this and make some decisions for your benefit*. Maybe you can leave early on Friday afternoons. Or take a long lunch to workout. Or shift your schedule so you can drop the kids off at school every morning. Or meet your wife for lunch once a week.
I’ve done all of these at various times throughout my career. It’s never caused a problem. If anything, it enabled me to become an even more productive sales leader.
*Good sales leaders do this all the time for their teams all the time and rarely get fired.
Liked this article? I send one out in my newsletter every few weeks, covering lessons learned in solving sales problems. Don’t miss the next one: [mc4wp_form id=”1491″]