Research library
The evidence, in plain English.
Everything here is peer-reviewed work on what this job does to the people who do it. Nothing is invented. Every claim carries its citation.
The Constant Pressure of the Number
“Every quarter resets to zero.”
In plain English
Research on goal setting shows that overly narrow, aggressive goals can tunnel your focus, push risky behavior and ethical shortcuts, and drain the intrinsic motivation that made you good in the first place.
Try this
Pair every outcome goal with one process goal you fully control.
Ordóñez, L. D., Schweitzer, M. E., Galinsky, A. D., & Bazerman, M. H. (2009). Goals gone wild: The systematic side effects of overprescribing goal setting. Academy of Management Perspectives, 23(1), 6–16.
Stress That Follows You Home
“I'm at dinner but I'm still on the deal.”
In plain English
Among salespeople, role conflict and role ambiguity are linked to work–family conflict and emotional exhaustion, which in turn are linked to lower job satisfaction.
Try this
Define a daily "shutdown ritual" that closes the workday on purpose.
Boles, J. S., Johnston, M. W., & Hair, J. F. (1997). Role stress, work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion: Inter-relationships and effects on some work-related consequences. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 17(1), 17–28.
Boles, J. S., Howard, W. G., & Donofrio, H. H. (2001). An investigation into the inter-relationships of work-family conflict, family-work conflict and work satisfaction. Journal of Managerial Issues, 13(3), 376–390.
Burnout
“I used to love this. Now I just get through it.”
In plain English
Burnout isn't weakness. It's a pattern of exhaustion, cynicism, and a shrinking sense of accomplishment, driven largely by mismatches between you and your job in areas like workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values.
Try this
Identify which of those six areas is most out of balance for you right now.
Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103–111.
Lewin, J. E., & Sager, J. K. (2007). A process model of burnout among salespeople: Some new thoughts. Journal of Business Research, 60(12), 1216–1224.
The Win-or-Die Culture
“You're only as good as your last quarter.”
In plain English
Newly hired salespeople who experience early failure can slide into learned helplessness, and leadership style plays a meaningful role in whether that happens.
Try this
Separate "I failed at this deal" from "I am failing at this career."
Boichuk, J. P., Bolander, W., Hall, Z. R., Ahearne, M., Zahn, W. J., & Nieves, M. (2014). Learned helplessness among newly hired salespeople and the influence of leadership. Journal of Marketing, 78(1), 95–111.
Rejection & How You Explain It
“Another no. Maybe I'm just not good at this.”
In plain English
In a classic study of life insurance agents, those with an optimistic explanatory style (seeing setbacks as temporary and specific) sold more and were less likely to quit. How salespeople explain their wins and losses also shapes what they do next.
Try this
After a loss, write down one specific, changeable cause.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Schulman, P. (1986). Explanatory style as a predictor of productivity and quitting among life insurance sales agents. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(4), 832–838.
Dixon, A. L., Spiro, R. L., & Jamil, M. (2001). Successful and unsuccessful sales calls: Measuring salesperson attributions and behavioral intentions. Journal of Marketing, 65(3), 64–78.
Fear of the Call
“I rehearse the call ten times and still dread it.”
In plain English
Sales call anxiety, rooted in fear of being judged, is common, measurable, and linked to self-protective behaviors that hurt performance. It can be managed with specific coping strategies.
Try this
Shift attention from "how am I coming across" to "what does this buyer need."
Verbeke, W., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2000). Sales call anxiety: Exploring what it means when fear rules a sales encounter. Journal of Marketing, 64(3), 88–101.
Belschak, F., Verbeke, W., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2006). Coping with sales call anxiety: The role of sale perseverance and task concentration strategies. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 34(3), 403–418.
Confusion: Not Knowing What "Good" Looks Like
“Every manager wants something different.”
In plain English
A large meta-analysis found role ambiguity (unclear expectations) among the strongest predictors of sales performance, alongside selling knowledge, adaptiveness, cognitive aptitude, and work engagement.
Try this
Ask your manager: "What are the three things that matter most for me this quarter?"
Verbeke, W., Dietz, B., & Verwaal, E. (2011). Drivers of sales performance: A contemporary meta-analysis. Have salespeople become knowledge brokers? Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39(3), 407–428.
Churchill, G. A., Ford, N. M., Hartley, S. W., & Walker, O. C. (1985). The determinants of salesperson performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marketing Research, 22(2), 103–118.
Doubting Your Career
“Is this what I want to do for the next 20 years?”
In plain English
Salespeople's needs and motivations shift across career stages, and job satisfaction is closely tied to commitment and the intention to stay. Doubt is often a stage signal, not a verdict.
Try this
Name which career stage you're in: exploring, establishing, maintaining, or winding down.
Cron, W. L. (1984). Industrial salesperson development: A career stages perspective. Journal of Marketing, 48(4), 41–52.
Brown, S. P., & Peterson, R. A. (1993). Antecedents and consequences of salesperson job satisfaction: Meta-analysis and assessment of causal effects. Journal of Marketing Research, 30(1), 63–77.
Motivation That Runs Out
“The commission used to be enough.”
In plain English
A meta-analysis of 128 experiments found that tangible rewards tied to performance can undermine intrinsic motivation. In sales, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation work differently, and different kinds of reps respond to different incentives.
Try this
List three reasons you'd still do this work if the commission were cut in half.
Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 125(6), 627–668.
Miao, C. F., Evans, K. R., & Zou, S. (2007). The role of salesperson motivation in sales control systems: Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation revisited. Journal of Business Research, 60(5), 417–425.
Steenburgh, T., & Ahearne, M. (2012). Motivating salespeople: What really works. Harvard Business Review, 90(7/8), 70–75.
Imposter Feelings & Self-Doubt
“Someday they'll figure out I got lucky.”
In plain English
A systematic review found impostor feelings reported by 9% to 82% of people across studies, linked with anxiety, depression, and burnout. In sales, self-efficacy (belief in your ability) is associated with effort and performance.
Try this
Keep a running "evidence file" of wins you caused.
Bravata, D. M., et al. (2020). Prevalence, predictors, and treatment of impostor syndrome: A systematic review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 35(4), 1252–1275.
Krishnan, B. C., Netemeyer, R. G., & Boles, J. S. (2002). Self-efficacy, competitiveness, and effort as antecedents of salesperson performance. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 22(4), 285–295.
Isolation
“I'm remote. It's just me and my pipeline.”
In plain English
In a study of field salespeople, perceived isolation reduced trust in supervisors and coworkers, which flowed through satisfaction to organizational commitment, and commitment is linked to job performance.
Try this
Schedule one non-deal conversation with a peer every week.
Mulki, J. P., Locander, W. B., Marshall, G. W., Harris, E. G., & Hensel, J. (2008). Workplace isolation, salesperson commitment, and job performance. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 28(1), 67–78.
Being Treated Badly
“I absorb a lot of rudeness for a living.”
In plain English
Incivility from customers is linked to withdrawal behavior and lower sales performance among customer-facing employees.
Try this
Build a 2-minute reset routine after a hard call.
Sliter, M., Sliter, K., & Jex, S. (2012). The employee as a punching bag: The effect of multiple sources of incivility on employee withdrawal behavior and sales performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33(1), 121–139.
No Mentor, No Map
“Nobody's actually developing me.”
In plain English
Mentoring is associated with greater salesperson commitment, and leadership style influences whether emotional exhaustion turns into disengagement.
Try this
Find one person two steps ahead of you and ask one specific question a month.
Hartmann, N. N., Rutherford, B. N., Hamwi, G. A., & Friend, S. B. (2013). The effects of mentoring on salesperson commitment. Journal of Business Research, 66(11), 2294–2300.
Mulki, J. P., Jaramillo, F., & Locander, W. B. (2006). Emotional exhaustion and organizational deviance: Can the right job and a leader's style make a difference? Journal of Business Research, 59(12), 1222–1230.
Working Harder, Not Smarter
“More calls. More hours. Same results.”
In plain English
Salespeople with a learning orientation (focused on getting better, not just looking good) are more likely to "work smart" by adapting their approach.
Try this
After each week, ask "What will I do differently?" not just "Did I hit it?"
Sujan, H., Weitz, B. A., & Kumar, N. (1994). Learning orientation, working smart, and effective selling. Journal of Marketing, 58(3), 39–52.
Does coaching work?
Coaching, across outcomes
Coaching showed significant positive effects on performance and skills, well-being, coping, work attitudes, and goal-directed self-regulation.
Theeboom, T., Beersma, B., & van Vianen, A. E. M. (2014). Does coaching work? A meta-analysis on the effects of coaching on individual level outcomes in an organizational context. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(1), 1–18.
Coaching at work
Workplace coaching had positive effects on learning and performance outcomes.
Jones, R. J., Woods, S. A., & Guillaume, Y. R. F. (2016). The effectiveness of workplace coaching: A meta-analysis of learning and performance outcomes from coaching. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 89(2), 249–277.
Coaching in sales teams
In sales teams, the skill of the coaching, not just how often it happens, was linked to reps hitting their goals.
Dahling, J. J., Taylor, S. R., Chau, S. L., & Dwight, S. A. (2016). Does coaching matter? A multilevel model linking managerial coaching skill and frequency to sales goal attainment. Personnel Psychology, 69(4), 863–894.
Psychological capital
Hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism together ("PsyCap") relate to performance and satisfaction, and can be developed.
Luthans, F., Avolio, B. J., Avey, J. B., & Norman, S. M. (2007). Positive psychological capital: Measurement and relationship with performance and satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, 60(3), 541–572.
Positive psychology in sales
Psychological capital applies directly to salespeople's performance.
Friend, S. B., Johnson, J. S., Luthans, F., & Sohi, R. S. (2016). Positive psychology in sales: Integrating psychological capital. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 24(3), 306–327.
Expense it
Most companies have a learning and development budget. Copy this, fill in the brackets, and send it to your manager or HR.
Subject: Request: coaching as a professional development investment Hi [MANAGER NAME], I'd like to request approval to use learning and development budget for 1:1 sales coaching with Quota & Clarity (Dr. James DeMory, DBA). What it is: 60-minute 1:1 coaching sessions, [bi-weekly / weekly], with a written action plan after each session and a research-based intake diagnostic. The coach spent 25 years carrying a quota in B2B and enterprise sales and holds a doctorate researching salesperson performance, motivation, and stress. Why it's worth it: meta-analytic research finds workplace coaching improves learning and performance outcomes (Jones, Woods, & Guillaume, 2016), and in sales teams specifically, coaching skill has been linked to goal attainment (Dahling et al., 2016). What I'm targeting this quarter: - [SPECIFIC GOAL 1] - [SPECIFIC GOAL 2] Cost: [$500/month, $1,350/quarter, or $4,800/year for bi-weekly; $900/month, $2,430/quarter, or $8,640/year for weekly], billed [MONTHLY / QUARTERLY / ANNUALLY]. Happy to share a short summary of progress at the end of the term. Let me know what you need from me to move this forward. Thanks, [YOUR NAME]
Get help now
If you are in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US). For clinical concerns such as depression, anxiety disorders, or substance use, please see a licensed mental health professional. Coaching is not a substitute for that care.
Summaries are simplified for readability. Read the original studies for full methods and findings.
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