Summer 2025 – ERA XCOM Digest

The psychology of sales professionals in a disruptive economy: Maintaining motivation and performance

By Cameron English, CPMR, ERA SVP of Industry

In the world of sales, performance isn’t just about numbers—it’s about mindset, resilience and emotional intelligence. Sales professionals operate at the intersection of psychology and strategy, relying on drive, interpersonal acuity and adaptability to succeed. But what happens when the economy becomes volatile, markets shift rapidly and certainty evaporates? A disruptive economy can deeply impact even the most seasoned sales professionals, challenging their motivation, mental well-being and ultimately, performance. You may note, I am making the assumption that your business has been navigating a bumpy path as of late. For my part, I have watched my suppliers blast out urgent memos and call virtual meetings all related to…you guessed it. Tariff nausea.

The psychology of sales professionals

Sales professionals are often high achievers motivated by clear goals, competition and financial incentives. Their psychological makeup typically includes:

• Resilience — The ability to bounce back from rejection

• Self-efficacy — Belief in their ability to influence outcomes

• Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation — A blend of internal drive and external rewards • Empathy and rapport-building — Crucial for reading clients and tailoring messages

• Goal orientation — Strong alignment with targets and achievement metrics

However, this mindset is vulnerable to external stressors. When economic conditions become uncertain—such as during inflation spikes, tech layoffs, geopolitical instability or supply chain disruption—buyers grow more conservative, sales cycles lengthen and deals become harder to close. This creates a pressure cooker of stress, self-doubt and fatigue for sales professionals.

The impact of a disruptive economy on performance

Increased anxiety and uncertainty. Fear of missing quotas or losing accounts becomes amplified when deals stall. Uncertainty erodes confidence and impairs decision-making.

Loss of motivation. If past strategies no longer yield results, even high performers can begin to disengage. The connection between effort and reward weakens, sapping intrinsic motivation.

Burnout and emotional fatigue. Persistent rejection, stress and unrealistic expectations without sufficient support can lead to burnout, especially when individuals feel isolated or undervalued.

Cognitive distortions. Salespeople may fall into negative thinking patterns—catastrophizing (“I’ll never hit quota again”), overgeneralizing (“No one is buying now”) or personalizing (“I must be doing something wrong”).

Here is the interesting part. As manufacturers’ representatives, we have a super weapon: the ability to pivot toward more active and relevant technologies. Sure, realities rule the day and we have to pay attention to our top money-producing suppliers at all costs. Having said that, the recent economic flu in many ways mirrors the impact that COVID-19 had on our industry.

Let’s face it, as sales professionals, we don’t control much, except the critical resources that we have developed over the years: time, talent and relationships. Our customers know that we add a value to their bottom line. If we were to come in with a relevant alternative technology, they would give us a shot. The best thing we can do is look for the alternative value proposition.

In Spencer Johnson’s book, “Who Moved My Cheese?” he calls out several critical strategies for addressing dramatic and volatile change, such as “Adapt quickly!” and “The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you can enjoy new cheese.”

Here is where I want to challenge you. What better model is there in industry than the super entrepreneurial manufacturers’ representative? Name one, I’ll wait…

Strategies to maintain high motivation and morale

Redefine success. When the market shifts, traditional KPIs may need to evolve. Shift focus from closed deals alone to leading indicators like meaningful conversations, client engagement and pipeline activity. This sustains a sense of accomplishment and forward momentum.

Tactical tip: Implement tiered goals—daily wins (calls, follow-ups), weekly progress (meetings set) and quarterly outcomes (closed deals). Do not impose “report cards” on your sales team. Report cards smack of insolence and arrogance, reminders of our childhood elementary schools. Instead, set S.M.A.R.T. goals: specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable and time-bound.

Foster psychological safety and transparency. Salespeople must feel safe discussing challenges without fear of judgment. In times of disruption, open dialogue about market conditions and collective strategy reinforces trust and teamwork. Tactical tip: Host weekly “market pulse”sessions where reps share wins, blockers and insights in a no-blame environment. Senior leadership should participate and listen actively.

Leverage coaching, not just management. Coaching focuses on individual development, mindset and confidence—key during downturns. Managers should shift from directive to supportive roles, asking guiding questions and helping reps reframe challenges.

Tactical tip: Use the GROW model (goal, reality, options, will) to structure coaching conversations that help reps self-solve.

Anchor motivation to purpose. Money alone won’t sustain drive during uncertain times. Reconnect individuals with the why behind their work—whether that is helping clients solve real problems or supporting their families.

Tactical tip: Create space for personal storytelling—how has your product or service made a meaningful difference? How is each team member’s success connected to something bigger? Every capable electronics sales rep has a great story to tell about their current projects! Focus on the potential future projection, not the current dismal latest volley of trade insults and headlines.

Celebrate problem solving and ability, not just outcomes. In disrupted markets, creativity and open-mindedness can be more controllable than results. Recognizing behaviors like resilience, creativity and persistence helps keep morale high.

Tactical tip: Run weekly “effort awards” or spotlight sessions to recognize reps who push through adversity, try new approaches or assist teammates.

Reinforce team identity and peer support. Sales can be lonely, especially remotely. Creating peer recognition and camaraderie buffers against emotional dips and maintains collective momentum.

Tactical tip: Set up peer coaching partnerships or small accountability groups that meet regularly to exchange feedback and motivation.

Leading through disruption with psychology in mind

The rep business is a challenging reality on the psychology of how a person views their current position. Most of us are not in it for the ego boost. We thrive in challenging, independent, demanding and non-stable realities. Many thrive in the representative role because we know we can go further and faster on our own innate talents. Choice is a big reason for many to relish the representative role in our industry. If a supplier is making all the wrong moves in their space, we can shift over to a more responsive and competitive supplier faster than any other profession. And, we can embrace the change with a positive mindset and proactive behavior.

Recently, we faced a dramatic change in our organization when a long-term veteran territory manager left us. The disconcerting part was that he was in a very strategic territory with several highly visible, large and critical accounts. We took a gamble and moved a young newcomer to the territory. Nick was with us a short time, but he had the drive, intellect and willingness to take on a big challenge. Suppliers seemed to really like his style. Within a few weeks, Nick brought an opportunity from an account that the prior sales rep was calling on for years. After we reviewed the quantity and ASP, I said to Nick, “This project has a value of over $1.5 million!” Nick found an opportunity from an account that was already there, just not approached. In this case, Nick made no assumptions about where to find the cheese, he just went straight at it. We can all learn from this mentality. Change is the only constant. As reps, we have the innate sense and strength of mind to pivot, adapt and build in difficult times.

Ultimately, the best sales strategies in tough times aren’t just tactical—they’re deeply human!

The strength and appeal of ERA

By Lori Bruno, CPMR

Beyond my husband, family and our rescue dog, my deepest passion lies with ERA and everything it embodies. When I first joined ERA, I was amazed by the camaraderie, the open exchange of ideas and the profound sense of partnership within the rep community. However, ERA membership extends far beyond a “rep hangout.” It uniquely unites our vital distributor and manufacturing partners, forming what we affectionately call “the three legs of the stool.”

This powerful coming together of all three legs was truly showcased at the 2025 EDS Summit, held in late May at Resorts World in Las Vegas. Every time I passed the ERA booth, I saw Walter Tobin eloquently discussing ERA’s value with potential members, or Ama Derringer highlighting the many benefits of joining ERA. It’s truly remarkable that over four days, they engaged with nearly 20 new prospective members. This impressive outreach speaks volumes about the strength and appeal of our organization, reflecting its robust and broad membership of dedicated reps, distributors and manufacturers. These companies join our community, eager to contribute their time and talent to ERA’s ongoing evolution.

ERA membership unlocks a variety of benefits. Members gain entry to our annual conference held every February in Austin, and exclusive access to powerful resources such as the highly sought-after Hover Map® and Searchlink.ai. ERA provides extensive educational opportunities to support your ongoing development.

Start at ERA.org!

Did someone say “tariffs”?

Tariffs. Is there another word that, when mentioned in conversation with a supplier, rep, distributor or customer, triggers more headshakes, eye rolls or just plain looks of exhaustion?

Exhaustion pretty much sums it up for me. In the spring issue of The Representor, I referenced the “circle of concern”—those factors outside our control, like tariffs. While we can’t influence their presence, we certainly can’t ignore their impact. As a supplier sourcing from four different countries of origin—including China—this latest challenge has cost our company time, resources and money. As it has many of you.

Worst of all, it’s pulled our attention away from revenue-generating activity.

As a supplier and importer of record, our immediate attention was focused on one thing. We had a responsibility to recover the thousands of dollars we were sending weekly to the U.S. Treasury. The original tariffs on Chinese goods, implemented in 2020, had long been baked into our landed costs—no separate line items, no add-ons—essentially invisible to our customers.

That all changed in April.

New, higher tariffs on China—alongside a broader application of duties on other countries— hit our industry broadside. With the added uncertainty of temporary percentages and paused reciprocal increases, we could no longer treat tariffs as just another fixed cost of doing business.

It was time to reevaluate. Quickly.

We can’t control tariffs, but we can control how we respond—and that’s where our industry shines.

Our immediate challenge at E-T-A? We had no system in place to apply tariff charges to invoices. Fortunately, our IT team quickly developed a temporary process that allowed us to begin applying them within weeks’ time.

Our default approach was simple: pass through the percentage we were being charged and add a subtotaled “Tariff” line on invoices. That worked—until it didn’t. Pushback and special requests soon followed.

But, as is often the case in our industry, shared challenges lead to collaboration. ERA stepped in to facilitate conversations among suppliers, reps and distributors—sharing insights, troubleshooting pain points and proposing solutions. In an industry where we compete daily, moments like these remind us how aligned we are when it really counts. This dialogue led to a shared understanding and a more consistent approach. A common understanding between suppliers and distributors has resulted in a sound business approach toward the application and accounting for tariffs.

Just as we did during COVID era, the industry came together for the greater good.

Challenges remain. As I write this, in response to customer feedback, we at E-T-A are reevaluating the default process we put in place back in April. We’re considering a more transparent approach—one that facilitates smoother invoice processing while continuing to recover real costs.

Of course, the bigger question still looms: What will the tariff landscape look like in the days and weeks ahead? If we’ve learned anything, it’s to expect the unexpected.

They say misery loves company. I’d say we’re lucky—because in this industry, the company we keep is collaborative, resilient and ready for whatever comes next.

Making magic

By Ellen Coan, CPMR

As we move forward in these unprecedented times (this keeps happening!), we find our skills need to keep up with our new normal. ERA offers many educational options to fine-tune your adaptation at all levels. If you are new to the industry, we have networking at the local chapter level or reps meeting quarterly with the ERA NexGen group. Training for the “boots on the ground” from inside sales to marketing to customer service to outside sales and beyond, is virtually presented and recorded with our ERA’s virtual STEP training in the fall. In the spring, we offer the national conference to learn about all the ways to stay relevant and lead our teams to the next unprecedented time – or just sell more. ERA LIVE has bi-monthly calls where topics take a deep dive and are discussed in an open format. This is also recorded for later review. Education choices are abundant at ERA.

I find different podcasts or books that put my career in perspective and I try to share them in this column each quarter. This quarter, the book “Make Magic,” by Brad Meltzer, gave me some insight as Meltzer talks about four “tricks” to consider:

• Making something appear. This represents bringing more of the things we value into our lives, like authenticity, empathy and gratitude.

• Making something disappear. This signifies letting go of things that hold us back, such as negativity and limiting beliefs.

• Making two things switch places. This highlights the power of empathy and seeing things from other people’s perspectives.

• Turning one thing into something else. This is the hardest trick, representing the process of transformation and personal growth.

As I reflected on each of these tricks, I tried to apply them to my day-to-day opportunities and challenges. Making two things switch places was the one that caught my attention as I thought through the demanding customer or difficult manufacturer and tried to see it from their perspective and “help them, help me.”

Making things appear is so important every moment of our day as we make sure everyone is seen. The janitor at the truck stop, the intern in the meeting — how many more can we count in a day? Making things disappear is hard as you hear excuses and obstacles that are not easy to eliminate and yet as we chip away at them, they can be transformed into productive, new processes that work for everyone. And last but not least, turning one thing into something else with personal growth. We never stop learning and growing. How many examples can you tie to each trick?

Stop to relax your shoulders and take a breath while making sure you are moving forward with your peers in an industry like no other. Together we are better.

Office space: The sequel

By Kingsland Coombs, CPMR, CSP

In the Winter 2023 issue of The Representor, I shared our firm’s evolving perspective on office space. At the time, our Illinois headquarters lease was nearing expiration. While our team had fully embraced a remote/hybrid workstyle, our physical office remained quite traditional—a relatively large footprint made up of private offices, many of them sitting unused.

We explored several commercial spaces in our preferred area, but ultimately decided to extend our lease for another two years. Though some options were appealing, the combined cost of moving, building out new space and paying higher rates per square foot didn’t justify a change.

I’m pleased to report that this spring, we finally made our move into a new office. Back in 2023, there was still uncertainty across the business community about whether remote work would become a lasting trend. In our industry, outside sales roles typically included some level of remote flexibility, but there was less clarity around the preferred workstyle for partners and inside sales staff.

By 2025, our view has become clearer. We remain committed to promoting worklife balance and supporting the health and well-being of our entire team. Since we’ve grown highly proficient at using technology to stay connected, we’ve embraced a hybrid workstyle across the board. That said, we still believe strongly in the value of in-person interaction—for relationship building, mentoring and collaboration with our manufacturing and distribution partners.

Our new office environment supports all of these goals. We selected a multi-story building in a vibrant location, surrounded by other businesses, upscale shops and restaurants. The area also offers excellent access to highways, airports and other key transportation routes.

We reduced our overall square footage by about 30 to 40 percent, choosing a space that is both flexible and semi-private—ideal for hybrid schedules and focused work. For us, that means two full-time offices, two workstations, a large conference area and a well-equipped kitchenette. We also made sure to retain space for IT infrastructure, samples, literature and promotional materials. The space is bright, modern and welcoming.

Rather than mandate specific in-office days, we’ve created a space that encourages engagement. Looking ahead, we expect to bring on younger team members to replace those retiring in the coming years. For them, we anticipate more structured in-office time. In our experience, fully remote roles work well for seasoned professionals, while younger employees benefit greatly from hands-on mentorship and regular face-to-face interaction.

The move has been more than just a physical transition—it’s been a rejuvenation. Clearing out years’ worth of old files, samples, supplies and office decor was surprisingly cathartic. It’s allowed us to mentally reset and prepare for new challenges ahead.

If you’re in the Chicago area, we’d love for you to stop by and see the new space!