Chances are that if you’ve had a long career in corporate sales leadership, you can relate to the travails of Neal Page, the character portrayed by Steve Martin in the classic road trip comedy, Plains, Trains and Automobiles. As the film opens, Neal is in New York, pitching an ad campaign to a decidedly indecisive client. His frustration grows and the client ends up putting off the decision until after the Thanksgiving holiday. Suddenly, Neal must scramble to make a flight home – to Chicago – so he can spend the holiday with his family. It’s where he wants to be. It’s where he longs to be. Except that obstacles – snowstorms, flight delays, rental car mishaps, and, of course, his obnoxious new traveling companion Del Griffith (the remarkable John Candy) – keep getting in the way.
It’s all played for laughs but the underlying angst is ever-present. Neal just wants to be home, to be with his family, to spend nights in his own bed. And to be there for family events like his daughter’s school Thanksgiving pageant. Sound familiar?
But now that pre-pandemic corporate routines and expectations are coming back full force, are you dreading the prospect of spending a large part of your life on the road again?
What if there was an alternative?
The Pandemic Pause
When the COVID-19 pandemic brought life as we knew it to a screeching halt reminiscent of those grinding train wheels in Plains, Trains and Automobiles, a “new normal” sprang forth. Suddenly, all that “windshield time” was replaced with computer screen time as we no longer zoomed from destination to destination but instead set up cameras and ring lights to enhance our endless Zoom® calls.
This “pandemic pause” put familiar work routines on freeze frame. The former hustle and bustle suddenly became slower and quieter even if inside we were trying hard not to panic. We experienced a kind of stress and fear we had not encountered before, and yet, as the months passed, we adapted. In fact, we didn’t just make the best of a bad situation; rather, we found ways to thrive and reconnect with what matters most: home and family.
We wanted the crisis to end, of course, but many of us – especially road-weary sales execs – also dreaded returning to the “old normal” of excessive travel. That transition back to the old ways of doing things is now at hand as many Sales VPs are expected to resume the long-distance grind. But at Sales Xceleration, what we hear more and more is that sales leaders are pushing back and looking for a better alternative.
Fast Forwarding to a Better Future
Instead of rewinding to the way things were before, sales leaders worldwide are taking a stand, demanding less travel and more time at home. It’s what they craved before the pandemic, what they enjoyed during this otherwise terrible crisis, and it’s a new status quo they now cling to. Some corporate employers are listening and making concessions, embracing at least a hybrid system combining remote work from home privileges with less frequent office and travel time. For many sales execs, that’s good enough. For others, however, even a hybrid schedule represents too much travel, too much time away from family, too much sacrifice!
The good news is that there’s an alternative that empowers sales leaders to maintain connections to family, friends, and community. By embracing the opportunity to become a fractional time sales leadership consultant, they enjoy both freedom and control even as they continue to leverage their hard-earned experience, expertise, and wisdom to serve and make a difference for small to mid-sized businesses.
By acting as a sales leadership consultant in your community, it is possible to stay connected to those you love, to sleep in your own bed, to grill out on your own patio, and yes, to be there for those school programs. Are you ready to trade endless hours traveling in planes, trains, and automobiles for extra home and family time? If so, learn more about the sales leadership consulting career opportunity from Sales Xceleration by clicking here or contacting us today at 844.874.7253.
