Biggest Challenges Faced By An Account Executive At Route
Travis's biggest challenge as an Account Executive at Route is maintaining emotional equilibrium, avoiding the pitfalls of "happy years" where excitement leads to complacency, and preventing "frantic" responses to setbacks. The first half of the year presented a steep learning curve, requiring Travis to "stay levelheaded" and consistently apply effective strategies to ultimately overcome a period of low performance and avoid job loss.
Sales, Resilience, Emotional Intelligence, Overcoming Challenges, Stress Management
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Travis Robinson
Account Executive
Route
Brigham Young University- Idaho
n/a
Engineering - Mechanical
Technology
Sales and Client Management
Honors Student, Pell Grant Recipient
Video Highlights
1. Maintaining emotional equilibrium in the face of fluctuating deal success is crucial. Avoid extremes of excitement or despair; strive for consistency in approach and effort.
2. Strategic, smart work is more effective than frantic activity. Prioritize quality interactions and planning over sheer volume of outreach.
3. Resilience and perseverance are vital. Setbacks are inevitable; maintaining a level-headed approach, even during slow periods, is key to long-term success and avoiding burnout.
Transcript
What is your biggest challenge in your current role?
I'd say probably the biggest challenge is just staying levelheaded. My manager, when I first started working at Route, always talked about not being at a 10 and not being at a one, but just staying at a five.
It can be really easy to get excited about a deal. A lot of times that can lead to complacency or not planning enough. We call it having "happy ears," where the person gives all the buying signals and seems interested. It feels like a no-brainer.
Then, out of nowhere, they flip a switch and say they don't have time for it or that they've decided not to move forward. It can be soul-crushing to be so excited and then suddenly drop back down to a one.
Just staying at a five, staying even, not getting too excited but also not getting too depressed when things aren't falling your way, has been super beneficial. I've seen people struggle when they're not seeing success and start getting frantic and scrambling.
They start making hundreds of cold calls a day. While it sounds like working hard, there's also an aspect of working smart in sales. They just start getting frantic and trying to make all these cold calls without seeing any success. It usually doesn't end up working out for them.
This year has been a great lesson for me. The first half of the year was really slow. Luckily, I was able to get into a better place where I've now closed some good deals and am in a better position with the company.
I was looking down the barrel of being fired, but I was able to stay levelheaded and keep doing what I knew I needed to do. It ended up working out. That's probably the biggest challenge, just staying levelheaded.