We call modern sales “complex,” yet most days the real challenge is stamina.

Over time we’ve layered on tools, dashboards, playbooks, and scripts. Activity is measured by the minute. Pipelines are tuned like race cars. That helps, but when you ask experienced sales leaders what actually moves the needle, their advice sounds familiar: make one more call, ask for the order, listen well, keep showing up.

So why does performance hold for some teams and fade for others?

The Missing Ingredient: Appreciation

If you want performance that lasts across years, add one thing to your list: appreciation. The daily climate people work in does the heavy lifting, more than any trophy or staged celebration.

Sales operates under constant pressure, with rejection woven into daily work, targets that reset almost as soon as they are reached, and wins that fade quickly against the steady demand for effort. In that environment, execution alone rarely holds. Sustained effort can begin to feel invisible, and burnout accumulates quietly. Activity continues and orders are still requested, but attention narrows and care thins. The business functions, even as the human cost gathers beneath the surface.

Appreciation interrupts that slide. It says, “I see the effort before the outcome.” That small shift changes how people carry the hard parts.

What Appreciation Looks Like In Real Life

Think small, specific, and timely:

“I noticed how you stayed calm when procurement pushed back. That kept the deal alive.”

“You rewrote the deck so the buyer’s CFO could follow the numbers. Smart move.”

“The pipeline clean-up last week gave us a real picture. Thank you.”

Moments like these do more than feel good. They teach what “good” looks like. They tell people where to invest their energy next time. Skill compounds faster when effort is seen while it’s happening, not only after the win.

Teams with this habit may grow more steadily than explosively, yet the skills they build hold under pressure. Judgment improves. People stay coachable. And when things get messy, as they do, work doesn’t crack.

Why It’s Often Missing

In many companies, recognition is situational: it shows up after big results or during all-hands. Most of sales, though, lives between those moments, prep, follow-up, discovery, trying a new question and stumbling a bit.

When ongoing acknowledgment is built into daily interactions, the story changes. Reps lean into learning curves because the effort won’t be invisible. Managers coach more because they’re looking for things to call out. People stick with the hard work when results lag a week (or a quarter) behind the effort.

What Changes (Beyond Morale)

There’s real performance math behind this:

People understand the mission more clearly (their work keeps getting connected to the why).
They track progress with more confidence (the steps are noticed, not just the scoreboard).
They stay engaged during dry spells (effort still “counts,” even before it pays).

Remove appreciation and even strong strategy and high pressure start to wobble. Expectations can be sharp and clear, yet effort loses its link to meaning.

The effect reaches beyond morale. People who feel seen and valued tend to understand the mission more clearly, track progress with greater confidence, and remain engaged during periods where effort temporarily outpaces results. When validation dries up, even solid strategy and steady pressure struggle to compensate. When effort no longer feels meaningful, performance slips, even with sharp expectations.

Culture as a Repeated Practice

Importantly, appreciation does not lower standards. High expectations remain intact. What changes is how contribution is recognized. Time, energy, and the personal trade-offs required by demanding work are understood as part of performance rather than invisible costs. In environments that acknowledge human imperfection, strengths alongside limitations, accountability tends to sharpen rather than soften.

Culture follows the same logic. It does not emerge spontaneously, nor can it be acquired through programs or slogans. It forms through repeated actions, through what leaders consistently notice and reinforce. When shaped deliberately, it becomes a shared reference point that people recognize and choose.

Over time, organizations tend to discover that endurance depends less on pressure and more on whether effort continues to register.

“People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise, and rewards.”
- Dale Carnegie