Dealing with Call Reluctance: Part 1

Call reluctance is an internal feeling where one’s attitude many times interferes with a sales person’s ability to prospect effectively.  Sales people often refer to it as a fear of rejection and it is much more prevalent than many would admit.  Sales people will rarely acknowledge that it exists, but it has been a problem for many for a number of years.  Irrespective of how much sales training an individual has taken or the extent of product knowledge, there is an unspoken fear that persists despite what they sell.  This fear can be crippling to one’s business success. 

I worked with a salesman a few years ago that no matter how much sales or attitudinal training he was given, he failed to change his activity, behavior or drive to succeed.  When I inquired about his prospecting activity he was full of excuses; in fact he had become a pro beyond imagination at covering his behind.  He was the prototype in what we envision in a sales person with high energy, ability to communicate at great lengths and highly skilled in product knowledge.  He was everyone’s poster boy for what a sales person should be, and I had been brought aboard to see if we could salvage him.  His company had spent a lot of time and money in his development and he seemed to be a perfect fit, except for his lack of efficient prospecting and business development.  The process of transformation does not occur overnight.  To begin the process of his changeover I had to get to the root of his fear.  So finally, one day I asked him to level with me about what his problem was and he finally admitted that it was a deep rooted lack of confidence and self- assurance when it came to calling on potential clients. 

Next week we are going to discuss his transformation into a core confident prospector that translated into a sales person’s professional- professional.