Overcoming the Salesperson’ s Biggest Obstacle: Call Reluctance
By far the biggest reason salespeople fail is that they don’ t make enough calls to talk to enough people to get enough prospects in order to make the necessary sales. There are two causes for this: one, not putting in the hours necessary and two, call reluctance.
While the first one is a problem and needs to be addressed, I find that the latter far outweighs the former. If you watch your average salesperson during the day, even when they are“ working” they avoid making calls. They do paperwork, clean their desk, check e-mail,
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service accounts, do research, and find many other ways to distract themselves during the day. Successful people are successful because they get themselves to do the things that unsuccessful people won’ t. Similar to homework as a kid, taking out the trash, or doing 40 minutes of intense cardio, there are some things in life we have to do if we’ re going to live a successful, fulfilling life, even though we don’ t want to. In sales, that means getting ourselves to make the calls necessary for success.
Below I list techniques and tricks used to make the calls that need to be made. Some of these are tips, others are techniques, and some are the names of books or programs. Some will need further explanation. Contact me about any you don’ t understand. Although this is a fairly exhaustive list, I’ m sure I’ ve missed some. Feel free to e-mail me with others.