4 Steps to Start Earning What You're Worth

Many salespeople aren’t even aware of the emotional barriers that hold their careers hostage.

The emotional barriers that can be damaging to your sales career consist of all the internal thoughts, feelings, and “avoidance strategies” that keep people in sales from initiating contact with prospective clients and moving business forward. Referred to as Call Reluctance®, there are four general steps to overcoming this negative behavior so you can start opening doors to find the success you deserve.

Step 1: Awareness

Most call reluctant salespeople know they’re not producing at their optimal level. Many are relieved to discover that what they thought was “burnout,” “fear of rejection” or something more esoteric, has an actual diagnosis and concrete solutions. Simply recognizing call reluctance as a performance limiter puts you ahead of your less-informed peers.

Step 2: Admission

It’s easy to blame incompetent management, market conditions, noncompetitive products and substandard support for a lack of production. But once you understand call reluctance and then admit that you might have it, you’ve taken two very important steps to overcome it. The most universal indicator of call reluctance behavior is the passionate, categorical denial that it exists.

"The most universal indicator of call reluctance behavior is the passionate, categorical denial that it exists."

Step 3: Assessment

Sales call reluctance actually consists of 16 different forms of coping with prospecting distress, such as avoiding the phone to overdosing on preparation. What is needed to overcome it depends on which type or types are involved. Which antibiotic you are prescribed depends upon which type of bacteria is causing the problem. Applying the same procedures to correct different forms of call reluctance is likely to be more harmful than doing nothing at all and can actually make the problem worse. Discovering your accurate diagnosis is essential to remedy the behavior.

Step 4: Application

Eliminating or reducing sales call reluctance requires a willingness to change and a serious investment of your time and energy. If you are willing to put in the work, some forms of call reluctance can be completely eliminated quickly and easily. Others can take longer. Fortunately, they can all be managed and prospecting can become comfortable, satisfying and rewarding without changing your personality or your principles.

Do you want to increase your sales revenue and build your client base?

Sign up now for our Power Up Your Sales Workshop today and you’ll learn how to:

• Eliminate excuses and maximize prospecting and/or engagement activity.

• Eradicate negative sales-defeating behaviors.

• Clear “head trash” that is more dangerous than the current market conditions.

Find out more about BSRP’s thought-leading practices and procedures for managing Call Reluctance® and explore our range of assessments, research and sales training.