How to Move From Call Reluctance to Call Willingness

I have a friend in the insurance industry who accomplished in one year what some of the real stars in his business accomplish in four years. Not long ago I had a discussion with him about sales call reluctance. Now here is a guy who obviously knows how to pick up the phone and make call after call to the same prospect. I asked him, "So Mike, do you ever experience call reluctance?"

His answer might surprise you.

He said, "Oh yes I do. Everyday."

Considering that you are reading an article from someone who speaks on the subject of moving from sales call reluctance to sales call willingness, you are probably expecting to learn about the fear behind sales call reluctance and how to stop it or change it. Well, if you have ever watched Monty Python's Flying Circus, you might remember them saying, "And now for something completely different..."

I am about to tell you something completely different than what you were most likely expecting.

The truth is, no matter what new technique you learn today, no matter how great your sales were yesterday, no matter how nice the last person you spoke to acted, there is always fear waiting for you at the onset of the calls you make tomorrow. I am a firm believer that the techniques you learn about how or what to say are not half as effective in overcoming call reluctance as learning techniques to deal with that nagging voice that pesters you inside your head from sun up to sun down.

The key to seizing the phone is not about understanding your fear around it, or even understanding what has made you feel so fearful about making all those calls, so that you can do away with the fear altogether. How do I know this? I have experienced it. Plenty of people will tell you that the way to overcome that call reluctance is to understand your fear around it. Once you understand why or what has made you feel so fearful about making those calls, you'll be able to do away with the call reluctance you feel altogether.

I completely disagree with that position because I do not believe it is call reluctance that stops you from making those prospecting calls. In reality, call reluctance is not an actual thing that you can see, hear, touch, smell or taste. It is only an idea that exits in your mind. The difficulty, however, is that the effects of that idea seem very, very real.

Unlike other call reluctance experts who approach this topic with techniques to make call reluctance go away, I maintain that the very act of trying to make call reluctance go away strengthens its hold on you.

For me moving from call reluctance to call willingness is a daily occurrence. Your success is inevitable once you know how to catch yourself right in the middle of your own self sabotage.One of the things that prevents so many independent sales professionals from picking up that 100 lb telephone is the idea that it will be better to call later -- when the call reluctance they feel isn't there.

Far too many sales professionals are waiting until they have the courage to make those calls. They are waiting for those feelings of call reluctance to go away. They believe they will be able to make the calls, once they no longer feel the fear of call reluctance.

If you made a list of people you were going to call today, or if you had an idea in your mind about how many prospects you would call, but you failed to make many of those calls, I am going to bet that what stopped you was the feeling that you somehow lacked the courage to make all those calls. You might have convinced yourself that you had too many other pressing activities (checking email, getting coffee, keeping up with coworkers, following up with past clients, organizing your desk,etc.), but deep inside you are waiting for the fear to go away before you make those calls.