The Ever-Increasing Costs of the “Fear of Calling” Syndrome

Recent studies have confirmed the obvious, that is to say that “fear of calling” in sales can contribute to a significant proportion of lost sales revenues. One study that I read recently found that as many as 40 % of established salespeople experienced periods of “fear of calling” severe enough to threaten their future in sales.

Stemming the ever-increasing costs of the “fear of calling” syndrome cannot be addressed by training alone. It requires an experienced coach or mentor to work with each salesperson’s particular set of beliefs, so that they feel truly empowered to breakthrough their self-created mental barriers. One particular statistic, in the following survey, should give any salesperson suffering from “fear of calling” renewed confidence.

How Customers Regard Salespeople Survey

• Salespeople who do not bother to make appointments  45%
• Salespeople who know nothing about the customer’s business 60%
• Salespeople who know little about their products and services 60%
• Salespeople who call too often 9%
• Salespeople who don’t call often enough 49%
• Salespeople who do not have the authority to negotiate prices 45%
• Salespeople who do not ask for the order 40%
• Salespeople who are not properly or sufficiently organized 55%

Most desirable quality customers want to see in salespeople?   

Competence!

Customers Can Sense Fear

We must remember that a salesperson’s state of mind is instantly transferred to their prospect or customer, which means that the challenge for organizations is to constantly create a highly resourceful state in their salespeople. This is extremely important, because when salespeople lack belief in themselves, their product or their service, they unconsciously transmit their attitude to prospects in a variety of subtle and sometimes overt ways.

Summary – The Importance of Divine Intervention From Above

Most sales managers grasp the concept of activity management, skills development and knowledge development. Intuitively, Sales Directors also understand the vital importance of the right mindset. Yet, far too many feel powerless to help their salespeople turn their negative beliefs into positive ones. Those few sales managers who do tackle such negative beliefs and are able to change their salespeople’s self-limiting beliefs into empowering ones, have found an unbeatable path to success.

Via