Sales Call Reluctance is a phenomenon that sinks companies that have the right products services. In spite of that many leaders do not take action against it. Could it be so that they do not see it as they may have the same problem themselves? If the whole culture suffers from it, it becomes beliefs and it is almost impossible for the people to see it if they do not test the whole organization with a Sales Call Reluctance test like SPQ*Gold/FSA. Sales Call Reluctance behaviors consist of 16 different types. Research show that they are toxic. It takes only about 8 weeks until a new salesperson has the same types as the managers in the company. Also remember that most of the types are learned and therefore they can be unlearned. The result will for most companies be amazing with a much higher turnover, lower recruiting cost etc.
Below you will find the six major types (of a total of 16 different types) that hits the company’s sales process everywhere and hits the turnover and result hard, as they make sales people underperform and even make them leave. A lot of a high turnover of salespeople is due to Sales Call Reluctance as sales people that underperform or can`t cope with the number of calls that need to be done each day. Sales call Reluctance is not about personality it is about how much you will prospect and the feelings and thinking salespeople and managers have about prospecting. That evidently lower the performance when it comes to prospecting.
f you can find your sales organization in the below behavior Signatures of the major six types you may have a Sales Call Reluctance issue and taking care of that will definitely make your company grow. If that is important act on it!
Over Preparer
Too many meetings; Salespeople weighted down with unnecessary administrative requirements; administrative compliance over new business production.
Hyper-Pro
Unnecessary investments in the ”right” look; decisions not based on probable impact on profitability, but on how they are likely to make decision makers look.
Yielder
Ambiguous accountabilities; leadership vacuum; Culture gossip and rumors; leadership by grapevine; rhetorical goal-setting.
Sales Role Rejection
Indoctrination over training; insistence on euphemisms for the ”sales” role; distancing from sales function; little identification with sales process.
Social Self-Consciousness
Defaulted, neglected upper-tier markets which are left to competitors; ignored upper level products; low quality sales recruiting.
Oppositional Reflex
Management by temper tantrum ; internal politics; power struggles; sociopats for advisors, personal survival elevated over team mindedness.
Six different behaviors that all will create an underperforming sales organization and also make individual sales people suffer as they do not reach their goals and if on commission they also earn less. You might not feel Sales Call reluctance in a nervous stomach first, it will hit your wallet first and the company.
There are consultants on the market that are specialized on working with this issues. It is not easy but worth every penny you invest in lower the grade of sales Call Reluctance in your company. It does not matter if you are a professional sales person or an accountant. Without any customers or clients you have in the end no work.