Overcoming Call Reluctance

Hesitation to make contact with prospective new clients causes more failures for salespeople than any other single factor. Why? Because if you don't approach enough people, it makes little difference how thorough your expertise is. Without a steady flow of prospects, your magnetic personality, credentials, product knowledge, and perfect presentations won't make much impact. Inactivity on the prospecting front nullifies your ability to engage these other strengths.

Successful selling usually involves five steps:

1. Identifying prospective clients (includes identifying referral sources).
2. Initiating contact with prospective clients and referral sources.
3. Introducing yourself, your products and your services.
4. Informing prospective clients of how you can help (giving your sales presentation).
5. Influencing the prospect's decision to buy from you.

Many salespeople are uncomfortable with steps 2 and 3, initiating and introducing -- but without them, informing and influencing can't happen! Ultra-professional presentation skills, dazzling rapport-building, detailed product knowledge and clever closes cannot and will not return a penny of profit if you don't have enough prospects.

The math is simple: Successful salespeople consistently initiate contact with more prospects than their less-than-successful counterparts.