Conquering Call Reluctance: How to Pick Up the Phone with Total Confidence

Introduction

The phone is one of the most effective tools for sales. However, many salespeople do not make calls because they are afraid of calling a prospect when they know his number and are ready to do so. Instead, they prefer to check an email, revisit the account in the CRM, or tell themselves that they will make a call in five minutes.

Such fear and hesitation is called call reluctance.

Call reluctance may have different reasons. A person may be afraid of rejection, looking inexperienced, interrupting a prospect, receiving unexpected questions, or saying "No" to a person who called them. The more you consider all these options, the more difficult it will be for you to make a call.

Nevertheless, confidence in sales is not associated with a lack of any nervous feelings before making a call. In sales, confidence is the knowledge of your goals, the realization that not everybody will react positively, and the ability to take some actions regardless of this.

For Apex Hunters, conquering call reluctance is crucial since consistent prospecting leads to opportunity creation, and opportunities lead to pipeline creation.

Here are some practical tips that help to overcome call reluctance and deal with prospecting calls with confidence.

1. Understanding the Reason of Call Reluctance

It will be much easier to overcome call reluctance if you understand the reason why you do not want to call a prospect.

One of the most common reasons is a fear of rejection. When a salesperson starts imagining that a prospect becomes angry, hangs up the phone, and refuses to talk, he creates a high level of stress for himself.

Another reason may be a fear of being unprepared for a call and receiving questions that you are not able to answer, or having your assumptions about the prospect's business disproved by a person on the other side of the phone.

There may be even a fear of judgement – a fear of the necessity to show yourself polished, competent and persuasive right in the beginning of the conversation. This puts excessive pressure.

A prospecting call is not an examination of your competence. It is just an opportunity to determine whether you should continue your communication with a particular prospect.

When you start thinking about calls as tests, you put pressure on yourself.

2. Prepare But Do Not Over-Prepare

Proper preparation can help a salesperson feel more confident; however, too much preparation can increase call reluctance.

It is not necessary to know all there is to know about a prospective client before reaching out to him. Spending many hours doing research is a great excuse for not making the actual call because it is often not very comfortable.

Before calling a potential client, one needs to know three things.

First, figure out why this person should be contacted. It may be related to a company development, position change, market event, or other reason for the call.

Second, know what needs to be discovered during the conversation. There may be existing practices that need to be understood or problems affecting the company's performance.

Third, prepare a basic call framework. The framework might consist of an introductory phrase, a reason for calling, and possibly one or two questions. It provides structure but does not imply the necessity to read from a prepared script.

The point is not to learn all possible responses. The point is to prepare enough to have directions to follow during the conversation.

3. Change the Fear of Rejection with Curiosity

One of the most effective ways to overcome call reluctance is to change the question one asks himself before dialing.

Instead of asking "What if they reject me?" one might ask: "What can I learn from this conversation?"

It changes the whole approach to making calls.

If one thinks about avoiding being rejected, he becomes preoccupied with his performance. He wonders if he said something good in the beginning, what tone to use, and whether the prospect will like it.

Curiosity helps one to focus on the buyer.

He starts thinking about problems the prospect faces, what has been done to solve the problem, what his priorities are, and whether there is some reason to continue the conversation.

It also changes the way one understands rejection.

Rejection may mean that the timing is wrong. Maybe the prospect does not face this problem. He might have a solution to the problem, or it is not important enough at the moment. Such information is valuable.

A salesperson who is not afraid of rejection does not expect everyone to agree. The goal is to find a true fit.

4. Build Confidence Through Immediate Action

One of the most common mistakes made by salespeople is waiting to feel ready to start dialing. And this approach rarely works in real life.

You start dialing first. And the more calls you make, the more experience you gain. And the next call will be easier.

But if you keep asking yourself the question whether you are ready to make the call, hesitations will only grow. You'll spend more time trying to write your opening, researching, rearranging your call list, and doing some other tasks.

At one moment, preparing for the task turns into avoiding it.

Make a simple procedure of calling the clients first instead. Devote some time specifically for outbound calls, and make your first call to the first client from your list. Do not try to persuade yourself that you should make the call.

Also, you can start with a reasonable number of calls. The aim here is to build the momentum.

After several calls, your brain starts recognizing the activity as something regular and not threatening at all. This is how sales confidence builds up. Not when you wait, but when you act.

5. Focus on the Prospect, Not Your Performance

Sometimes, call reluctance is growing due to the focus on yourself and how you behave during the conversation.

You may be asking yourself the following questions:

• Are my statements convincing?

• Am I speaking confidently?

• What if the client asks me some tricky questions?

And this will only increase the pressure during the call. But you should pay attention to the other party.

Listen carefully to what the prospect is telling you. Find out his priorities, problems, goals, and concerns. Ask some questions that can help you understand the current situation better.

Then, the process becomes more natural. It is about the client's business, not yours.

This is why you should have good discovery skills. You don't need to lead the conversation. But you should create some interest to engage the other side in the discussion. And sometimes, one intelligent question can work better than an hour-long sales pitch.

6. Create a Rejection-Resistant Mental Routine

With all the preparation and practice, you'll still experience poor calls. Customers will hang up on you, customers will tell you they're not interested, others will not respond to your phone call. This is okay.

What is important is that you don't allow yourself to let this impact the next call.

Distinguish the activity from the result. Your goal is to make effective calls, conduct productive discussions, ask relevant questions, and then act accordingly. You cannot predict whether everyone will say "yes".

Take a minute after a poor call. Analyze whether there is something to be learned, then continue.

Do not drag the previous customer into your next discussion.

Call-resistant mentality implies that every call is a new beginning.

7. Make the Phone a Tool, Not a Threat

In essence, call reluctance lies in changing your attitude towards the phone.

The phone does not prevent you from meeting the person to whom you want to sell. The phone is just a means of starting conversations.

The more you use it, the more accustomed to it you become.

Be prepared enough to feel oriented. Concentrate on the buyer and not on yourself. Replace fear with curiosity. Start acting before you start thinking too much. Accept the rejection as a natural part of prospecting, not as a sign of failure.

All this will eventually make the process of calling much easier for you.

And for Apex Hunters, regularity matters significantly. A salesperson who makes calls every day has many more chances than a procrastinator.

Conclusion

Even for the most seasoned salespeople, call reluctance can bring uncertainty. But there's no reason why this should dictate your prospecting efforts.

The answer is not about eliminating all fear. The answer is about creating the mindset and process where it is possible to take action in spite of fear. Identify the root causes of your hesitation. Get prepared without over-preparation. Swap your fear of rejection with curiosity. Move quickly. Pay attention to the prospect, and not to your performance. Develop a fast mental recovery after challenging calls.

Each call provides you with an additional chance to train and improve yourself.

The best salespeople are not those who are always calm before picking up the phone. They are the people who will never let their hesitation make their decision.

Pick up the phone. Initiate the conversation. Let the confidence come from the actions.

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