It’s sales trainers and sales managers, according to George Dudley and Shannon Goodson, world-renowned behavioral scientists. Their research shows that some sales trainers and managers actually are contaminating the very people they intend to inspire. They start out on Monday morning and say “get out there and sell, sell, sell, but don’t be like a salesperson.” There are salespeople who are very sad about their production, because they are ashamed of their role. They feel that people reject them because they are salespeople so they try to act like “consultants” or “account managers” in order to disguise their role. They believe that sales is an unacceptable career.
The fact is the prospect knows that the salesperson is a salesperson and often they are okay with it. If you have a strong value proposition and you are calling into a market that you know needs, wants and buys your services, you are serving your prospects to reach out to them.
If you suffer from Role Rejection Sales Call Reluctance, you must immediately work on shifting your mindset. 1) Admit that you are ashamed about being in sales. 2) Start seeking out salespeople who love what they do. Have conversations with them about their profession. Some of the best salespeople are children of top producers. They were taught early on about self-promotion and the value of being in sales. 4) When you get prospected by a salesperson, treat them with the respect. Listen to their approach. Notice what works and what doesn’t work. Model what works. 5) Challenge your negative perspective. Write down some alternative possibilities so you can get away from a fixated, costly mindset. 6) Stay away from “consultants” and people who have role rejection call reluctance cooties. They can contaminate you.
