The 12 Types

Sales Call Reluctance has 12 ‘Faces’, and each one allows us to understand the actual cause of the individual’s discomfort and why they then use the Escape and Avoidance techniques (see our ‘What Causes SCR’ link) to divert them away from the source of their unease.

Yielder

A preference to not ‘spoil relationships’, and to back off rather than pursue a matter until a satisfactory result is achieved. Often justified by using “perceived” third party (customer?) discomfort or potential conflict as the driving rationale behind their caution. The actual cause is personal discomfort or fear.

Role Rejection

Unresolved feelings of dissatisfaction, discomfort or guilt about their career choice. These feelings are often fuelled by their concerns about what significant others think about the sales career they have chosen or a personal feeling of wasted potential.

Over Preparer

A tendency to be hooked into unnecessary tasks, disproportionate amounts of detail allocated to preferred tasks or over amplified amounts of analysis. This allows more important but uncomfortable sales tasks to be sidelined or ignored completely.

Hyper Professional

Needs to manage people’s perceptions of them in order to look above average; often used to disguise self-doubt and proficiency gaps. The effort to ‘spin doctor’ their image at all times lowers sales production and achievements to a mediocre level at best

Stage Fright

A debilitating dislike of presenting to groups that can, in extreme cases, cause physical illness, stress or absenteeism.

Social Self-conscious

A self-imposed rule engine that prevents effective interaction with certain customer target groups. In extreme cases it prevents meeting them at all. Triggers tend to be perceived status, wealth, education or reputation differences or inadequacies.

Telephobia

The inability to use the telephone as a promotional tool to move their sales objectives forward. Their use of the telephone for social purposes or tasks perceived, as ‘emotionally low risk’ will be unimpaired.

Doomsayer

An extremely over amplified form of pessimism that dominates thought processes and decision-making. Often undetectable as it is internalised and hidden from sight. Extremely corrosive in terms of the ways it shapes mindset and sales activity.

Oppositional Reflex

A need to retain control of their career and treatment at all times. This inability to share control, be supported or coached often manifests itself through contradictory or difficult stances being taken in most situations to facilitate them being left alone.

Referral Aversion

The dislike or reluctance to ask clients to help them extend their sales network or influence due to worries of conflict or rejection.

Separationist

x The dislike or reluctance to ask friends or peers to help extend their sales network or influence due to worries of conflict or rejection

Emotionally Un-emancipated

The dislike or reluctance to ask family members to help extend their sales network or influence due to worries of conflict or rejection.