Fear Of Sales Calls Is Holding You Back

As a business owner, every morning I would get up ready to take on the world.

It became routine…

Get coffee.

Check emails.

Get more coffee.

Look at my schedule of sales calls for the day.

And then I could feel the churning in the pit of my stomach.

Early on in my business, I have to admit, when it came to sales calls, someone else was running my script. 

It surely wasn’t me.  

I’d like you to meet my former CEO – his name is “Fear”.

Fear came sweeping over me every time I had to have a sales conversation and talk about my services.

I HATED sales calls.

I was afraid of not being able to answer questions and sounding stupid. 

I spent too much time constantly trying to problem solve.

I didn’t know what to ask.

I was putting on dog and pony shows to try and convince prospects to do business with me.

I was blaming myself and taking things personally when they said NO.

And I wasn’t closing business.  

Talk about a hot mess!

Does any of this sound familiar?

Think about it…you’ve put in the time. You’ve read the books. You’ve attended seminars, rehearsed your lines, and mentally replayed the steps.

So why do you still freeze when it’s time to pick up the phone?

The answer is simple…really…

It’s fear.

The Impact of Fear In Selling

Fear is a completely natural response.  Here is what happens:

FIGHT:  you argue with yourself why you didn’t take action (excuses)

FLIGHT:  you immediately switch to another task (you’re so busy!)

FREEZE: you sit there; you stall; you take no action and beat yourself up later

The Sales Call Game Changer

Here’s the a game changer for you.  

I want to share something I learned that literally shifted my business overnight.

It’s one quote is from Bob Proctor, a popular motivational speaker.

He says, “Sales is not something you do TO someone, it’s something you do FOR someone.“

**Mic Drop***

14 words of sheer impact. I had to take a breath.

If we break this down, a sales conversation is simply meant to help a person to gain CLARITY around their situation, so that they can make a decision to move FORWARD in a way that will better their life.

This is how you can serve your target market on a high level and be of service to a potential client.

How to Conquer a Fear of Sales Calls

Tip #1: When you are focused on yourself, you can’t help the other person.

Instead of thinking about how you are going to “convince” someone to do business with you, start asking questions about what is going on for your prospect.

Listen intently on what your prospect is saying, take good notes, and keep asking questions. Be curious!

This keeps you out of “convincing” and in service as a trusted advisor.

Tip #2: Start thinking how YOU can HELP this person. Not what can I can GET from this person.

Here is how you can start to shift this – think about a sales conversation as a GIFT. A gift of clarity.

This is one of the biggest impacts you can make with your prospects that will have to stand out from the crowd.

And be open to letting go of the outcome of the conversation.

If they move forward and do business with you – great! If not, you at least helped someone today get clear on a burning problem they have. This makes you “memorable”.

Tip #3: Get your prospect to do the talking

This is your opportunity to break from the pack. Your competition is doing the same thing over and over again on their sales calls. Talking about themselves, their credentials, and the alphabet soup of titles and certifications after their name.

Your prospect, quite frankly, doesn’t care.

Get your prospect talking about themselves. Make the conversation all about them. Get them to tell you exactly what is on their mind vs trying to analyze what their problem is.

These simple steps can help get back in the drivers seat of your sales conversations – and never be paralyzed by fear running your business ever again.