RESEARCH_FILE
Sales call reluctance
Sales call reluctance is the emotional discomfort that causes an otherwise capable salesperson to avoid, delay, or under-perform on self-promoting activities like cold calls, follow-ups, and asking for referrals. Dudley and Goodson identified twelve behaviorally distinct subtypes — from 'telephobia' (specific dread of the phone) to over-preparation to quiet shame about working in sales — and found the pattern affects the large majority of salespeople at some point, independent of overall selling skill.
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“That prospect hated me”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“They said no to the offer; they did not meet me well enough to know me.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Open your notes or CRM and mark one recent prospect touchpoint with only factual language: date, topic, response, and one neutral detail. Do not add guesses about what they felt.
How it sounds in your head
A rep has a list of twenty warm leads to call before lunch and instead spends the morning perfecting a script, reorganizing the CRM, and answering emails — none of which requires picking up the phone. By 5pm, three calls got made. The avoidance felt like productivity; the data would call it call reluctance.