Before dialing a cold prospect, you stare at the screen for a few seconds. Then you read the script again and try to adjust it in your mind or maybe go through the prospects’ linkedin profile one more time. You start telling yourself that just one more minute and the call will be done.
This feeling of hesitation is not laziness, it’s the call reluctance. If you work at telesales then you must have faced it. The good news is, you have nothing to worry about any more because this blog has all your solutions to overcome call reluctance.
What is Call Reluctance? Manifestation and Impact
Call reluctance is a form of anxiety, fear or nervousness that often causes avoid making cold calls and creates hesitation to a tele sales agent’s mind.
How Does It Manifest?
- Feeling nervous or anxious before making call
- Delaying the call and doing other small task (Procrastination)
- Avoid making calls completely often or doing fewer than required
Impacts of Call Reluctance:
- Reduced sales performance
- Risk of termination
- Missed opportunities for promotions
- Loss of potential leads and revenue
Don’t worry if you do the same as the above points because Behavioral Sciences Research Press, Dallas, Texas USA says in the “Customer Engagement: A Core Competency for Success in Retail Sales” research paper that “90% of sales people face call reluctance”.
This stat was given after conducting an exam of 84,273 salespeople. It’s huge right? But don’t worry, almost everyone faces it and it’s not the issue. The issue becomes dangerous if you don’t overcome it with time.
Common 12 Types and Causes of Call Reluctance
Similar research of BSRP showed that 12 types of call reluctance are exclusively measures and they have also given the reasons behind them.
| SL | Call Reluctance Types | Causes and Signs of Call Reluctance |
| 1 | Doomsayer | Worries about outcomes and potential for failure |
| 2 | Over-Preparer | Excessively prepares to meet customers, but under-acts |
| 3 | Hyper-Pro | Obsessed with image and appearing credible to customers |
| 4 | Stage Fright | Fears speaking around groups of customers |
| 5 | Role Rejection | Ashamed of being in a sales position |
| 6 | Yielder | Fears intruding on others |
| 7 | Social Self-Consciousness | Intimidated by up-scale customers |
| 8 | Separationist | Fears loss of approval from friends |
| 9 | Emotionally Unemancipated | Fears loss of approval from family members |
| 10 | Referral Aversion | Fears networking with existing customers |
| 11 | Telephobia | Fears using the telephone to initiate customer contact |
| 12 | Oppositional Reflex | Rejects feedback, overly critical of others who try to help |
How to Overcome Call Reluctance? 7 Key Strategies
Overcoming call reluctance takes time, patience and regular practice. So let’s see how you can overcome call reluctance problems with 7 smart moves.
1. Mindset Shifts
Some experienced telesales person has said that if you start dialing today with a strong mind to drive success then at the end of the month you become bullet proof – a reddit user and theme was similar for all of the engaged experts on this particular thread.
So what you need to do is:
- Never give up mindset
- Don’t fear of rejection
- Positive acknowledgement
Set a 30 day plan, start with zero expectation but try as much as possible, note down where you got hesitated, what made you uncomfortable then resolve in the next call.
2. Training & Role-Playing
Training and role playing to overcome cold calling reluctance is one of the most effective strategies. When you engage in training and play the role of a cold caller then you should face the maximum number of tough situations and unexpected objections. So those hard times on practice sessions will allow you to perform better on live calls and eventually will remove your fear of dialing.
3. Record & Review Calls
After every day-end, listen to your own calls and find mistakes by reviewing them thoroughly. Sometimes your mistakes will make you feel embarrassed and sometimes will make you laugh. Learn from them then apply what you have learned from reviewing your calls and make sure don’t repeat the same mistakes again.
4. Increase Call Volume
The fear or the reluctance of making cold calls can be overcome from making a lot of calls or increasing the volume and getting habituated with it. Don’t fear whatever the result is like a prospect says no or yes.
Suppose you fear losing a football match, so you don’t participate. This is ridiculous right? Similarly if you fear rejection then it may cause you to make calls. Don’t hesitate to make one, take chances then results will change anytime.
5. Relaxation Techniques
Failure after failure is hard to consume so you need to practice some relaxation. Follow your prayer, taking breaks according to your religion, do some breathing exercise and create a pre call routine to follow to reduce call reluctance.
6. Use Scripts and Templates
High-converting cold calling scripts and call templates reduce cognitive pressure and remove social awkwardness during call. When you know what to say and for rare cases you script on your which contain solutions for every situation then your confidence gets better and tonality gets improved and eventually call reluctance gets removed.
7. Focus on High-Quality Leads
If you call all day long and book nothing then it’s not always your reluctance problems, it’s also the quality of lead you are working on. As time goes you see failures much and those create an additional pressure and you struggle with reluctance. So try a better quality leads list then see how it works like magic.
Best Practices for Telemarketing Teams
By habituating those below best practices for telesales agents can exponentially improve your cold calling reluctance and give you confidence.
- Regular training for both new and experienced agents.
- Mentorship and peer learning.
- Positive corporate culture and recognition.
- Hiring for low rejection sensitivity.
- Tracking performance metrics to encourage improvement.
Those are not the end of the world, if something else makes you confident enough and helps remove call reluctance then you can do it for sure.
Tools and Technology to Reduce Call Reluctance
There are some tools and software technology that can help you reduce your fear of making calls because they give you immediate access to any data you want to see.
- CRM systems for organized lead tracking.
- AI-powered tools for lead qualification and scheduling.
- Virtual assistants to manage repetitive tasks.
AI powered agents and VAs are not recommended for all kinds of cold calling but if they fit then they also can remove your reluctance because they do your job and you do other work.
Final Tips
“Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson. So try until you become successful and most importantly expect the outcome and enjoy small achievements as well.
Lets see some more motivation how you can stay focused for maximum time:
- Expect a mix of yes’s and no’s.
- Turn anxiety into excitement and confidence.
- Focus on listening and solving prospects’ problems.
- Always follow up and analyze your results.
- Celebrate small wins to build momentum.
Sometimes focusing on yourself as an agent is not important but on prospects’ problems carefully. So once you solve an issue and close a deal, your fear of call or reluctance will be removed by the time.
