The 7 Costly Stalling Tactics of Sales Professionals

If it were easy to find prospects and get them to buy, there would be no need for sales professionals; thus, it stands to reason that the primary need for sales people within a company is to contact prospects and convert them into clients. The problem? Most sales professionals fear making sales calls, which ultimately leads them into using several or all of the seven costly stalling tactics.

There are plenty of programs designed to assist sales professionals overcome sales call anxiety with different sales approaches and scripts, according to Tammy Stanley, professional speaker and founder of www.carpephonum.com, but few get to the heart of the problem - showing how to get past a little inner voice that tricks one into using any of the following costly stalling tactics:

1. Waiting for the right time to call
Sales professionals constantly find reasons why now isn't a good time to call, - it's too early in the morning, it's too close to lunch, it's too close to closing time, etc. They even convince themselves that there's no use calling prospects, when it's 20-30 minutes before a meeting. They justify that they'll just get into the swing of things, when it will be time to go.

2. Preparing the perfect script
Too often sales professionals spend their time crafting and re-crafting a script, instead of using their telephone to connect with and listen to their prospects, as a means to develop the most effective script.

3. Organizing
Sales professionals are often found cleaning their desks or developing a contact system, convincing themselves that they need to be really organized to handle all the new business that prospecting will generate. They spend time getting ready to make prospecting calls, instead of using their prime time to make prospecting calls.

4. Becoming a training junkie
In lieu of making prospecting calls, sales professionals attend the newest sales seminar or read the latest sales book on prospecting with the hope of discovering how to end the sales call anxiety they feel.

5. Finding more important things to do
Sales professionals can almost always justify doing any other task before making those prospecting calls - checking email, brainstorming with coworkers, keeping in touch with customers, attending networking meetings, etc.

6. Waiting for the prospect to call back
If it only required one call to get prospects calling back to become clients, many companies wouldn't bother hiring a sales force. Waiting for a prospect to call back, after leaving a message or two is simply an excuse not to call, which only prevents the selling process from advancing.

7. Affirming that everyone hates pushy sales people
Many sales professionals will do anything to avoid being considered just another pushy sales person, even if it means never picking up the telephone and calling a prospect. In the attempt to escape being "pushy" they actually avoid making calls at all.

"Relating to any of the common stalling tactics simply means that you experience what most sales professionals experience," says Stanley. "The best way to break free of these costly stalling mistakes is to stop looking for a magic panacea to end sales call anxiety."

Almost all sales professionals relate to the little inner voice that nags at them to go get a cup of coffee before making that first prospecting call, or to get better prepared by first attending a sales seminar. The key is learning how to ignore its suggestions and do what one truly desires.

Stanley says the process to overcome sales call anxiety is easier than one thinks. She maintains that the best way to get sales professionals on the phone and calling prospects is to empower them.

That empowerment is achieved "by showing sales professionals how to get past that little inner voice that gets in the way of making sales calls, by showing the difference sales professionals make when they pick up the phone - how they actually create something far more important than sales, and by demonstrating how easy it is to start doing the things one doesn't even have the courage to do."

By freeing oneself from the useless suggestions of that tricky little voice, one discovers how to stop waiting to seize the phone, take action and call prospects.

Tammy Stanley, former senior sales executive and founder of Carpe Phonum, equips sales professionals with the keys to make prospecting calls even when they lack courage. Find out how you rate at seizing the phone and calling prospects by taking her FREE "Sales Call Resistance Self-Evaluation Test" at http://www.carpephonum.com