While conducting extensive tactical sales prospecting training for computer resellers from 1987-1994, I was frequently confronted with a stark reality. Many entry-level b2b sales professionals had very toxic levels of Call Reluctance.
Call Reluctance (CR) is a career-threathening condition which limits what sales people can achieve by emotionally limiting the number of sales calls they are able to make. CR is “emotional sludge”!
I can’t take credit for the CR definition. This belongs to George Dudley and Shannon Goodson, Phds and co-authors of “The Psychology of Call Relectance (How to Overcome the Fear of Self-Promotion) a 1986 paperback published by Behavioral Science Research Press, Inc., Dallas, TX.
Since I couldn’t put my finger on the reasons many of my trainees were making excuses instead of conducting their timely qualifying follow up phone calls, I was thrilled to hear about this book which came highly recommended by another sales training consultant.
I was even more anxious to read the book when I learned both authors conducted extensive CR field testing of sales professionals from entry-level through top producers with major clients in the insurance, computer, management consulting and telecommunications industries.
Besides publishing the results of their exhaustive field tests, the book identified 11 specific CR Tendencies with their characteristics; and, explained their application of a pre-employment testing instrument which they used to pre-test sales candidates.
The SPQ Gold Test Instrument was not a Personality Test. It specifically measured:
Out of curiousity, I took the SPQ Gold Test and much to my surprise, discovered I had some degree of Over Preparer Tendencies! While not career-threathening, I was interested in remediation so I flew to Dallas and enrolled in a 2-day CR Remediation Clinic taught and managed by Dudley and Goodson.
At the time, I thought some of the classroom exercises designed to remediate the 11 CR Tendencies were questionable and unlikely to be practiced by even the most ardent student. I was impressed enough with the veracity of the SPQ Gold Test Instrument to become an authorized test-administrator and marketer in Central Florida.
The Test Instrument was software-platformed and test results with a Remediation Analysis were provided to client management for each enrollee.
For several of our clients, the SPQ Gold Test became the primary pre-employment testing instrument. We offered the test instrument to several clients until the Dudley and Goodson Organization insisted we also conduct local CR Remediation Clinics. We declined since it was incompatible with our business model and we preferred to pass them on to Dallas for Clinic enrollments.
Even though we discontinued our affiliation with the Dudley and Goodson Organization, this book and the CR concepts are still relevant and applicable.
Shortly before writing this blog posting, I visited Amazon.com to see what books were in print. I found several used copies of the original 1986 Dudley and Goodson book and a later 2001 edition for sale.
I highly recommend this material to both sales agents and sales managers since the bone-shaking fear of picking up the phone to call prospects is still a malady which afflicts many of us.
Do you agree?