What’s your greatest fear? Although salespeople are unlikely to hear this question asked during an interview, there are plenty of reasons to ask this from a sales performance management standpoint. With any job, there are fears surrounding the position, from fear of not being successful to concerns about speaking in public. Although workers may not voice what may be frightening to them on the job, managers should try to determine whether these fears are holding employees back from their highest potential and productivity levels.
Here are three of the scariest things about sales:
1. Coldcalling
While sales staff are usually great people persons, even the most seasoned sales representatives dread coldcalling. The prospect of calling a total stranger is enough to make workers hesitant to pick up the phone. However, coaching workers through the coldcalling process is a crucial role for managers. To help make salespeople more comfortable about calling leads, managers could reinforce the steps to calling and have them evaluate their performance over the phone.
2. Rejection
In the same vein as coldcalling, many sales workers tend to avoid situations that may result in rejection. Author Kerry Johnson, who specializes in coaching in the financial planning and insurance industries, said some salespeople may have trouble with calls because they have a certain call aversion. For example, Johnson said that some sales reps may have the fear of intrusion, which means that they will do anything to avoid seeming pushy to customers, and this could stem from fear of rejection. Coaching workers to understand that rejection is part of even the best sales rep’s day and getting them used to this process could also help employees get over this fear.
3. Criticism
Salespeople often have a great deal of confidence that is beneficial in talking to leads about their company’s products or services. However, these same sales staff may also be sensitive to criticism. This fear of having managers pick on their performance may cause them to not listen to comments that are meant to shape them into better workers.
Managers could help sales staff ease their guard by pointing out positive points of their work performance before giving them feedback about how they could improve their performance. Companies could also focus on rewarding their workers for their work by providing them with incentive compensation that also lets them know they are doing an outstanding job for the right reasons.
