All of the training and incentive in the world will not change a salesperson who is not wired to cold call.

Have you ever noticed that some salespeople will cold call while most avoid it like the plague?  It is largely because cold calling exposes salespeople to the emotional risk of social rejection.  Clearly some salespeople can handle social rejection while others crumble in its face.  

I have studied what causes cold call reluctance and while lack of skill in a major contributing factor, the root of the problem is most salespeople have a Behavioral Style that is not suited for cold calling.  For some salespeople, all the cold calling training and whispered sweet nothings and eventual threats in the world will never, ever motivate them to tackle cold calling.  

Salespeople who are forced to cold call but are not wired to do so look like hostages reading prepared statements they do not believe in.  

Your Customers deserve better.  

Most salespeople will not cold call because their Behavioral Style won't let them.

Recently I read the post How to make cold calling an easy and profitable task by Gianluigi Olivari where he shared: 

"Speaking of cold calls often evokes sweaty palms, blank mind, creativity in finding new ways to procrastinate, self-esteem lowering. Nevertheless, cold calling could become pleasant, just bypassing its anxiety and enjoying its great effect on any business."

I will agree with Mr. Olivari on one thing:  Cold calling scares the hell out of most salespeople.  However, Mr. Olivari could not be more wrong about the potential for everyone to find cold calling "pleasant".  

After assessing thousands of sales professionals using a sales personality test with validity backed by brain research, I can confidently share that the best cold callers are extroverted and task-focused versus being introverted and people-focused. 

Everything else equal...

Everything else equal, the more extroverted and task-focused a salesperson is the more easily they can overcome setbacks and rejection.  Extroverted and task-focused salespeople are driven to win.  The task-focused Behavioral Style is what allows a salesperson to easily overcome social rejection.  

Everything else equal, the more introverted and people-focused a salesperson is, the less likely they will cold call due to conflict avoidance and the fear of social rejection.  Few Prospects wait for the salesperson to get through their full pitch and they often hang up on the cold caller.  Social rejection quickly destroys the ability to cold call for those who are highly introverted and people-focused.

Cold calling is not the dominant strategy it once was.

In the age of social selling, cold calling is falling out of favor.  Creating value through inbound marketing is all the rage and it makes sense.  

Yet cold calling is a critical ability and skill to develop in salespeople because the same Behavioral Traits necessary for cold calling are also required for challenger selling.  

Let your competitors hire the salespeople who hate cold calling. <-- Click to Tweet

What do you call an outside salesperson who will not cold call?  

An account executive.