The Call Reluctance Masquerade

By James Olsen

originally agreed to give them. All we have is our time; we must charge for it one way or another.

I'm the only one who can service my accounts. I work with a great manager, Mike Mordell, who recently told me, "I tell my salespeople, if they don't delegate service work, they are making a mistake. I understand that some service work has to be done by the account rep, but much of it can be delegated."

We must keep demanding customers in check-or charge for our time. We must delegate tasks when possible.

If,/HEN we think of "call reluctance," we picture a Y Y salesperson sweating, fidgeting and hesitating with their finger poised over the numbers on the phone, trembling with fear, unable to make the call.

Call reluctance is real, but it seldom manifests itself in such an obvious way. As professional salespeople, we need to be aware of this insidious phenomenon and protect ourselves against it.

Imagine a dry cleaning business that cleans about 300 shirts per day. Three people work in the shirt room. But the work doesn't come in evenly. If 400 shirts arrive on Monday, it takes eight hours (24 man hours) to complete the work. If 200 shirts arrive on Thursday, how long does it take? The same amount of time!

Work expands to fill the time available. This concept was introduced in 1955 by Cyril Northcote Parkinson, an English civil servant, in his essay, "The Economist." He was speaking of bureaucracies and how they will grow regardless of the work they have (or don't have) to do.

What does this have to do with call reluctance?

Disguises

In my own sales and my work with salespeople, I find that we disguise our call reluctance. Let's introduce ourselves to the guests who regularly attend the Call Reluctance Masquerade:

Service of current accounts. This is the most common place to hide for the salesperson who doesn't want to prospect. "I have to service my current accounts, don't I?" they will say, with an accusatory tone. (How dare we question their service relationship with their current customers!)

Service to our current accounts is important, but many sellers are giving customers too much service or service the customer is not paying for! Customers will always ask for more. We must give them what thev need and what we

Detail work. Computer work. Bid work. Many salespeople hide behind the detail work or administration work of their jobs so they don't have to do the most important and profitable part of theirjob - getting in front of the customer.

Talking to the boss-itis. Your boss may have time to talk to you, but that doesn't mean you have time to talk to him. Kissing up to the boss in sales seldom works. The numbers tell the tale (and the boss isn't buying, so...).

Whining about the economy. We are salespeople, not economists. Our job is not to predict what the economy is going to do; our job is to sell no matter what the economy is doing. A sales manager was preaching the doom and gloom to me the other day. I asked him, "The economy may have slowed some, but how many of your salespeople are making 40 outbound phone calls per day?"

"Not many," he said. That put an end to the "whining about the economy" talk.

Spending too much time with the wrong customers. Many sellers give an inappropriate amount of time to customers that will never be "A" accounts. They get along with the buyer-and the buyer will talk to them all day-so they give that buyer more time that they deserve, keeping the seller from calling new accounts and growing his or her business.

Who is in charge?

We are not victims. We are entrepreneurs or intra-preneurs. We are running our own businesses. We decide (and are responsible for) how we spend our time. Call reluctance is real and can strike even the most experienced seller. The outbound sales call is our life's blood as salespeople. The next time we receive an invitation to the Call Reluctance Masquerade,let's decline and make an outbound sales call.

Happy selling!

Rrrrrr:ns

Kelseyville Lumber, Kelseyville, Ca., will complete construction by the end of the year on a 120,000-sq. ft. replacement store on 17 acres, replacing its 50-yearold, 1,500-sq. ft., 3-acre yard; the workforce will gradually grow fromT0ro 100...

Pete's Ace Hardware. Castro Valley, Ca., has added 4,000 sq. ft. of sales area to the rear of its store and in time will increase parking, improve its facade, and expand its main sales floor

Stock Building Supply has relocated its 3-acre yard in Cedar City, Ut., to a new 11 .4Z-acre facility

The ReUse People, a nonprofit that operates surplus LBM warehouses in Oakland, Ca., and Boulder, Co., opened an outlet in Pacoima. Ca. ...

Habitat for Humanity ReStore moved its Tangent, Or., outlet to a larger location in Albany, Or., and held aJune 3 grand opening

Home Depot opened a new store May 8 in Snohomish, Wa., and plans an October opening in Huntington Beach, Ca.

Home Depot submitted a new application to build in SunlandTujunga,Ca....

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(a lree seNice)

Inwe's Cos. opened a new store June 10 in Bonney Lake, Wa., and expects new store openings in 3rd quarter 2008 in Madera, Ca., and in 4th quarter 2008 in Hanford, Ca....

Lowe 's plans to move into a vacated WaI-Mart building in Rialto, Ca., and continues seeking approval to build in Springfield, Or. ...

Friedman's Home Improvement, Rohnert Park, Ca., now offers residential and small commercial solar energy systems from Solar Craft, Novato, Ca.; is completing an addition and remodeling at its store in Sonoma. Ca.

Ace Hardware, Corona de Tucson, Az., added a contract post office

Wrorrsnrrs/trrurrcrurrrs

Stimson Lumber Co., Portland, Or., permanently shut down its sawmills in Bonner, Mt., and Coeur d'Alene, Id., in mid-May and its Bonner planer mill in late May...

Trumark Industrie s, Spokane, Wa., permanently closed its fingerjoint stud mill June 9 ...

Fiber Composites LLC suffered a late night fire May 15 at its composite plant in Meridian, Id., previously owned by LouisianaPacific; fire officials suspect combustion from excess wood dust ...

Silver City Lumber, Three Forks, Mt., is the new sales agent for Montana Renewable Resources, Eureka, Mt.

Weyerhaeuser Co.. Federal Way, Wa., is exploring the possible sale of its Weswood Shipping Line and four regional short line railroads, including Longview, Wa.-based Columbia & Cowlitz iLevel by Weyerhaeuser has introduced Performance Connection, a web-based interface that provides a list of appropriate building products based on local environmental conditions

Railway... Weyco sold its DC in Council Bluffs, Ia., to Building Products, Inc .,Watertown, S .D.

Silvaris Corp. is now the exclusive sales organization for Louisiana-Pacific's North American offgrade OSB products through its OSBMarket.com online marketplace,beginning June 2

Lo ui s i ana - P acific completed the initial phase of its purchase of a 75Vo interest in Brazilian OSB producer Masisa OSB Industria e Comercio S.4....

Owens Corning is seeking LEED certification for its foam insulation plant in Gresham Or.

Simp son Strong -Tie, Pleasanton, Ca., opened a mid-Atlantic distribution center in Jessup, Md. (Kevin Dill, sales mgr.)

Pacific Western Wood Products, Los Angeles, Ca., is stocking more bamboo panels, including vertical and horizontal grain, natural and carbonized finishes. and bamboo decking...

Anniversaries: Safford Builders Ace Hardware, Saffotd, Az.,70th Neiman Reed Lumber Co., Panorama City, Ca., 60th ... Trader Horn's True Value, Portales, N.M., 50th

Housing starts in April rose 8.2Vo to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of L032 million, thanks to a 4O.5Vo swell in multifamily construction single-family starts slipped l.7vo to an annual pace of 692,000 ... permits increased 4.9Vo a 978,000 rate ... regionally, starts jumped l9%o rn the West.

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