← The Art of Sales with Art Sobczak
The Art of Sales with Art Sobczak
317 Why You Stare at the Phone Instead of Picking It Up (and how to fix it)
00:16:33
You know the feeling. You have calls to make, leads to follow up on, prospects to reach out to. But instead of picking up the phone, you find yourself staring at it like it's radioactive. Maybe you reorganize your desk. Craft another "perfect" email....
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- [00:02]
A
You are listening to the Art of Sales. Everyone sells every day. And this is your source for conversational real world sales and prospecting methods that you are comfortable using and that get results you'll help people buy instead of pushing them into being sold. Here's your host, Art Sobchak.
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B
Let me tell you about a conversation I had with a sales rep. And actually, I have this conversation all too often with other sales reps and maybe you can relate to it too. So the sales rep said, art, I know exactly what I should be doing. I've got the script, I've got the leads, I've read the book, I've listened to the podcast, I've even got the time blocked in my calendar. But I just sit there staring at the phone. I'm afraid to touch it, like it's got a contagious virus. Okay, does that sound familiar? Maybe you've had that exact same moment, you know what you should be doing, but somehow you find yourself reorganizing your desk, putting together the perfect email, even though that doesn't exist. Or maybe, oh, I gotta do some more research for prospects for another hour. And then you feel guilty and beat yourself up thinking, you know, I've got to be more disciplined. Hey, if that's ever been you, well, you're not alone. And I want to give you a completely different perspective today, because here's what I've Learned after over 40 years in this business. Most of the time, the issue is not discipline. It's not laziness, and it's definitely not a lack of talent or knowledge. It's something deeper and completely fixable. And we're going to talk about what really causes you to avoid the phone and why willpower always fails and what actually drives consistent action in sales. Because while you're sitting there beating yourself up for being undisciplined, your competition and ultimate sales pros are out there having conversations, building relationships and closing deals. Not because they're more talented, not because they have better leads, not because they read the latest hack on LinkedIn, but because they figured out something you haven't yet. And let's get into it. So you see, when people tell me they struggle with consistency or that they procrastinate on calls, they usually frame it as a discipline problem. But it's hardly ever that, because here's the truth most people won't tell you. Most salespeople are not lazy. They're just operating from the wrong foundation. All right, so think about it this way. If I told you there was a $50,000 commission check made out to you sitting on a prospect's desk, and all you had to do was walk in and pick it up. Would you need discipline to get there? Of course not. You'd be sprinting right now. But if I told you to call that same prospect, knowing you'd probably get voicemail, maybe feeling awkward and likely here, not interested, would you suddenly need discipline? So the difference isn't the action, it's what you believe about the outcome. You can't force consistent action with guilt and willpower. That's like trying to drive a car with the emergency brake on. You might move forward, but it's going to feel like hell and something's going to burn out. Most salespeople are trying to muscle through resistance or avoid it entirely instead of removing it. It's beating yourself up for not being more disciplined. Let's look at what's really going on when you avoid the phone. So let me walk you through the three hidden drivers of inconsistency. And this is probably what's actually happening in your head when you know you should make calls but somehow find yourself doing anything else. Number one, you're unclear. Let me be specific about what un unclear looks like. So you sit down Monday morning thinking, okay, I need to make calls. Okay, but which calls to say what for what specific outcome? So you start researching prospects. Then you start writing out the email instead. Then you go into your CRM. Then maybe you go into LinkedIn and you reorganize your call list and oh gosh, now it's lunchtime and you haven't picked up the phone once. Sound familiar? Your brain hates ambiguity. When the goal is vague, your subconscious finds reasons to avoid it. So make some calls is vague and can feel overwhelming. How about have five real conversations with qualified prospects by 3pm? That's more specific and actionable, right? So clarity kills hesitation. When you know exactly what winning looks like today, resistance disappears. Number two, you're uncommitted. Not to sales, but to your why. You know the feeling when you put together the perfect opening. Or you think it's perfect to a big prospect, but then you stare at it for 10 minutes and then you decide not to call. That's because you don't know what to do. It's because you've lost emotional connection to why it matters. When you lose sight of what this career actually does for you the freedom, the income, the impact, the respect it's easy to disengage. Here's something most people miss. Your brain needs an emotional reason to Take uncomfortable action. Logic isn't enough. Fear of your manager isn't enough. You need to be emotionally connected to what happens when you succeed, not just being afraid of what happens when you fail. Number three, you're unconvinced. This is the big one. And it's probably why you're listening to this right now instead of making calls. You don't fully believe that what you're doing is going to work. Maybe you've had a few calls that, well, let's say they just fell flat. Maybe you're tired of hearing not interested. Maybe your confidence is just worn down from too many no's and not enough wins. That's a willpower problem. It's a belief problem. When you don't believe your actions will create results, your brain will always find reasons to avoid those actions. It's trying to protect you from wasting time and feeling foolish. But here's what changes everything. When you know how to win. On every call, even when you don't get the yes, you stop avoiding them. Here's the breakthrough that changed everything for me and for the salespeople that I've coached. You don't need more discipline. You need to become a different person. Because discipline is what you need when you're trying to force yourself to do things that don't align with who you are. But when your identity says, I'm the kind of person who shows up prepared and creates value in every conversation, the behavior follows naturally. You don't try to take action. You just do it because that's who you are. Think about it. Do you need discipline to brush your teeth? Probably not. Because you see yourself as someone who maintains good hygiene, you just do it. The action flows from the identity. And you know what? The same principle applies to you and your sales. When you see yourself as a professional who creates value, who belongs in every conversation, who always finds a way to win, you don't need to force yourself to pick up the phone. You pick it up because that's what professionals do. The highest performers I know don't rely on motivation or discipline. They rely on ideas, identity. They've become the kind of person who naturally does the things that successful people do. That's not positive thinking. That's not woo woo motivation. Have a positive attitude. That's strategic identity design. Let me tell you about a rep one of my clients asked me to work with. In our first discussion, she said she had a motivation problem. So she would start strong on Monday, make a few calls, get some voicemails, but, you know, then you Had Tuesday, and by Wednesday she was avoiding her call list and finding urgent administrative tasks to do instead. Sound familiar? She thought she needed better scripts or maybe an accountability partner to push her. Anything but what really mattered. Because that wasn't the real problem. So the real issue, she didn't believe the work mattered. She saw herself as someone who was bothering people. And she had no way to define success other than getting a yes. So what happened? Well, every not interested she described as personal rejection. Every voicemail felt like failure. So of course she was avoiding calls. Well, once I helped her do several things. I helped her anchor into why she was really doing the work. I helped her install a system where every call was a win, regardless of the outcome. And we shifted her self image from someone who does sales to someone who is a sales professional. And when we did that, her consistency magically completely flipped. Oh, not because she worked harder, but because she became someone different. She told me, I actually look forward to my calls now because I know I'm going to accomplish something valuable on every conversation. That's not willpower, that's identity transformation. But here's what really concerns me about patterns of inconsistency. Every day you wait to address this. Every call you don't make, every opportunity you let slip by because you're working on your discipline. That's not just a missed call. That's a missed relationship. That's a missed deal, a missed commission check. That's compound interest working against you instead of for you. While you're battling internal resistance, someone else is out there building the career you want. They're developing the relationships that could have been yours. They're earning the income you deserve. They're becoming the person you want to be. And the worst part, the gap gets wider every day that you don't do anything about it. Because success in sales compounds relationships. Build on relationships, confidence builds on confidence, Wins. Build on wins. The longer you wait to fix this foundation, the further behind you fall. So let me leave you with this. If you're struggling with consistency, stop calling it a discipline problem. It's not because you're lazy. It's not because you lack talent. It's not because you need more motivation. You're either unclear about what your success looks like, you're uncommitted to why it matters, or you're unconvinced that your actions will work. So fix that foundation and everything else fixes itself. And if you want some help doing that, if you want a blueprint, well, I built the ultimate sales professional method exactly for this transformation. I don't teach you how to force yourself to take action. I help you become the kind of person who naturally takes action. You'll stop avoiding calls because you'll become someone who sees value in every conversation. You'll stop fearing rejection because you'll have multiple ways to win on every call. You'll stop relying on willpower because your identity will drive everything. This isn't about working harder. It's about becoming someone different. Someone who shows up like a pro every single day. Not because they have to, but because that's who they are. So if you're intrigued, you can learn more at Ultimate Sales Pro. Again, that's ultimatesalespro.com or I'll tell you what, you can just send me a direct message on LinkedIn with the word identity in the message, and I'll send you the details personally. And remember, professionals don't rely on discipline. They rely on who they've chosen to become. All right. Hey, you know what time it is? The art of the sales. That's right. It's time for the quote of the day. Today's quote ties directly into what I just talked about. It comes from James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits. And James said, you don't rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your identity. So true. All right, so it's time to stop listening to podcasts for the day. Go make something happen. Thank you so much for investing your valuable sales time with me today. Until next time, go out and make it your best sales day ever. I'm ArtsUpcheck.