1. Poor Organization
Many salespeople do not plan their time in advance nor do they approach prospecting with an organized game plan. Prospecting is either, omitted, postponed, or not given enough time and energy to generate sufficient qualified exposure.
2. Fear of Failure (FOF)
This is a psychological phenomenon that manifests itself in some salespeople. They are afraid to work because they are afraid that they may fail. And, of course, not working causes them to fail thereby epitomizing the self-fulfilling prophecy.
3. Fear of Success
This is a first cousin of fear of failure. The salesperson literally fears succeeding in his/her profession. Many times it is because they are afraid that if they succeed they will have to maintain their success or be seen as failures. Because of this fear of success they never achieve it.
4. Taking Rejection Personally
Taking rejection personally is a big cause of failure or mediocre results in prospecting, and the one that plagues many people in the early days of their selling career. This dissatisfaction is especially prevalent among salespeople who prospect on the telephone. They take every no as a personal instead of a professional rejection.
5. No sense of Urgency
Elite sales professionals have a constant need to prove themselves. Less successful salespeople do not exhibit a sense of urgency to get something done today! It is probably not possible to teach someone to have a sense of urgency; but it is believed that more salespeople could upgrade their performance in this area by making a conscious effort to improve.
