When a client suggested that Minna Van make cold calls to promote her business, the prospect brought chills. “It’s kind of terrifying,” she says.
In the five years since she and two business partners started The Network Hub in Vancouver, they have actively dodged direct sales.
Instead, they’ve relied on word-of-mouth advertising, referrals and a social media presence to find clients for their business, which offers different working space arrangements, including co-working and shared space. About 40 companies now rent desk space regularly or semi-regularly at the downtown Vancouver facility.
But now Ms. Van and her partners have aspirations to expand, to open another suburban location and move into franchising. That would require direct selling – and the thought of it is unimaginable to her.
Ms. Van chalks up a big part of her aversion to selling to a fear of rejection. “To some extent, I have ugly baby syndrome, where I’ve invested so much time into my business and what I do that “what do you mean, you don’t like what I do” is a reaction she dreads.
Entrepreneurs may often be bold and risk-taking, but they’re not immune to a fear of selling, says Dr. Derek Hassay, a marketing professor at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business.
Many experience what academics have called “inhibited social contact initiative syndrome” and actively avoid direct sales, he says.
A fear of rejection is just one of many reasons for what he dubs “call reluctance.” Many people, including Ms. Van, dread coming across as pushy or intrusive, while still others are cowed by approaching those they perceive to have greater power, wealth or status.
Still others are intimidated by the business environment, including a lot of people unaccustomed to being part of it. “Today, a lot of businesses in Canada are being started by immigrants, housewives, and people trying to earn income for their family,” Dr. Hassay says. That unfamiliarity may make them feel deficient, he says.
Personality characteristics also play a role, says David Lahey, Whitby, Ont.-based president of human resource consulting company Predictive Success Corp
“Fear of selling is often seen in those entrepreneurs who are natively analytical, detailed, sequential processors of information and not naturally extroverted and assertive types,” he says.
While these personality characteristics may allow entrepreneurs to find some kinds of success in their industry, they can be a hindrance when it comes to the actual act of selling.
Stewart Thornhill, a professor at the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business in London, Ont., says a fear of selling often boils down to a fear of public speaking.
Whatever is behind it, entrepreneurs need to come to terms with their fear of selling if they want to succeed.
“It really does hamper entrepreneurship and many people say that as much as 50 per cent to 70 per cent of entrepreneurial failure relates to this call reluctance issue,” Dr. Hassay says.
But he stresses that if entrepreneurs push past their anxiety and pitch their product anyway, most will find their stress lessens as they discover that the “worst case scenario” isn’t so bad.
Scott Phillips, an engineering physicist, did just that. Back in the late 1990s, when he launched a medical device company in Victoria, he was the quintessential introverted techie. Without the funds to hire a sales person, it was up to him to secure opportunities. “I had to force myself to pick up the phone and talk to people I didn’t know,” he recalls.
He was surprised to find that he didn’t need to be extroverted and aggressive to sell; being introverted and thoughtful became an asset.
“I didn’t realize it at the time, but I came to understand that when people sense you’re really interested in them, and trying to solve the right problem for them…that’s very disarming. That’s a very powerful sales strategy,” Mr. Phillips says. More than two decades later, he continues to sell for Starfish Medical, which designs, develops and manufactures medical devices.
“We’re close to a $10-million company now and I’m still doing the front-line interaction with customers,” he says.
