Call Courage and the CPQ

By Dr. Larry Craft

Jerry Thompson had the charisma and charm of the incarnate salesperson. He loved people and they seemed to all love him. He'd been a school teacher for a decade and enjoyed the nurturer's role he played with his middle-school students. One year he even won the coveted Teacher of the Year Award. Even though his small town of Ionia, Michigan only had a few hundred middle-schoolers, he still felt quite honored by the award.

Early last year, Jerry's wife was promoted by her company to Director of Human Resources with a significant increase in salary. That was the good news. But she would need to relocate to Traverse City, Michigan. There was no way, especially during the Winter, that she could drive the three hours each way from Ionia to Traverse City. After considering all the options, Jerry and his wife moved to Traverse City.

After a few months of interviewing, Jerry decided to try his luck at a career in life insurance sales. He'd heard it was one of the most challenging sales careers, but he felt his charisma and caring concern for his clients would make him successful. The sales manager validated Jerry's potential for success in his enthusiastic effort to get Jerry to join the company. Why would the manager be so positive about his success if he didn't believe Jerry could do the job?

Though he passed his licensing exams with ease, the personality questionnaire results were less than positive. Though he had the drive and motivation to succeed, his scores on the CPQ indicated that he lacked the 'Call Courage' to face rejection on a regular basis. The 10-page profile report highlighted the specific reasons. First and foremost, Jerry scored in the top 5% of the population when it came to his Need to Nurture. He was so nurturing that his identity was defined in terms of the people he helped. The report said his high regard and empathy for his client's needs could become a handicap if they weren't initially interested in talking with Jerry. Rather than persisting and imposing, Jerry would yield and go to the next prospect. In his small town of Ionia, he knew hundreds of people on a first name basis and everyone knew Jerry would be there when they needed him. He didn't need much 'Call Courage' when everyone recognized him and opened up instantly to his obvious warmth and charisma. But what would it be like in Traverse City where he only knew a few people? Would strangers open up to him as quickly and easily as they did in Ionia?

A second score on the CPQ also predicted future problems as a life insurance salesperson. Jerry scored in the bottom 30% on Social Confidence. The report said he lacked the social confidence to control the prospective client. He would find it difficult imposing on others for referrals or aggressively pursuing new leads. When it came to the 'close,' he would find it difficult to make a formal recommendation and use implied consent closing techniques. Rather than 'selling' his prospect using psychology and technique, he would hope the prospect would buy the product based on Jerry's instruction and the quality of the product. After all, Jerry was first and foremost a teacher, not someone who could sell ice cubes to Eskimos.

Still another CPQ score warned Jerry that his ego defenses were not as strong as the more successful life insurance agents. His Good Impression score of 25% pointed out the fact that Jerry did not exaggerate his strengths or downplay his weaknesses to protect himself from criticism. Instead Jerry would first blame himself and take the criticism personally. While most successful sales personnel had strong Ego Defenses to deflect criticism and rejection, Jerry had no such armor plating. The personality profile predicted that Jerry's motivation could be seriously impaired if he was repeatedly rejected as he made his telephone calls each afternoon.

Jerry shared the report with his wife and asked for her advice. She knew Jerry was discouraged about his inability to get a teaching job in Traverse City and really needed a job for his own self esteem. As a result, she discreetly encouraged him and suggested he meet with the sales manager before making a final decision. To Jerry's surprise, the sales manager discounted the test results and felt Jerry's highly successful track record as a teacher would compensate for the problem. He also implied that the office had plenty of leads for Jerry to help him through the first few months. Every time Jerry brought up a concern, the sales manager's natural sales ability kicked into action and eventually sold Jerry on making a career change.

Over the next three months, Jerry's worst fears became reality. He never knew people could be so rude. Many just hung up the telephone as soon as they realized he was selling insurance. Others made up false excuses. Some agreed to meet him. But not enough. His manager told him he was too nice on the telephone and had to control the call with confidence. He kept telling Jerry that it was 'a numbers game' and eventually he would be making enough sales. But Jerry realized the personality profile was right. He was taking the criticism too personally and it was destroying his motivation. He was making fewer and fewer calls. He thought he was selling a product everyone knew they needed. He thought his job would be to educate the buyer and pick up the check. Instead he couldn't even get to first base. He began to spend more and more time with proposals, administration, and client service. And they weren't even his clients. When the training allowance ran out, so did Jerry. He cleaned out his desk and left the following note for the manager:

"Like the CPQ said, I just can't handle the rejection. I only wish you had told me about the 'downside' of selling insurance. Instead, I got a sales job from you. You discounted the test results and overwhelmed me with your positive and enthusiastic picture of the insurance career. You should know that a few weeks after I had started selling insurance, I got a great job offer from the local middle school but had to turn it down. Now I must wait until the next school year without an income. I am responsible for the decision to join your company, but you should know how much that decision has hurt me and my family. Jerry "

Assess the Assessment! If you are a manager with 10 or more employees, business owner, or a consultant, we invite you to complete our complimentary 10-15 minute CPQ personality profile and receive its personalized reports as well as a copy of Dr. Craft's "Developing HorsePower" audio cd. All information will be kept confidential and will not be distributed without your written permission.