Individual Assessment/Quiz Free

Sales Call Reluctance Self-Assessment

A 20-question diagnostic that scores you against 12 recognized types of sales call reluctance and names which one is actually costing you dials, with a one-line remedy for each.

What's inside

20 statements rated on a 1-5 frequency scale based on your last 30 days of real behavior
Full scoring key mapping every question to 1 of 12 recognized call-reluctance types
Separate reading thresholds for 2-question types vs. 1-question types
Guidance for identifying your primary and secondary constraint rather than treating all 12 equally
One-line remedy for each of the 12 types
Designed for honest self-scoring in under 10 minutes

Instructions

Rate each statement based on the last 30 days of your own prospecting behavior, not how you wish you behaved. Use this scale:

1 = Never true of me · 2 = Rarely true · 3 = Sometimes true · 4 = Often true · 5 = Almost always true

Answer honestly and quickly — your first instinct is usually the accurate one.

The 20 Statements

#	Statement	Score (1-5)
1	Before I even dial, I've usually already decided this call probably won't go anywhere.
2	I catch myself thinking "why bother, they'll just say no" before I pick up the phone.
3	I've delayed making a call so I could do "just a bit more" research on the account first.
4	I feel like I can't call someone until I know almost everything about their company.
5	The idea of a call where multiple people from the prospect's side are listening makes me noticeably more anxious than a 1:1 call.
6	I've rehearsed a pitch in my head more times than I've actually delivered it live.
7	When a gatekeeper pushes back, I back off faster than I probably need to.
8	I worry that following up again will make me seem "annoying" or "too much."
9	I'm self-conscious about sounding "salesy" on calls, even when what I'm offering is genuinely useful.
10	I think more about how I'm coming across on a call than about what the prospect actually needs.
11	I avoid asking people I already know (friends, past colleagues, personal network) for introductions or referrals.
12	Asking someone I have a personal relationship with for a business favor feels harder than cold-calling a stranger.
13	By the end of a heavy prospecting day, I feel emotionally drained in a way that carries into the next day's calls.
14	A string of rejections has changed how I approached my very next call, more than it should have.
15	Somewhere in the back of my mind, I feel a bit uncomfortable calling myself "in sales."
16	I downplay or soften the word "sales" when I describe my job to people outside work.
17	I'll send an email or a message instead of picking up the phone, even when calling would clearly be faster or more effective.
18	I resist using a call script or talk track because it feels inauthentic, even without a clearly better alternative prepared.
19	There's a specific type of account (senior executives, a certain industry, past customers, etc.) I consistently avoid calling more than the data says I should.
20	Starting prospecting into a brand-new list, account set, or territory takes me noticeably longer to get moving on than working an existing/warm list.

Scoring Key — map your answers to the 12 recognized call-reluctance types

Type	Questions	Your total
1. Doomsayer (expects failure before dialing)	Q1 + Q2	/10
2. Over-Preparer (research as avoidance)	Q3 + Q4	/10
3. Stage Fright / Group Presentation Anxiety	Q5 + Q6	/10
4. Yielder (over-accommodates pushback)	Q7 + Q8	/10
5. Social Self-Consciousness (image anxiety)	Q9 + Q10	/10
6. Referral / Friends-and-Family Aversion	Q11 + Q12	/10
7. Emotionally Overextended (rejection fatigue)	Q13 + Q14	/10
8. Role Rejection (identity discomfort with "sales")	Q15 + Q16	/10
9. Telephobia (phone-specific avoidance)	Q17	/5
10. Oppositional Reflex (resists structure/scripts)	Q18	/5
11. Special-Case Avoidance (avoids specific segment)	Q19	/5
12. Cold-Start / New-Territory Aversion	Q20	/5

How to read it:

For 2-question types (rows 1-8): a score of 8-10 is a strong, active constraint; 5-7 is worth watching; 2-4 is not currently a driver.
For 1-question types (rows 9-12): a score of 4-5 is a strong, active constraint; 3 is worth watching; 1-2 is not currently a driver.
Most people carry a primary type and a secondary type — rarely just one. Rank your top 2 scores; those are what's actually costing you dials, not lack of effort or talent.

One-Line Remedy Per Type

Doomsayer — Track actual call outcomes vs. what you predicted beforehand; the data breaks the pattern faster than willpower.
Over-Preparer — Set a hard prep-time cap (e.g., 10 minutes) per account before you're required to dial.
Stage Fright — Rehearse out loud in front of a peer or manager before high-stakes group calls, not just in your head.
Yielder — Script one firm-but-polite follow-up line and use it verbatim until it stops feeling uncomfortable.
Social Self-Consciousness — Shift your pre-call self-talk explicitly onto the prospect's problem, not your delivery.
Referral Aversion — Reframe the ask as helping your contact look good to their network, not as a personal favor.
Emotionally Overextended — Build a fixed recovery ritual after rejection-heavy blocks; don't stack them back to back.
Role Rejection — Reconnect "sales" to the specific skill and value you deliver, not the label.
Telephobia — Make the first touch in every sequence phone-first, by rule, before email/message is allowed.
Oppositional Reflex — Treat the script as a skeleton to personalize (aim for ~20% your own words), not a cage.
Special-Case Avoidance — Name the avoided segment explicitly and schedule those calls first in the day, not last.
Cold-Start Aversion — Break new-territory prospecting into a small fixed daily quota (e.g., 5 new accounts/day) instead of "get through the list."

How to use it

Rate all 20 statements based on your last 30 days of real behavior, total your scores against the mapping key, and treat your top 1-2 scoring types as the priority to work on rather than trying to fix everything at once.