“My young reps don’t believe in using the phone.”
👆
From a recent convo I had with a sales leader. I had to challenge his thinking.
Me: "Can I give you a different take? I don't believe this is a Gen Z thing. 'Young reps' aren't phone-averse because they grew up on texts and DMs. They’re a generation that values authenticity."
Sales Leader: "Okay..."
Me: "Follow me here...you know what might feel inauthentic? Making cold calls using techniques that feel scripted or inauthentic. Gen Z questions authority more than their older counterparts—like every previous generation. And they’re less willing to blindly follow advice and direction that doesn’t make sense to them. I'm curious—who are your top reps?"
Sales Leader: "Uh...David and Ashley."
Me: "How closely do they follow the talk track you provided them?"
Sales Leader: "They sort of do their own thing."
Me: "If you incorporated their feedback to update the talk tracks—how do you think that might affect the buy-in from the rest of the team?"
~~~
To my surprise, this sales leader took my feedback like a total champ 😂
Then I shared a few ideas on how to get their reps to pick up the phones:
✅ Rub shoulders and make calls with them (that’s right, get in the pit!)
✅ Don’t teach scripts, teach principles so they can make it their own
✅ Invite your reps to contribute to the talk tracks and messaging
✅ Move to 10% product training, 90% your prospect’s problems training
✅ Capture tons of examples and recordings of what good sounds like
✅ Run group virtual call sessions (using a tool like Orum)
✅ Invest time and budget in training your front-line managers
Lead by example—show your reps that the phone works.
And involve them in the creation of talk tracks & messaging. The buy-in will be much higher.
Agree or disagree?
#sales