The Invisible Obstacle That Holds Salespeople Back

Let’s think about something curious: a salesperson knows they should call five new clients each day, but by the end of the week they’ve barely called two. A manager asks their team to use the CRM, yet months later some are still jotting visits down in a notebook. A company launches a product with excitement, but no one is offering it in the field.

 

What’s strange is that no one denies these actions are necessary. Everyone agrees they would lead to better results. And yet, most don’t do them. What’s going on?

 

Here we see what I call the invisible obstacle: the gap between what we say we want and what we actually do. It’s like that list of New Year’s resolutions that starts strong and fizzles out by February. It’s not about lack of knowledge—it’s something deeper.

 

Not a Lack of Information, but Emotional Resistance

 

Most salespeople have never received serious training. Many believe selling is just about being friendly and having people skills, when in reality it’s about mastering a set of concrete practices. In those cases, the first solution is to give them tools, to teach them how to do things better.

 

The problem arises when, even knowing the technique, change doesn’t happen. That’s when we discover the real barrier isn’t technical—it’s emotional.

 

Change means challenging the image we have of ourselves. A salesperson who always saw themselves as “the expert” might resist presenting a new approach because it makes them feel insecure. Another might avoid prospecting more because they prefer the comfort of serving existing clients. It’s not that they don’t know what to do—it’s that doing it touches internal strings that trigger discomfort.

 

The Attachment to Comfort

 

We all have habits that act like a safe haven. They make us feel secure, even if they don’t help us grow. For many salespeople, the comfort of the familiar is more appealing than the benefits of the new.

 

And here’s the paradox: to sell better, you have to embrace discomfort. You have to step out of the same old conversations, try different questions, log every detail into a system that at first feels cumbersome. In short: you have to pay the emotional price of leaving routine behind.

 

Shifting the Balance

 

The key isn’t to convince people the new behavior is good—they already know that—but to make clear that staying the same carries a bigger cost.

 

As long as the emotional equation is:

 

The usual = comfort

The new = hassle

 

change won’t happen.

 

But when it becomes:

 

The usual = frustration and stagnation

The new = possibility for growth

 

then the first step toward transformation is made.

 

What a Salesperson Can Do—and What a Leader Can Do

 

An individual salesperson can start by setting specific goals and committing to someone external who holds them accountable. Positive pressure helps overcome the temptation to return to comfort.

 

A sales leader, on the other hand, must design an environment where change isn’t optional: set clear expectations, reward those who comply, and have honest conversations with those who resist.

 

The Real Challenge

 

Sales problems rarely come from lack of products, prices, or strategies. The root is almost always that invisible obstacle that makes us repeat the familiar even when we know it doesn’t work.

 

Success, in the end, belongs to those who dare to cross that uncomfortable line between intention and action. Not because they have more talent, but because they chose to pay the price of change.