Are you busy following the sales manual or actually getting results? Following instructions will keep you busy—and keep the peace. It gives you cover when targets are missed: “But I followed the manual.” But that excuse won’t last long. Because in sales, it’s not the manual that moves the sale forward—it’s the hard sales conversations. The one you keep putting off. It’s following through—not just following procedure—that gets results.
What about your pipeline? Is it full of names you picked from the air or names you continually calibrate separating prospects from suspects? Suspects will keep you busy making calls, sending emails, scheduling meetings that you know will likely go nowhere. But it feels productive. And more importantly—it helps you avoid the real work: making the hard sales conversation. to qualify or disqualify prospects. Contacting them to ask, “How many vehicles do you have in your fleet?” because that information will determine whether they qualify for your services or not. And you’d rather not know.
Busyness is the easiest hiding place
You see, on any given day, a salesperson’s to-do list can feel endless: follow-ups, CRM updates, reports, scheduling demos, responding to emails, sending proposals, checking LinkedIn, attending team meetings… But beneath the flurry of activity, one question separates top performers from the rest: Are you busy—or just avoiding the hard sales conversation?
There’s something oddly comforting about being “swamped.” Full of activity but little productivity, like a hamster on a wheel, it makes us feel productive but takes us nowhere. It earns us sympathy (‘He’s so busy’). It gives us an excuse (to avoid uncomfortable calls). But too often, busyness is a smokescreen for avoidance. Of the hard sales conversation.
“I called him but he was mteja. I will call him again later. For now, I am preparing for meetings.” Sounds responsible, right? But truth is you found the client hostile, so, after much meditation, you called once, were relieved that it didn’t go through, and now you’re burying yourself in “prep work” for a pitch that’s weeks away—and doesn’t even need slides.
It’s easier to look busy than to be brave.
“The timing isn’t right to speak with him,” is easier to state about the CFO who keeps ghosting you. And while you’re updating the CRM or reviewing product specs (again), the uncomfortable truth lingers in the background: The sales you want live on the other side of the conversations you’re avoiding.
Read: Are you facing the air, the monitor, or the customer?
Why do we avoid hard sales conversations?
Let’s be honest. Sales is emotional work. It demands confidence, resilience, and vulnerability—especially when the stakes are high. Human nature is to avoid emotional pain. So, being human you tend to sidestep difficult conversations because you fear. You fear rejection (“What if they say no?”); you fear confrontation (“What if they push back?”); you fear exposure (“What if I can’t answer their questions?”); and you fear failure (“What if I don’t close?”).
Beyond fear, we sometimes surrender to lethargy. It’s the path of least resistance—especially when there are no immediate consequences.
Ironically, the longer we delay, the scarier the conversation becomes. Silence grows into tension. A warm lead goes cold. A minor concern becomes a major objection.
What do hard sales conversations sound like?
What do hard sales conversations sound like? They sound like the truth.
To the CFO ghosting you, you show up in his office unannounced (or, at the Rotary club he attends), and ask, “It’s been difficult reaching you for weeks now. What’s going on?” As for your pipeline, you cold call and, after a brief introduction, qualify or disqualify with: “Our entry level for investing is KSh 10 million. Is this something you’d consider?” To the indecisive manager who’s been stalling on the large insurance policy he clearly qualifies for, you cut to the chase: “We’ve had multiple meetings. I don’t want to waste your time—or mine. Are we moving forward with this?”
And when you keep hearing the same objection—“I want to consult with my wife”—you stop resigning to the fate of being busy just pitching. Instead, you ask with calm curiosity: “Is the decision entirely yours, or do you usually make these together?” or, outright, “Who makes the decisions in your house?”
These questions are direct, honest, and uncomfortable—but they’re powerful. Because once you ask them, you get clarity. You regain control. And most importantly—you move forward.
Besides questions, embrace silence. Hard conversations sometimes mean uncomfortable pauses. Don’t fill them. Let the customer speak. When the silence is pregnant, whomever speaks first loses. Ask any successful salesperson or negotiator you know.
Busyness keeps you in a loop. Courage moves you forward.
The more we stay “busy,” the less we sell. Top performers block time for tough calls. They send the awkward follow-up email. They pick up the ‘phone, even when it feels risky. Because they know: A quick “no” is better than a long “maybe.” Busy work doesn’t hit targets. Courage will.
Courage will see you audit your activities at the end of the day to measure results you are measured against. To increase your accomplishments, deliberately set time aside, ahead of the admin tasks that keep you ‘busy’, to make the hard calls and dispense with them.
Have that hard sales conversation
Hard sales conversations aren’t just part of the job—they are the job. So be honest with yourself. Are you building your pipeline—or hiding in your inbox? Are you closing sales—or just closing tasks?
But, if instead, you are asking, “How do I muster the courage for hard conversations,” then you are too busy.
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