That's what's been happening to Michael, who calls companies to set appointments with decisionmakers. "I have a great product that I'm passionate about," he told me, "but when I call prospects, they immediately start treating me as just another salesperson who's trying to sell them same type of product that others have tried to sell to them in past...Is there any way to stop them from pigeonholing me?"

Michael is hitting what I call "wall of defensiveness" that almost all decisionmakers these days use to protect themselves against sales calls. It tears me apart that he, like so many other salespeople, have to endure this type of personal rejection as he tries to make a living.

And none of sales training or motivational programs he's been through had helped him to solve this frustrating and debilitating situation.

In our one-on-one sessions, Michael and I discussed 7 key strategies that can break down that wall, and he's been finding that they work for him...maybe they'll work for you, too...here they are...

1. Curb your enthusiasm. This idea always comes as a shock to anyone who's been exposed to old "sales gurus" who insist, "The more enthusiastic you are about what you are selling, more people will be attracted to your solution"--but, boy, are they wrong! When you come across as overly enthusiastic, especially when you're on a first call to a new prospect, you immediately trigger sales pressure that tells your prospect, "I'm excited because I just know that you need what I have to offer!" But in any new situation, that's exactly what you don't know--so try cutting out your enthusiasm on initial calls. Otherwise, you're likely to hit wall.

2. Avoid assuming that you and your prospect are a fit. You may have "perfect prospect"--someone with exact criteria and profile of your ideal customer. However, if your words or tone of voice say, "I know you'll benefit from our service because you fit exact profile of our customer base," you'll inadvertently will set off alarms that will let your prospect associate you with negative "salesperson" stereotype. Instead, learn to be humble, and avoid making assumptions until after your prospects trust you enough to share their true issues with you. Then two of you can decide, in a natural evolutionary way, whether you're a match or not.

* Is e-mail your selling medium of choice because it lets you avoid rejection that you dread when you make real cold calls?

* Do you wait and wait for return e-mails from prospects that will give you green light to move sales process forward?

Sad but true, these days most people who sell for a living spend 80% of their time trying to communicate with prospects via e-mail instead of actually picking up phone and speaking with them. Are you one of those people? If so, you aren't alone...but do you understand why you've turned to e-mail instead of personal contact? I think there are 2 core reasons that underlie this unfortunate trend:

* Fear of rejection. The sheer negative force of anticipating rejection makes people turn to e-mail to generate new prospect relationships because it hurts less to not get a reply than to hear that verbal "no."

* Getting blocked by gatekeepers andvoicemail. When salespeople don't know how to break through barriers of gatekeepers and voicemail, they start thinking, "Forget it -- it's not worth aggravation, and it takes too much energy. I'll just e-mail instead."

However, when you try to use e-mail to offer your product or service to someone who doesn't know you, you can't possibly establish natural dialogue between two people that allows trust level to reach level necessary for a healthy, long-term relationship.

We all know how much everyone hates e-mail spam, but even so, many salespeople are still sending introductory e-mails to decisionmakers. They feel that, because they're from a credible organization, they won't be associated with negative image of a spam solicitor.

However, these introductory e-mails typically contain traditional three-part sales pitch -- introduction, a mini-presentation about products and services being offered, and a call to action -- and this traditional selling approach instantly tells recipient of e-mail that your only goal is to sell your product or service so you can attain your goals, andnot theirs.

If you're still using email to sell, watch out for these 7 pitfalls:

1. Avoidsales pitches. If you feel you must use e-mail to start a new relationship, make your message about issues and problems that you believe your prospects are having, but d on't say anything to indicate that you're assuming that both of you are a match.