Alejandro, 1st part

This is the case of one of my first clients: Alejandro.

He is a life insurance salesman or Financial Advisor.
He approached to me in 1997. Just a few months after I decided to be a sales coach.
I met him giving a conference at his sales management. At those time, when I started my practice I talked to a lot of sales managers to offer them conferences in order to get clients: the sales people that were in their management.
Of course some accepted and some not.
Alejandro's manager accepted and I went to his office and spoke for about an hour to his sales force for approximately 1 hour. His manager, Gustavo said that he will pay half the fee I charge for those who hired me as a coach. Two days later Alejandro talked to me by phone and asked me if I was available for a meeting. I told him yes, we set the date and we started our coaching process.
He came. He had two main problems:

• he was in problems with justice, his previous boss stole money from his clients, fled to Miami and these clients sued the company, his previous job, and he was in trial so he was very very nervous about the possibility to go to jail

• the second problem was that he was in his second year as a sales man and he wasn't getting the results that he expected in his new job; this nervousness added to the anguish produced by the fact that he was sued almost paralyzed him, that was the momento where we started working

One of our first interviews went like this:

Alejandro: -"Where am I'm going to obtain my clients? I don't have anybody to call."
Coach: -"How many clients do you have right now? How many people have bought from you?"
Alejandro: -"I have 10 clients."
Coach: -"Well, call them and ask for references."
Alejandro: -"I have done that."
Coach: -"And what happened?"
Alejandro: -"Not everybody gave me references. Only two or three. I don't remember."
Coach: -"When did you call them?"
Alejandro: -"2 or 3 months ago."
Coach: -"Call them again."
Alejandro: -"What...?! They are going to think... (interrupted)"
Coach: -"And what do you prefer? Them to think that you X or to have clients?"
(Here is evident his own resistance to do what it takes in order to have results. Between calling his clients in order to get references was nothing except his own fear and shyness.)
Alejandro: -"Much much better too have clients. But... (interrupted... again)"
Coach: -"So? Call the ten in your list and ask each one for three references with the intention to obtain them. OK? How much does it's going to take for you to call them all? 1 hour? 2? Call them and tell me how it goes. If they don't give you any reference start again and again and again until you get what you need in order to keep your career alive. OK?"
Alejandro: (shocked) -"OK"

The next coaching session he arrived with some results. He called only 5 of his clients and they gave him only 4 references. He doesn't call the rest because he thought...again, that was the problem. He thought. Well, he arrived at the conclusion that he has to call again. He called the 10 several times, against his feelings and his thoughts, but they gave him more and more references until it wasn't necessary to keep talking to them.