Jason Forrest is a sales professional, author, professional speaker, and consultant to homebuilders.

This the first part in a 12-part series.

One of the most important qualities for someone looking to achieve a successful career in home sales is the ability to overcome sales reluctances. In order to overcome such fears though, brokers and agents must be able to first identify them.

And so begins a series on 12 of the most common types of sales reluctances and how real estate professionals can face, work through, and ultimately, overcome the tendency.

Follow my column monthly for valuable insights (for agents and brokers alike) into the kinds of fears and sales reluctances that hinder you and/or your sales teams. We’ll cover doomsayers, over-preparers and hyper-professionals, as well as those who are limited by stage fright, yielding tendencies, role-rejection, social self-consciousness, referral aversion, telephobia and oppositional reflexes.

Sales reluctances are not character flaws; they are not even weaknesses. They are simply tendencies. And on the flip side of a sales reluctance is often a commendable virtue. For example, a person with an admirable strength (such as compassion) can also have a corresponding vulnerability – the tendency to let people take advantage of them.

In such a case, agents can overcome the vulnerability (by learning to recognize when someone is trying to manipulate them) without losing the compassion. This makes them more able to fulfill their true potential.

One of the keys to gaining the most from this series is for brokers to objectively read the descriptions and see how they match up to the beliefs and behaviors of themselves and their team members.

One of my favorite parts of sales coaching is when somebody tells me how much they’ve grown. I’ve had people tell me that they used to hate making calls to prospects, and now they make 25 calls every morning before they even start their day. They tell me it’s because their mindset changed about it (they see it as a service to the buyer rather than an inconvenience) and because they practiced until they felt comfortable with it.

When I take the time and put in the effort to grow in a way that will bring me more success or joy, I celebrate my own personal victories the same way. There’s nothing like that ever so human ability to choose a path of growth.

One of Training magazine’s Top Young Trainers of 2012, Jason Forrest is an expert at creating high-performance sales cultures through complete training programs. His newest book, “Leadership Sales Coaching,” is now available here.