After much discussion, we narrowed it down to one simple fact they were not making enough telephone calls to sustain the success rate they needed. After testing, we discovered high incidences of telephobia in all of the under-performing salespeople. I asked him. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps they did fool themselves.
Denial plays a major role in telephobia.
After all, it's not logical to be afraid of an inanimate object, especially one that does not intrude into your life until you pick it up. Still, there are habitual responses that are hard to miss. I have performed exercises with a telephone in workshops. You can spot the telephobics. They are the ones who respond as soon as they see the telephone even before they know what you're going to do with it.