Always felt that making cold calls was one of the worst job duties? You’d give up almost anything to dump it, right? But would you be willing to forgo adult (ahem) relations for 30 days?

Turns out there are plenty of people who said they’d rather give up 30 days of sack time with their partner than make seven days of cold calls.

In fact, the only experience rated more painful than making cold calls was getting a root canal. And there were some who still opted for the root canal.

This information comes from a recent survey done by Sandler Training, a sales management training company. Salespeople were given a list of five activities and were asked to rate them from “most painful” to “not-as-painful.” There were no easy choices.

The results on what was rated most unappealing:

• 31% chose getting a root canal
• 23% said seven days of making cold calls
• 18% opted for 30 days of no sex
• 15% voted for being selected as surprise guest on a reality TV show, and
• 13% named speaking in front of an audience.

In addition, a few other nuggets were uncovered by the sales management company:

When given a choice of sales professions, consumers said they had the least trust in car salesmen. Financial services folks weren’t far behind.

Who were the most trustworthy? Retail salespeople.

What is the most annoying sales experience? Being approached by door-to-door salespeople.

Least aggravating? Being contacted by e-mail or social media.

What would you be willing to give up to get out of a week of making cold calls? Let us know in the Comments Box Below.

Tags: cold calling, e-mail, financial services, Sandler Training, social media, survey, worst job