Pick the Phone and Call or How to Overcome Your Fear of Calling

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.

Do you hear that? That my friend is the sound of the countdown that begins each day of every week of every month. It is the one things in sales that will never change.

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.

Sell, sell, sell.

Prospecting is an emotional as well as an intellectual endeavor. When your energy and enthusiasm for pursuing new business lags, you may be suffering from sales call reluctance.

Sales call reluctance is the emotional hesitation to prospect. In the sales world, the highest rewards do not always go to the smartest, best prepared, or the hardest working individual. The rewards go to the person who is most willing to prospect and find new business. 

Lesson 1 – Do Your Homework

One of the reasons most people fear cold calling is they do not know who they’re going to speak with. By researching the person or company before you make the call, you take that fear away, and you’re suddenly able to offer more “personalized” value. 

Open up their LinkedIn page, Google their company, heck, look to see if their college played football this weekend and won or lost. Anything to help you build that first step.

Lesson 2 – Build a Master Plan

While it is typical for sales professional to be scared of cold calling, one great way to overcome this fear is to be fully prepared.

If you know exactly what you want or need to say, how to overcome objections and some common questions you’ll feel a lot better about making the call.

It’s often the fear of the unknown that plagues us.

Lesson 3 – Stay in The Zone

The biggest challenge in making a cold call is usually picking up the phone to make the first one. It’s generally at this time you’ll look to find any distraction possible! Once you’ve made the first call though they become more comfortable and easier. This is why it’s so beneficial to stay in the zone once you’re in it and avoid any distractions that come your way. 

Lesson 4 - Accept That Rejection WILL Happen

Probably the most significant initial fear of cold calling is the idea of putting both yourself and your company out there, and being rejected.

If you've been in sales for longer than a week, it's likely you've already experienced a few unpleasantries. But instead of letting this fear cripple you, accept it. It isn’t personal. Or better still - use it to your advantage!

Lesson 5 - Don’t Be Disheartened by Voicemail

Chances are, you’re going to reach a lot of your prospects' voicemails. As frustrating as this can be, a positive voicemail message that covers all the right points can get your call returned, or at least put you in a better position for a follow-up call. Keep it short and sweet to up the odds of the whole message being listened to, and don’t forget to repeat your name and number slowly.