Cold calling gives me anxiety

[Michael J. Ray]

I have leads and buyers waiting for me to pull the trigger.. most uncomfortable position to be In. Any advice??

[Abel Curiel]

Originally posted by @Michael J. Ray:

I have leads and buyers waiting for me to pull the trigger.. most uncomfortable position to be In. Any advice??

 Hey Michael, 

It is totally normal to feel anxious in this situation. The fear of rejection that is very common for people and is oftentimes the biggest reason for not picking up the phone and making calls.

Some suggestions:

- Role play what you're going to say and how you're going to say it. Have a colleague or family member pretend to be the prospective client. This way, you can work the kinks out and become better at handling objections. Our team role plays a minimum of 2 hours/week and it makes a huge difference.

- Remove ALL distractions. If you use an online dialing service, get rid of your phone during cold calling hours. If you're using your phone, get rid of your computer, shut off your TV and put yourself in a place where there is literally nothing else to do but call.

- Record and listen to your calls. This tip, as well as role playing, are geared towards improving your confidence so that you feel in control of the situation each time you pick up the phone.

- Forget about the outcome. Don't worry about how many people hung up, cursed you out, screened your call, or told you "I'm busy" or "I'll call you back"... Instead, track the # of calls you make and # of contacts made (aka how many people's voices did you hear?). If you focus on the # of appointments made, you can easily get discouraged. To use a few cliches, "its all about the journey", "fall in love with the process", "trust the process", "fail often"....

- Make the calls. Thats it... just pick up the phone and dial. Set small goals at first i.e. 5 calls, then increase the number each day. Before you know it, you'll be making 100 calls/day.

Three good books that can help with this are - Getting things done, The Slight Edge and Deep work.

Best of luck to you moving forward!

Abel